Ecuador Loja Eladio Gonzalo Chamba and Francisca Granda Lot B GrainPro

Coffee Background

Have you ever paused to think about all of the amazing origin countries that the equator passes through? The most obvious, Ecuador, might not be the first to come to mind. Ecuador is one of the more elusive origins, likely the result of a high cost of production, which makes it more difficult to compete in a global market. A producer’s survival here depends on an ability to make a premium to cover the higher costs of labor. This is the strategy taken by Eladio Gonzalo Chamba, who cultivates coffee along with limon, orange, banana, and guava trees on a farm called Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Gonzalo, as he prefers to be called, focuses on quality, which was recognized with a 10th place finish in the 2019 Best of Loja coffee competition. The entire harvest is meticulously handpicked by Gonzalo, his wife Francisca and just two other employees. Then Gonzalo depulps, ferments, washes and gently dries on raised beds at the farm. The finished parchment is stored until it is time to mill and export. Their daughter Lorena is an agronomist and dedicates her efforts to farm management. Their son Carlos built his own roaster so he can roast and sell his dad’s coffee in the local supermarket.