Key origin info:

Producer: Luz Maribel Chilatra
Region: Tolima, Colombia
Altitude: Around 1700 masl

Varietal: Pink Bourbon
Process: Fully washed and dried in parabolic solar dryer

Exporter: Siruma Coffee | Importer: Falcon Speciality

Cup profile: Juicy body, white peach & pear drops

Length of partnership: 2nd purchase from Mirolindo farm 24/25 run by Luz Mari and her husband Wilson

More about Luz Maribel and her coffee:

Luz Maribel Chilatra is a young grower from the Ortega municipality in Tolima department of Central Colombia. Together with her husband Wilson Culma they purchased their farm Mirolindo around 10 years ago. The farm now spreads over five hectares of land, two of which are planted with coffee and the rest is preserved as forest.

Luz Maribel looks after drying of all the coffee processed at the farm and also manages her own piece of land, planted with only Pink Bourbon variety trees, which is where this lot comes from. Luz Maribel picks her coffee with help from her neighbours and processes it using the washed method executed with utmost precision and attention. And the result makes for a stunningly juicy and floral cup.

Luz Maribel’s processing and drying method:

During harvest, cherry picking passes are made every 18 days, and only ripe cherries are carefully selected for picking. Once harvested, cherries are floated in clean water to remove under-ripes and the good cherries are left to rest for 14 hours. Subsequently, the coffee is de-pulped and fermented with a small amount of water for 48 hours. The coffee is then washed twice before drying first in direct sunlight in pieces of cloth for 24 hours, and then in parabolic solar dryers for around 15-20 days or until target moisture is achieved.

The story of Cafe Agrario Association:

Both Luz Maribel and Wilson are active members of the Cafe Agrario association and work closely with our export partner Siruma.

As Siruma explain, tthe association was initially set up with a political purpose by a leader with roots in the guerrilla warfare/conflict that Tolima was known for in previous years. As such, the association didn’t have any intentions to look for commercial activities or seek help from the government or other entities that work to help growers improve coffee yields and/or quality. Initially this did not pose any problems for its members, but as time passed by and more associations started to form in the region, Cafe Agrario’s members understood such associations were built to benefit their members by assessing these kinds of help.

After 6 years Cafe Agrario changed its leader and its course and started to receive help from entities from NGOs. The progress of the association and the coffee growers regarding quality and quantity was huge. As a consequence, the leader sought to increase sales exponentially and started to sell the members’ coffee on credit. Unfortunately, sales were made to companies that were were insolvent and couldn’t make their payments which resulted in the coffee growers’ not receiving their payments for coffee they had delivered.

Even though all the 35 families that are part of this association suffered hardship as a consequences of these failed sales, the growers continue to produce coffee - striving to find new ways to add value to their product. They have pivoted to specialty coffee, looking to increase their income by producing better quality coffee. And though there is certainly potential for high quality production, there is need to improve knowledge and knowhow of the processes needed to produce coffee exportable within the speciality market. And this is where Siruma can help. Not only by providing support through their sustainability and agronomy team but also by purchasing their coffee and being their direct link to the said quality focused market.

The association has now been working with Siruma for 3.5 years and their progress has been significant, where both the coffee quality and the logistical and organisational skills of the group have seen incredible development. Initially, the association’s insufficient infrastructure and knowledge on quality analysis of their coffees meant that they weren’t fully aware of the value of their product and accepted base prices from their buyers even though when appropriately assessed their coffee had the potential to benefit from a much higher price within the global marketplace. With Siruma's help they have developed the capacity to do appropriate physical analysis of their coffee and now know the different varieties their farms have in order to process separately and sell sought after single variety lots.

Furthermore, through Siruma’s connections, the association has participated in various social equity workshops led by the non-profit Bean Voyage and several of its members had the opportunity to attend (with expenses covered) the Women Powered Coffee Summit held in Mexico. As many of their members shared during our visit and meeting with the association in November 2024, both these experiences have had a transformative impact on their confidence and the role of women in general in the association and coffee production.

As we’ve witnessed first hand during out visit, the association’s members are very driven and proud to work with Siruma, thankful for the support and trust they’ve built over the last few years, making them hopeful for the future of their community.