Jose Angelino Landaverde

Angelinos journey into the world of coffee began with his father, who grew the Pacas variety at a time when quality was neither a trend nor a focus for farmers in the region. When leaf rust hit the region in 2012, he lost all hopes of succeeding as a coffee producer, but somehow found a glimmer of hope in specialty coffee. He decided to lean more and realized he could find hope and growth in this market. Today, Angelino says, “If its not quality coffee, better not grow it”

When he focused on specialty coffee, the family’s income improved, and he was able to reinvest in the farm and open another business. Angelino manages the farm, his wife Rosa Elida runs the other business, a roasting and packaging service, and their children help with farm activities, such as harvesting and supervising the pulping process. Since they do not have a washing facility on site, they process the coffee in the familys washing facility, which is also used by Angelinos uncles and cousins. Jose Angelino says they pick the cherries that have reached the right level of ripeness, and all the coffee is sorted by hand to remove green, unripe cherries. He typically carries out the natural process for the Pacamara and Gesha varieties, and Pacas for the washed coffees. The cherries for the natural process are fermented anaerobically in clean bags and sacks in the shade for 60 hours, avoiding direct contact with sunlight. After this time, the cherries are spread out on the raised beds to dry. The washed coffee, on the other hand, is harvested the same day, fooded, and fermentation takes place in concrete piles for 12 to 16 hours, depending on weather conditions. They are often washed and rinsed two or three times before being taken to the drying site.

Jose Angelino says that the varieties he grows today are adapted to the area, soil, and weather; he can handle them well. Therefore, he is proud of the quality he currently produces, the good recognition he receives for it, and the satisfactory results. He has found that the commercial coffee quality does not cover the production costs, mainly because the farm is in an area thatis difficult to access, which increases the production costs.