Colombia
Nariño
Karen Gomez
Villa Luciana
Gesha
Natural
August–September
Apple, Caramel, Honey, Peach, Vanilla
2200 meters
N/A
25 kg
SOLD OUT
Karen and Jose Gomez run the Promotora Cafe de Altura in Buesaco, the cooperative that builds several community lots and microlots Ally sources from Nariño. Villa Luciana is named for Karen and Jose’s daughter Luciana.
Villa Luciana is just twenty minutes outside of the town of Buesaco, past the Buesaquito “barrio” or suburbs. Karen’s family has over fifty members, some working as professionals in different parts of Colombia with families and kids, while others remain where the family’s roots are, in the mountains between Buesaco and the city of Pasto, the capital of the Nariño department. Karen’s father, Hermes Chávez, is a retired livestock trader, known as a “ganadero.” His six brothers have also devoted the greatest part of their lives to the agroindustry: grains, plants, vegetables and coffee.
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 corridors 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.
