The Producer

Ferney comes from very strong coffee background. His mother, Alicia Macías, runs a 33 hectare farm called Finca El Progreso, which neighbours Ferney’s own farm, La Ceja. It was inherited from his late father, Bernado Macías. His two younger brothers, Oscar and Nelson, help Ferney at his farm as well as at their mothers. La Ceja spans 5.5 hectares, with around 3 planted out with coffee. Ferney also defers praise to his wife and two young daughters, seeing coffee production as truly a family endeavour. 

Their Approach

Embracing technological advancements and guidance from his cooperative, Coocentral, as well as Colombia’s national federation of coffee growers and their offshoot, Cenicafe, Ferney is at the cutting edge of modern coffee production. They are using an Ecomil at La Ceja’s small beneficio to depulp the coffee in a manner which uses less water and allows for more controllable fermentation. He has won several awards for his coffee quality, including Cup of Excellence and the Huila Coffee Growers’ Fair, but is always respectful that coffee production involves many hands, saying "This award is in my name but it really is for my family.”

He is a trained cupper, tasting his own results as well as those of his neighbours and fellow members of the Coocentral co-operative, aiding completion of the feedback loop between what happens in the field, at the mill and ultimately in the cup. Not afraid of experimenting with coffee fermentation, he has trialled experiments including adding yeast and cocoa beans in the fermentation tank. This lot we are roasting is more traditionally produced but possesses a great depth, reminiscent of blackstrap molasses, restrained fermented notes, almond and loads of sweetness.

The Project & Exporter

It is through a project initiated by Nordic Approach and Coocentral that we have been able to buy Ferney’s coffee. At Coocentral lots are submitted by growers to be cupped and assessed on a quality basis to ensure premium payments are attained for higher scoring coffees. Ferney is on the board of directors for Coocentral, is one of many members who have actively increased their quality and production volumes thanks to the technical assistance from the coop. Of nearly 4,000 members just over 2,000 are actively delivering their fully dried, parchment coffee to Coocentral’s many purchasing stations located across various micro-regions (known as veredas) within Huila, including Gigante, Garzon, Suaza, El Pital, Agrado, Guadalupe, and Tarqui. 

As well as offering premium payments to their contributing members Coocentral support their growers in many other ways. They have contributed nearly $3,000,000 since 2005, including paying for members’ and their families’ university education, healthcare, insurance & pensions, building infrastructure on farms as well as housing, and secondary bonuses for farmers purchasing fertiliser through the group.