Coffee cultivation from small family owned farms is the backbone of production in Colombia. Banexport, a Colombian export company, works directly with many of these small farms where producers have a shared commitment for exquisite coffee processing, and loving care for their farms and the environment. Banexport helps producers gain access to technical support regarding best practices for farm management, processing the harvest, and cupping feedback, which helps producers improve the quality of their coffee. The model of collaborative effort produces traceable community blends with vibrant regional profiles. This lot comes from 4 producers (Alvaro Perdomo Ospina, Nicolas Leyton Fiesco, William Arley Cruz Bohórquez and Alipio Zúñiga Cedeño) with small farms in the municipality of Acevedo within the department of Huila. With guidance from Banexport each producer follows the same post-harvest protocols, which allows for consistent blending from their respective farms. Each producer focuses on selective picking, then floats the cherries to remove damaged and underdeveloped beans, macerates the cherries for 24 hours, depulps to remove the skin, and ferments 36 hours to remove the mucilage before washing the coffee seeds. The wet parchment is dried to 11 percent moisture over a period of 15 days on raised beds. After processing, Banexport provides crucial logistical support for things like warehousing and milling coffee for export to the international market, which provides better income for everyone to reinvest in their farms and strengthen their families’ livelihoods.
