Our Offerings - Arango Specialty Coffee

16 | El Plan

Producer Patricia Benitez	Description Sweet, caramel, cherry, chocolate
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental Terminals, New Jersey

Coffee has always been a way of life for Patricia. She and her siblings grew up on her father’s farm, helping with the day to day activities. After he passed away, Patricia inherited a portion of his farm where she started El Plan twelve years ago.

Coming full circle, she now provides for her family with coffee production. However, current coffee prices make production at a profit difficult. Patricia sees an opportunity in our business model to make coffee production sustainable. With deep roots in the industry, she wants to see farmers succeed.

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135 | El Maco

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Zoila Rojas	Description Silky, stone fruit, Sugar cane, milk chocolate
Process White Honey	Varietals Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,000 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Born and raised in the Santa Marta region of Nariño, Colombia, Zoila still lives in the same community at the age of 67. Alongside her husband, she began growing coffee at El Maco forty-two years ago and the two of them raised their two children there. After he passed away in 2019, Zoila moved to the city of Bogotá with her daughter. After a few months, she decided to go back to the farm and continue growing coffee. Today, El Maco is planted with approximately 7,000 trees of the Colombia Varietal.

We started to work with Zoila in 2022. After cupping her coffee we loved the profile and saw immediate potential to develop a long term relationship. Zoila is very excited about working with the same partners year over year and show the improvements that she can make.

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06 | El Placer

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Ruberto Martinez	Description Caramel, milk chocolate, stone fruit
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,800 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental Terminals, New Jersey

As one of ten children, Tino was raised growing coffee alongside his siblings. He considers coffee farming a way of life, not just a job. It comes as no surprise that he is now continuing the tradition with his wife and three kids.

He believes that relationships are the key to making the coffee industry sustainable and is committed to investing the time and effort needed so the generations to come will prosper while continuing the tradition.

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121 | Santa Marta Community Lot

Afloat

Producer Various	Description Caramel, chocolate, honey, stone fruit, cherry
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,800 to 2,000 meters
Position ETA November, 2022	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Santa Marta is a small coffee farming community located in the Nariño department in the south of Colombia. The average output of every farm per year is about 10 bags of green coffee. After cupping these coffees for the first time this year, we saw the opportunity to work with the community. The coffees showed great complexity and sweetness as well as consistency from farm to farm. We believe that having these small farms so close together in the same region plays a big role in the consistency and uniformity of the coffees.

Santa Marta Community lot is comprised by 25 small farms located between 1,800 and 2,000 meters above sea level

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104 | Los Meneses

Afloat

Producer Ramon Castillo	Description Sweet, stone fruit, cherry, cocoa
Process Washed	Varietals Caturra, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,200 meters
Position ETA November, 2022	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

At 2,200 meters above sea level, Los Meneses is in the clouds. This elevation has allowed Ramon to produce healthy Caturra trees as the cooler climate helps protect the plants from common diseases. However, in his 40 years at the farm, he remembers a time when it was too cold to grow coffee. The family focused on producing potatoes, cilantro, celery, and yuca. As time progressed, and temperatures started to warm up, they were able to start cultivating coffee as well. In addition to the Caturra trees, Ramon also produces the F4 varietal.
For Ramon, the biggest step towards further improving the quality of his coffee is upgrading his drying facility.

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57 | Santa Ana

Afloat

Producer Brayan Meneses	Description Sweet, maple syrup, grape, floral
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position ETA November, 2022	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

At 31 years of age, Brayan is part of the new generation of coffee growers. He is one of the youngest farmers we work with, but that does not mean he is lacking in knowledge. He learned everything he knows about coffee from his grandfather and has fond memories of going to help in the coffee fields after school.

In addition to his hands-on coffee education, Brayan also completed school as a computer technician and wants to pursue a degree in agronomy. With this higher grade of education, he is able to look at the industry from a different perspective. He saw the need to shift from more traditional coffee harvesting to specialty coffee production about 4 years ago and is using his knowledge to improve quality on every level. Since then, he has participated in several competitions in the region over the last couple of years and has placed in the top 10 every time.

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41 | La Mina

Afloat

Producer Henry Martinez	Description Honey, dark chocolate, plum
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position Afloat – ETA: November, 2022	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Ask Henry Martinez to describe the coffee industry and he will tell you, “Coffee is a blessing for all of us” and that he owes everything he has to hard work and coffee. He can recall good years and bad years, but is quick to note that lately the bad years are overwhelming the good ones. Coffee prices have been very low even though the cost of production keeps climbing.

After getting married to his wife Ricardina, Henry bought La Mina from his father. Through hard work and carefully managed expenses, he was able to pay off the farm in two years. While he originally planted caturra varietals, he found out after only 5 years how susceptible that variety is to leaf rust.

Now La Mina is planted with castillo varietals and focused on the production of specialty coffee as Henry sees this as an important opportunity to reduce the volatility in coffee prices. He knows that if we can develop strong relationships with customers over time, he can concentrate on his craft without worrying if he is going to break even at the end of the harvest.

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14 | Bellavista

Afloat

Producer Albeiro Solarte	Description Maple syrup, bakers chocolate, stone fruit
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,850 meters
Position Afloat – ETA November, 2022	Warehouse Continental Terminals, New Jersey

Albeiro and his nine siblings grew up at Finca Bellavista. He and four of his brothers still live at the farm today, caring for both the coffee and their aging parents. They have fond childhood memories and learned everything they know about coffee from their now 96 year old father.

While Albeiro takes pride in growing excellent coffee, providing his parent’s with a comfortable lifestyle in their golden years is the ultimate reward for his hard work. He sees potential in our business model and hopes that this move towards sustainability will allow him to grow old at Finca Bellavista as well.

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102 | Los Gusmanes

Afloat

Producer Clodomiro Morales	Description Floral, cherry, caramel, honey
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,000 meters
Position Afloat – ETA: November, 2022	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

After inheriting Los Gusmanes from his father, Clodomiro wanted to continue operating it as a self-sufficient farm. He is very conscious about the environmental impact of producing coffee and is working to be a clean producer of coffee. He repurposes the coffee pulp as fertilizer and also has a filtration system for the water used in coffee processing.

Clodomiro also grows sugar cane, yuca, corn, potatoes, and scallions. These crops provide both food for the family as well as a second source of income. He believes that this diversification makes him better at growing coffee because he has more resources. We are excited to work side by side with him as he continues towards his goals.

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17 | La Esmeralda

Afloat

Producer Arquímedes España	Description Honey, cherry, milk chocolate, caramel
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,800 meters
Position Afloat – ETA: November, 2022	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

At just two and a half hectares, La Esmeralda is a small farm. Nevertheless, it is home to Arquímedes, his wife, Tatiana, and their young daughter. They are proud of the effort invested to transform this property into both their business and home.

Arquímedes is aware that every detail matters when producing coffee and is continuously planning upgrades for La Esmeralda, starting with the addition of more drying beds. His goals are to increase efficiency and further improve quality. He participated in the Cup of Excellence competition in the past and hopes to return again.

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