At Origin Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Arango Specialty Coffee

30 | El Edén

Producer Francisco Giraldo	Description Chocolate, maple syrup, sugar cane, grapes
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Caturra
Region Antioquia	Elevation 1,850 meters
Position ETA – April, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Our strong relationship with Francisco has helped us work through some particularly challenging times over the past two years. A resurgence of activity among illegal paramilitary groups in the area had a direct impact on the farmers and their families. With multiple displacements during the harvest, Francisco and his wife, Amparo, were forced to leave cherries in the fields, pack their belongings, and move the family to the nearest town in search of safety.

Francisco continues to look towards the future and it does not surprise us that he remains so dedicated in the face of adversity. He has lived through many years of armed conflict and fell victim to a landmine himself in 2009. Lucky to escape with his life, he lost one eye as well as his sense of taste and smell. However, his dedication to his coffee never faltered. He grew up working with coffee alongside his father at El Edén and chose to continue the legacy after his father passed away.

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82 | La Cienaga

At Origin, Under Contract

Producer Elena Vasquez	Description TBA
Process Washed, Sun-dried	Varietals Caturra, Colombia
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,200 meters
Position ETA – April, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Ituango, Antioquia has some of the most beautiful scenery in Colombia. Unfortunately, the remote location also provides ideal conditions for illegal armed groups and their enterprises to flourish, bringing violence to the region. Coffee farmers often find themselves in the cross fire between these groups.
In 2008, Elena Vasquez and her family had to leave their farm after one of their daughters was assassinated at their house. This tragedy was very hard to overcome, yet after 6 difficult years living near the city of Medellin, the family decided that it was time to return to their farm and start all over again. In 2014, they began to plant coffee again, but re-entering the coffee business takes time as the trees do not produce cherries for several years. As they patiently waited for their trees to mature, Elena and her family had to rely on other crops at the farm to get by.
Currently, Elena has around 8,000 coffee trees at La Cienaga, including the Caturra, Variedad Colombia, and Castillo varietals. While the trees yield plenty of cherries, the family struggles to process them as their wet mill and their drying facilities are in need of improvement. We love Elena’s coffee and have high expectations for the development of a long term relationship that will give her the opportunity to improve her facilities.

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75 | La Arboleda

At Origin

Producer Alberto Montoya	Description TBA
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position ETA – April, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Alberto grew up in the Urrao region and has many memories of working on coffee plantations. He eventually saved up enough money to purchase La Arboleda and began growing his own coffee. This proved to be a good investment as it is still home to Alberto and his wife of thirty-two years, Maria.
Aside from coffee, Alberto is also the president of the Junta de Accion Comunal in the region.

As a leader, he is always trying to improve the livelihood of the community through development and projects such as roads and bridges. He wants all the families in his community to have access to opportunities and believes direct trade (near and far) can help everyone succeed.

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89 | Bagamenton

At Origin

Producer German Garcia	Description TBA
Process Washed	Varietals Colombia, Caturra, Typica
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,300 meters
Position ETA – April, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Bagamenton has been home to the Garcia family for over 40 years. Nestled at over 2,300 meters above sea level, Bagamenton has the highest elevation of any farm that we have worked with. This above the clouds location plays a fundamental role in the quality of the coffee that is produced at the farm.

German and his siblings were raised at the farm, where they learned the production of coffee. German’s father, Francisco, used to work at the neighboring coffee farms all year round to provide for his family, meanwhile German’s mother, Bertha, took care of the kids and the farm. Sadly, his father passed away in 2006 when German was just 8 years old. As a result, the Garcia family became more dependent on the farm. They started planting more coffee and nowadays they have about 1,700 trees between Colombia, Caturra and Typica varietals.

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