Banexport: How has Banexport collaborated with you to improve the quality of your coffee?
Julian Palomino: We have collaborated with Banexport in different ways. They provided training and support from the agronomist and the coffee cupper.
Thanks to their recommendations, we modified several stages of the process. For instance, we are picking purple beans only instead of red beans for Castillo variety, so we obtained better cupping scores because the coffee is sweeter. Also, we extended the fermentation from 12 hours to 20 hours to determine the hour difference, we analysed samples of the cherries using a Fermaestro. And we also modified the parabolic system to have more control of the airflow, developing a more ventilated and slower process.
Banexport: Could you describe to us your family environment?
Julian Palomino: My family consists of my wife Maria Teresa Paz (52 years old) and our son Oscar Eduardo Realpe Paz (31 years old).
Banexport: How long have you been producing coffee?
Julian Palomino: I have three siblings; I am the second child. I come from a family that raised us with good values; my parents were very loving and hard working.
When I grew up, and I had to decide a career path for the undergraduate studies I chose agriculture. When I finished, I did two years of professional experience, but the experience that was crucial for me to become a coffee farmer was finding a job in which I had to provide support to coffee producers, it was back then when I decided to buy a piece of land, and I quit the job to grow coffee, fruits, and flowers at my farm. When I started out the farm I met my wife Maria Teresa Paz, my companion. We share all the duties of the farm, and she just reassured me about my decision to be a farmer as she comes from a family of coffee growers. We have been married for the last 20 years, and we have a son Oscar Eduardo. We work altogether and every achievement belongs to the three of us we have been successful in different competitions that we have applied to this just adds another level of commitment to your profession because you are aiming to improve and strive for the best continually. At the moment thanks to our success we are renovating the family house on our farm located in El Tambo, and we are very excited about it. This is the first time we are reinvesting in the wellbeing of the family because before that we were reinvesting everything sowing more coffee. We feel that we are starting a new chapter in our lives. Our dream now is to travel abroad to visit one of the countries that buy our coffees.
Banexport: Why do you employ the formerly described process?
Julian Palomino: Quality is our aim, we always keep it in mind. Every harvesting season we prepare in advance, we hire the best coffee pickers because it is necessary to make sure that they will collect ripe beans only. On the other hand, we built a bigger and more ventilated drying system (as we explained before) and we extended the fermentation for the cherries to develop more flavours.
Banexport: How long have you been producing coffee?
Maria Teresa Paz: I have been a coffee producer since 35 years ago. My parents were also coffee farmers, and from an early age, I learnt about coffee production, I have kept in mind every stage of the process. I remember that my father used to say that coffee was a blessing and it pays off every effort you invest in it.
Around seven years ago, my husband and I bought a farm in Totoró municipality even though we already had one in El Tambo. We have obtained very good results in cupping scores with coffee produced in Totoró, and we obtained good prices. With the profits that we made from selling our coffee to the enterprise, we are renovating El Tambo farmhouse, which for us is an achievement!
Banexport: How long have you been producing coffee?
Oscar E. Realpe: Since I was a child, my mother and Julian have worked on the coffee production. I remember that they used to help other producers and we used to travel to El Tambo where we have a farm with a small coffee crop. In 2011, we bought a bigger farm for growing coffee only in Totoró, and according to Banexport’s evaluation, our coffee obtained an excellent cupping score, which is rewarding for us. We challenge ourselves daily to keep improving the quality of our product.
I considered coffee production as a great life path that is why I am learning about cupping. I want to get to know in depth the attributes of my coffee to keep improving our process.
