Guillermo Lomas
CafExporto continue to expand their operation, including coffees from talented producers across Ecuador, those who have great potential to produce high-end speciality lots, but haven’t had access to the market for them. During their travels in Ecuador, the CafExporto team have been shocked by the incredible quality of lots they found being sold into the national market, losing transparency and denying the producer any chance of adding value to their work. Guillermo Lomas has only been growing coffee for 9 years, having previously only grown corn and beans on his farm just outside the town of Nanegal, in the Pinchincha region.
Nanegal is only about a two hour drive from Ecuadorean capital Quito, so Guillermo’s cost of production is rather higher than in more rural regions to the south. Guillermo had previously been able to export some of his coffee on the speciality market, but the success of his work with CafExporto, both in terms of the volume he was able to export and the price paid, has convinced him to dedicate himself to coffee.
Since we last purchased coffee from Guillermo, he has planted a greater area of the farm with new seedlings provided by CafExporto, and fully embraced Juan Peña’s protocols in fertilisation, fermentation and drying. Guillermo’s coffee was a highlight for us on our first visit to Cuenca, all the way back in November 2021.
One cup contrasted starkly from the sparkly and delicate Typicas on the rest of the table; deep, rich and creamy, with tropical fruit aromas. We found this character in several Sidra varietal cups during the trip, clearly showcasing the intense sweetness of its Bourbon parentage.
CafExporto
We’re excited to continue our collaboration with Juan Peña, owner of Hacienda La Papaya and CafExporto. Since meeting in Aarhus in 2015, we have purchased many small experimental lots, continuing a conversation through high quality coffee.
Over the past couple of years, Juan has expanded his work, exporting more Hacienda La Papaya coffee to Europe together with us, and starting the CafExporto project, working with farms across Ecuador. We are excited to continue our collaboration with Juan, and to share his excellent work with a wider audience. We were able to visit Juan and his team in November 2021, both at the Hacienda and at CafExporto’s base in the nearby city of Cuenca, towards the very end of harvest.
