It has definitely been another wild and exciting year for all of us!
Coffee prices continue to surf a volatile market affected by climate challenges and macro-economic shocks. On the bright side, coffee quality is improving in Colombia as producers learn how to control and prevent roya problems of years past, but constant rain continues to make drying difficult and the increased planting of Castillo will be something that will keep all of us busy. Volumes are still not at historical levels, though we are encouraged by the entrepreneurial spirit of some of our best producers.
We challenged ourselves by working with a large farm, Hacienda El Roble in Santander, an organic farm with a interesting collection of both heirloom and rare varieties—more than 60! Together with El Roble’s young and energetic management team we helped implement better picking, new depulpers, advanced solar drying, and better storage, and we saw consistent 4-5 point improvements in average cup-scores. We continue to learn with them as they experiment and collect information at every level of production. Look forward to our 2nd Cupping Extravaganza event in March, where we will cup the best of the rare varieties that Hacienda El Roble has to offer.
This year Caravela began to import coffee from new origins, Guatemala and Bolivia, and strengthened our existing relationships in Ecuador. For 2012 we expect to further develop these as we also begin new programs with exceptional producers in El Salvador and Honduras.
Pesebre in the home of Manuel Melenge, Timbio, Cauca
In 2011, Virmax started PECA, an education and training program for coffee producers in Huila and Cauca. The results of this project are already being seen with improved coffee quality and consistency from the producers of the pilot project.
After 3 years of hard work and investment at Belgravia, our experimental coffee farm in Popayan, it will produce its first harvest early in 2012. We are very excited as the lessons learned on this farm will help us provide better advice in the field. Belgravia’s crop of 10 different varieties will be primarily used as a source of seeds for our producer-partners.
We have also begun the process of starting an independent US based non-profit called the Coffee Grower Education Project with the mission of “devising, implementing and otherwise supporting educational programs to teach coffee farmers enhanced agricultural techniques that will assist them in improving their livelihoods by producing higher-quality, environmentally sustainable harvests.” Our long-term intention is to take what we are learning from PECA and apply it to other producing countries while providing an avenue for donor individuals, companies and organizations to participate in the process. You’ll hear more about this in the coming months. Let us know if you’re interested in contributing or participating!
On the technical front, we’ve been diligently working on our new IT system. In the near future expect some exciting changes in the way that we all share cupping results, producer information, interact with your position, releases, invoices and more.
And you thought 2011 was exciting? 2012 will surely be even better! Thanks for your support and encouragement in the past year; you can count on us to continue to do our best to establish and nourish solid partnerships as we embark on new adventures in 2012.
Best Wishes,
Virmax / Caravela
