Colombia Project

Finca el Encanto

“The people crazy enough to think they can change

the world are the ones who do.”

-Steve Jobs

Our Colombian Project started in late 2018 over a coffee with a friend. He wanted us to meet Lorena Bermudez, the daughter of Ramiro, whose father owns a coffee farm in Colombia. At that time he was earning less than the price of production and going backwards financially. Ramiro was looking at a bleak future with the local co-op offering very low prices for commodity coffee. We visited the farm in Manzanares in May of 2019 with the hope of changing practices on farm, implementing new processing methods and varietals in hopes of raising quality to a speciality coffee standard. Never could we have dreamed what we have accomplished in such a short period. Ramiro entered coffee into the first ever Manzanares Coffee Competition and placed 5th overall and only missing 1st by 1 point. We scored his coffee an 86.5 and were able to secure 600 kilos to export back to Australia.

We have been amazed at the popularity of the coffee as well as the connection our journey has with the community here. We are already working on the next harvest and have quadrupled our order and are even happier to announce Ramiro is now being paid fairly for his amazing cofffee and building a thriving farm. Our links with the family run deep and we look forward to what we can achieve well into the future. Through a love for the product both at origin and here in Australia and having direct trade producers working with roasters we hope the entire supply chain can benefit. Financially for the producer and in quality for the consumer.

Our relationship has turned from helping just one farmer in one town into a much bigger goal. We want to help the town of Manzanares and all the farmers in the region connect with roasters in Australia and the world. Covid-19 has hit Colombia especially hard and non-profits on the ground waking with community have struggled to keep up. We are now supporting the Fundación Esparza Monforte which is a non-profit organization, created in Manzanares, Caldas - Colombia, in 2001. They serve people with disabilities, older adults, children, youth, women, and families. 10% of sales from our Ramiro Bermudez single origin will also now go back to them to help feed those less fortunate.

Find out more: http://esparzamonforte.org/wordpress/

For years the Guerrillas of South America have done damage to communities and families. We are setting out to correct the wrong the only way we can. By sharing the story of the farmers, producers and people of Manzanares we hope to keep the coffee industry producing better quality harvest on harvest.

#BuenosGuerrillas