Farm info

The town of Buesaco lies on a ridge high in the Andes mountains of the Nariño department. Promotora de Cafés de Altura has its offices, cupping lab, and warehouses there, where the co-op collects coffees from smallholders whose farms are tucked in the slopes surrounding the town.

The co-op cups coffees throughout harvest delivery to build lots that are uniform and consistent in bean size and cup profile. The Buesaco Washed lot is clean and balanced. Producers fully wash the coffee on their respective properties and deliver the coffee in parchment. Coop Especiales has a regional reputation for quality and for compensating producers according to it. The co-op employs and trains many of Buesaco’s young adults in its facilities, providing a meaningful source of local employment and on-the-job education.

The town of Buesaco hosts a lively Carnaval celebration each year that is filled with costumes and parades. Many coffee producers live on their farms and produce other crops along with coffee. Buesaco serves as their commercial hub, with many stores and offices and community attractions like a soccer field and gyms. Jose and Karen Gomez manage Promotora de Cafés de Altura and both their families have farms in the Buesaco area.

Region

Nariño

Nariño is one of Colombia’s 32 Departments. It shares a southern border with Ecuador and is home to thousands of smallholder coffee producing families. Colombia’s three ranges of Andean mountains converge in Nariño, presenting ideal altitudes and fertile soil for high grown Arabica production.

Nariño’s particular geography and proximity to coastal and land borders have historically transformed it into corridor for illicit trade routes, resulting in unwarranted violence against residents of remote mountain farms. Today, thanks to the particularly resilient and fearless spirit of Nariño’s farmers, the small region is a respected nucleus of coffee innovation.