A dream come true
The story of the farm begins with Felipe's grandfather, Gildardo Contreras. Gildardo hoped to own his own coffee farm one day, and in 2012 his dream came true. Gildardo had the opportunity to purchase 40 hectares of land near Antigua in 2012 and quickly realised that the land was ideal for growing coffee. He started by planting the Bourbon 300 variety in 2014 and then expanded his production to the Geisha variety in 2016 by installing a drip irrigation system. This was a real success, with the first Geisha coffee scoring 88.5 points!
Sustainability at the heart of the farm
By 2019, his son Felipe aims to be fully sustainable. He has started to implement new production standards, always keeping an eye on the market and trends in the speciality coffee scene. Felipe has developed a production system based on a symbiotic relationship between the ecosystem and the coffee plant to produce cups with a complex profile.
He then introduced new practices to protect the environment on the farm. He was inspired by permaculture, with shade trees between the coffee trees, avocado trees, natural irrigation systems and livestock to produce compost.
Felipe and Gildardo do not use agrochemicals or insecticides.
To this end, they have set up a biofabric, a place where they produce their own biofertilisers, insecticides and fungicides. Their aim is to be as self-sufficient as possible and to develop a production system that allows them to adapt easily. As a result of their work, they have significantly reduced the cost of producing coffee and avocados on the farm.
Respect for people
To retain their staff, Felipe and Gildardo offer a salary that is 30% higher than the market rate. And their support goes even further! They train them in selective harvesting and allow them to take part in their agricultural regeneration programme to implement a phytosanitary plan to make coffee production more profitable.
