About This Coffee
Farmers contributing to this lot are members of cooperatives that are allied through the RioSierra project, which is dedicated to fostering responsible and sustainable practices, promoting value chains that prioritize environmental stewardship and economic resilience for small coffee producers.
Deep in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada National Park, the RioSierra project focuses not just on responsible sourcing but also on fomenting value chains that care for the environment, uplift local communities and strengthen rural economies.
RioSierra’s main objectives are: promoting sustainable land use through agroforestry; securing quality inputs and financing for allied cooperatives; and delivering exceptional processing and export services to partners.
RioSierra is part of an ecosystem whose other partners include Ecotierra Capital, Ecotierra and ElevaFinca.
Cultivation
One of the main focuses of the RioSierra network is embedding agroforestry systems throughout the value chain. Farmers contributing to this lot, who are members of allied cooperatives, are encouraged to engage in sustainable land use and are supported in efforts to create high productivity agroforestry production models that not only have the potential to increase yields but also can generate added income through secondary production.
European Preparation (EP)
EP stands for European Preparation. EP beans are Screen 15+ with a low defect tolerance.
Coffee in Colombia
Colombia has been producing and exporting coffee renowned for their full body, bright acidity and rich aftertaste, since the early 19th century.
Colombia boasts a wide range of climates and geographic conditions that produce their own unique flavors in coffee. This also means that harvest times can vary quite a bit. In fact, between all its different regions, Colombia produces fresh crop nearly all year round.
The increasing focus on the specialty industry is changing the way traders and farmers do business. It is becoming more common for farmers to isolate the highest quality beans in their lots to market separately. These higher-quality lots are often sold under specific brands or stories.
Besides its wide variety of cup profiles, Colombia has quickly expanded its certification options over the past 10 years. The most common certifications available are Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Organic.