Peach, Strawberry, Walnut

Producer: Small Holder Farmers
Origin: Caranavi, Bolivia
Varietal: Catuai, Caturra
Elevation: 1700 masl

This smallholder selection is part of the Sol De La Mañana program run by Agricafe in Bolivia. The program is designed to work like a small school, and it takes 7 years for them to graduate. The producers are guided through every step of coffee farming, starting with the nursery, planting, harvesting, pest prevention, pruning as well as financial management. The idea is for them to learn best coffee practices and to be able to improve their lifestyle significantly, improving coffee cultivation in the country, and motivating others to go back to coffee farming. Currently the producers are initiating year 6, learning about pruning, which is a major and very significant part of coffee farming, producers never applied in traditional coffee farming.

The Region

The Los Rodriguez farms are situated in the ‘Los Yungas’ region around Caranavi, La Paz department, and Samaipata, Santa Cruz department. Los Yungas is the main traditional coffee growing region of Bolivia, while Samaipata is typically known for its wine production.

Until the late 19th century, land in Bolivia was owned by wealthy families and barely used for farming but after a reformation by the government in order to increase production in Bolivia and develop new regions, the land was divided and given to local producers, assigning each of them around 8-10 ha. However it was not until around 60 years ago that Bolivia started with commercial coffee production. In that time, coffee farms were managed in a very traditional way, meaning that producers would leave the farms in natures’ hands and only act during harvest season to pick cherries.

Bolivia’s harvest is between June and November, while the tropical climate and high altitude from the Andes range provides an excellent terroir to cultivated arabica. These optimum conditions when paired with a correct process, selective picking, delicate and controlled drying, and an offset harvest time, has enabled Bolivia to stand out on the international market for the past years.

About Agricafe

The Fincas Los Rodriguez journey began 35 years ago when founder and former banker Pedro Rodriguez pursued his passion in coffee. Initially starting out as a commercial enterprise, Pedro went on to become on of the pioneers of specialty coffee in Bolivia. Pedro owns and operates an export company called Agricafe with his daughter Daniela and son Pedro Pablo. In order to grow volumes, in 2012 Agricafe acquired land in Caranavi, Los Yungas with their dream of starting their own farm, Finca La Linda. They now own a total of 12 farms, 8 in Caranavi and 4 in Samaipata.