Juan Saldarriaga manages 2 farms, La Claudina and El Encanto, near to Bolivar in Antioquia. His house sits at the bottom of the farms’ steep slopes, which span 60 hectares each with a combined coffee-planted area of just 42 hectares. The remaining land is devoted to natural reserve and forest. He took on the farms from his parents in 2012, and employs 45 pickers at the height of the season, from September to January, with 3 permanent staff.
Juan is involved at every stage of production, from working the land through to processing and the final exporting. Drying the coffee is par- ticularly challenging in this environment due to the high humidity and temperatures; Juan combatted this by constructing covered raised beds and investing in a machine that utilises cold air for drying. His innova- tive drying techniques have proven intrinsic to the standout quality he achieves with his coffees.
Seasonal buying is about seeing coffee as a crop not a commodity, buying in harmony with the growing seasons to enjoy coffee at its best. This kind of buying has always been the backbone of our business and it’s something we’ve improved and refined every year.
