Bolivia - Sourcing

In Bolivia, the coffee harvest generally takes place between June and October. Due to the high altitudes, steep terrain and variety of coffee plants grown, cherries ripen slowly and unevenly, requiring growers to make several passes throughout the season to ensure that only fully ripe cherries are harvested.

Agricafé is a family-run business that cultivates its own coffee on its farms and sources high-quality micro-lots from small producers in the Los Yungas and Santa Cruz regions. As pioneers of specialty coffee in South America, Agricafé was founded in 1986 by Pedro Rodriguez, who decided to follow his passion for agriculture. For 38 years, he has observed the evolution of Bolivian coffee, and today he runs the company with his daughter Daniela and son Pedro Pablo. Together, their mission is to revitalize and improve Bolivian coffee, by setting up training programs for producers and developing their own farms in these regions.

The Sol de la Mañana initiative was founded in 2014 when 10 local producers reached out to Pedro Pablo for help in accessing the specialty coffee market. Pedro Rodríguez realized that his responsibility went beyond managing his own farm; he also needed to support the producers who had been supplying them with coffee for years. After thoughtful discussions, the Rodríguez family concluded that the key to supporting these producers and reversing the country’s declining coffee production was finding a way to boost average yields. In order to earn a livable income from coffee, Bolivian farmers needed to produce around 30 bags of coffee per hectare. In response, the Rodríguez family created a curriculum to directly address this challenge, offering producers the training and skills necessary to increase yields and enhance the quality of their coffee.

We came across this lot from Carmela, Juana, and Nancy through our import partner Apex Coffee located in Montreal, Canada.