Our Offerings - Page 2 of 3 - 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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84 | La Soledad

Under Contract

Producer Ivan Montoya	Description Floral, lemongrass, maple syrup
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position ETA – May, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

A native of Urrao, Antioquia, Ivan began his coffee endeavors after inheriting a piece of land from his grandparents called La Soledad. Over the last 14 years, Ivan has developed about 3,000 Chiroso trees and credits the elevation of the farm, over 2,000 meters above sea level, as the secret ingredient to the high quality coffee he produces. In addition, the fertile soil allows for diversification as he also produces avocados and naranjilla.

Ivan is certainly proud of the coffee he produces, but he is even more humbled that it allows him to provide for his aging grandparents.

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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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07 | El Naranjo

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Producer Evelio Bados	Description Sugar cane, molasses, chocolate, stone fruit
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,800 meters
Position Sold out	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

El Naranjo began over 35 years ago as just a vision. Evelio invested in an untouched lot and worked very hard to clear the land and eventually plant coffee. He was working double duty during this time as he was also employed at other farms in order to provide for his family. After watching his dream come to fruition, Evelio hopes that his children will continue his legacy and produce coffee at El Naranjo in the future. For this reason, he continues to look for opportunities that will allow for sustainability and improved quality of life. It is important to him that his children and El Naranjo are successful for generations to come.

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41 | La Mina

Under Contract

Producer Henry Martinez	Description Honey, dark chocolate, plum
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position Under Contract	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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57 | Santa Ana

Under Contract

Producer Brayan Meneses	Description Sweet, maple syrup, grape, floral
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position Under contract	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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14 | Bellavista

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Producer Albeiro Solarte	Description Maple syrup, bakers chocolate, stone fruit
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,850 meters
Position Sold out	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

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Producer Clodomiro Morales	Description Floral, cherry, caramel, honey
Process Washed	Varietals Caturra, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,000 meters
Position Sold out	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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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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