This is a very interesting question because the Obraje farm was, for many years, dedicated to plant wheat, as almost every farm in the region, but around 1992 the government decided to import wheat from Canada, what caused the small producers of the region to go bankrupt, and due to the particular characteristics of the soil and the climate conditions, they didn´t find what to produce as a substitute for the wheat. My family own the Obraje farm and I decided to try to find an alternative or this farm as well than for the whole region, initially I try planting peaches and apples, but, even though we try very hard, we did not succeed, after many years, around year 2000 I decided to try planting coffee, even though everyone suggest me not to, because of the altitude and the climate conditions of the region. Around year 2010 we realized that the coffee plants had adapted to the conditions of the region and start producing a very high quality coffee, was then when I entered in the world of the specialty coffee and start learning and working in producing a very quality coffee every year, I got very emotionalized because planting coffee could be an alternative for the small farmers of the region, and had been proved so in the hacienda El Obraje. All of this made me fall in love with coffee and the specialty coffee culture.

Our washed geisha has been the key for our expansion and our recognition worldwide and as such it is our most important coffee. This varietal has leveled the quality of the most recognized coffees of the world, it´s unique characteristics and attributes has allowed el Obraje coffee to get a name in the specialty coffee world. We expect to keep developing our geisha and expand its recognition in the community.

As said earlier our vision of coffee extends beyond just delivering a product. We believe a huge part of the process is being able to do so in a way that allows as to grow as a community and to expand integrally as producers adding value through relationships in conjunction with social and environmental responsibility. At hacienda el Obraje we only use 40% of the farm´s extension to gr ow coffee, the other 60% devoted to a reforestation process. We believe our coffee encompasses the value behind preserving the environment and we are certain the self-regulation of the environmentally harmonized production is a key factor in achieving a great coffee every year. We are working to make Obraje a reference farm for all the coffee growers of our region and country, and as such, we try to share this view with the coffee producers we encounter. Finally, we hope to be a farm renowned not just for the excellent coffee we produce, but for our social and environmental responsibility, we want to be a must-visit for every coffee lover that comes to the country. Our hope is to keep developing the relationships we have acquired and build upon that to gain recognition and be a known player in the community. We also want to give visibility to everything that lies behind the delicious coffee we drink in the morning. We want people to realize that the coffee they are drinking represents a lot of dedication and passion.

Well, we actually work as a group of producers and normally our dally work depends of the month of the year and the stage of the coffee plants, normally our harvest time is between the months of June and September, but it may differ a little due to climate changers. This is the hardest time for us because we have to keep close control of the grade of ripeness of the beans so they can be harvest, and that means that we have to constantly walk through the lots checking it, at the same time we have to control harvest to make sure that the workers are picking just the right beans, we have to weight the harvest of each worker ant carry it to the wet mill, to initiate the process we have decide to use in each lot. During the other months of the year, we constantly walk the fields to see how the plants are doing and take measurements when required, meanly the time of fertilizing and the product to be used.

As coffee producers, we want to build strong relations with our clients and roasters in order to be able to know them and receive their feedback, so we keep perfecting the process of catering to their specific needs and to produce exactly the type of coffee they want, as well to let them know us as a reliable partner whom is capable of guaranty them a high quality product constantly, every time they require it. We want our buyers to come to Colombia and realize that there is much more to a cup of coffee than just the cup that warms them in the morning. We have managed to grow by developing deep relationships with vastly different people around the world. From the people that help us on the harvesting and processing of our coffee to the roasters that allow us to deliver that cup of coffee to the final consumer. We think of coffee as a tool to bring people together and that exactly is what we want to have with our clients.

I have drunk coffee all my life, but the first time I drank specialty coffee, it made the difference. I could never go back to drinking the coffee I use to drink. I started producing specialty coffee because I wanted to share that feeling with as much people as possible. Particularly within the country since, at the time, it was rare to find specialty coffee being served in the country’s coffee shops despite the massive production and exportation quality coffee from the country. However, it soon became much more than that, I realized by producing coffee and being able to learn from the market I could really make a difference in the community. That is why we have tried to share the way we produce coffee with people around the region and we try to share the knowledge than can help them develop as producers. I want to make our region renowned as one of the best in the world when it comes about quality coffee producing and responsibility to the environment and the community.

I think there are two things that are very important to us from our partners the nature of our relationship with them and the logistics that will allow us to better satisfy their expectations. Firstly, we want to develop a deep connection and long-term relations with our partners, we would love for them to visit the farm and to get to know us as producers and as such, develop a strong commercial and human relationship. Additionally, from a logistics standpoint, there are two elements that we consider crucial. Firstly, we highly value any feedback they can provide about our coffee in order to keep filling their expectations and strengthening our commercial partnership, as well as being able to give them constant information about the coffee they buy and its process. I would like also to build a relation in which I can know in advance how much coffee and what process are they are interested on, so I can process and reserve this coffee. This would help a lot in programming our production and sales.

Finally, we hope to be a farm renowned not just for the excellent coffee we produce, but for our social and environmental responsibility, we want to be a must-visit for every coffee lover that comes to the country. Our hope is to keep developing the relationships we have acquired and build upon that to gain recognition and be a known player in the community. We also want to give visibility to everything that lies behind the delicious coffee we drink in the morning. We want people to realize that the coffee they are drinking represents a lot of dedication and passion.