The Producer

Jose Mayo has been surrounded by coffee from a young age. His parents historically were producing coffee using fairly rudimentary practices, processing the cherries using the ‘dry’ or ‘natural’ method, but around 16 years ago having inherited farmland Jose has been branching out into the specialty coffee market and has invested in the infrastructure needed to produce washed coffees. His brothers also pursued a career in coffee production, and in their family the primary source of income is from selling quality coffee. The drive to improve farm practices and implement new systems is admirable, and Jose and Fany receive support from Caravela’s PECA team to ensure they are well guided in making these decisions.

The Farm & Their Approach 

The farm, Finca Los Gemelos, spans 25 hectares, but coffee is only cultivated on around 16% of the land. Bourbon and Typica Mejorado are their primary varieties, but they also have some Caturra and Pacamara trees. The farm is a great example of thriving biodiversity, with avocadoes, cacao, yuca and bananas planted amongst the coffee. They have various tropical birds and coatis living amongst the crops, with cattle roaming free on the land as well. 

They use a hygrometer to ensure conditions for their raised beds in their drying tunnels are optimally dialled in, with the parchment coffee being tested by a digital moisture meter to determine when drying is finished.

They avoid any forms of deforestation and hunting on the farm to better preserve the biodiversity found in the region. Their organic approach to a holistic agro-foresty system is laudable, and they are a member of the ACRIM co-operative, which as an offshoot of the APECAP association of ecological coffee producers in the canton of Palanda in Ecuador’s Zamora-Chinchipe province. 

Whilst Jose tends to pick coffee alongside hired workers during the harvest, his partner Fany and their children oversee integral steps like cherry reception and subsequent depulping, processing and drying of the parchment. 

Last year Jose was one contributing producer whose coffee composed the regional blend named ‘Altos de Saraguallas’ that we bought from Caravela and have pursued again this year. Given an uptick in quality his 2022 lots have been isolated and offered to us as a single family lot, which we’re thrilled to be able to share with you. 

The Exporter

Caravela Coffee, with whom we have been lucky to travel with in Ecuador, are a Carbon Neutral B Corp with a boots-on-the-ground approach, employing a team of agronomists to run their PECA training program. This form of farmer outreach is extremely valuable, not just in raising the quality and quantity of a producer’s outturns through dispensing agronomical advice, but in predicting yields, planning and financial support.

Ecuador boasts a negative carbon footprint for green coffee production, with -0.5kg carbon emmitted per kilo of green produced, thanks in part to the native forestry maintained and protected on coffee farms acting as a carbon sink, as well as minimal use of fertilisers and agro-inputs.

Caravela have been working in Ecuador since 2007 and now support a network of over 200 individual coffee farmers and families. Their main buying hub for the south is in Catamayo. After being cupped and graded, blended lots are composed and the parchment coffee is moved to Quito to be hulled and have the quality refined and homogenised at Caravela’s own dry mill.