New Oriente is a region in which coffee has been cultivated exclusively by small producers since the 1950’s. In the 1980’s, responding to the increasing demand for specialty coffee, the region took off. Today, with virtually every mountain back yard a coffee farm, what was one of Guatemala’s poorest and most isolated areas is now vibrant and growing. Located over what was once a volcanic range, its soil is made from metamorphic rock. This makes it balanced in minerals and very different from Guatemala’s volcanic regions, which have all seen vol- canic activity since coffee was first planted.
Francisco Amadeo Palencia Rivas purchased this land in 1992, at that time a 55 hectare plot. Year by year he obtained more land and today he cultivates 540 hectares. Currently, his farm (Finca Cascajal) serves as a corridor for extension and trans- fer of agricultural techniques and technology, both for produc- ers of the area and for rural development programs.
Through the aid of the UTZ Certified program and his entrepreneurial vision, he not only produces coffee of the highest quality, but is also a model for Socially and Environmentally responsible agriculture.
The post Roastmaster Comments: El Cascajal—Guatemala appeared first on Dunn Bros Coffee.
