In 2004 Juan de Dios Castillo Arauz decided to do what he always dreamed of doing – he bought a coffee farm. Juan de Dios is an agronomist by trade and after years of working with his father’s farm and for a local cooperative he bought El Pastoral which was a rather tired farm of ten hectares. Juan de Dios kept the organic certification running and set to work replenishing the plant stock and improving the agricultural practices. Through good management of resources and shade he initially increased productivity and over the last few years he has been concentrating on improving the quality of his coffee. During this time Juan de Dios has been able to expand his farm and it is now 65 hectares, most of which is planted with Caturra and Catuaí. Juan de Dios made some changes to the employee areas of the farm to help maintain sufficient space for social distancing. There is a new, larger kitchen with space to eat and rest during breaks, additional toilet facilities and hand-washing stations. El Pastoral is a large enough farm to rely on outside labour, so these facilities are important to maintain a Covid-safe working environment for everyone.

Finca El Pastoral

We source and roast coffee from single farms, estates and cooperatives. When we taste a coffee that we like, we want to know where it comes from and who grows, picks and processes it. We travel extensively throughout the year, visiting the producers and cooperatives with whom we currently work and looking for interesting varietals of coffee and new farms from which to buy. During these visits we talk to farmers and cooperative members, learning more about the coffee they grow and process and the challenges that they face. We then look to establish a relationship with the grower and exporter of that coffee. We believe that where such a relationship exists, quality, quantity and price requirements can be discussed in an open and equal way. We see this as sustainable, fair and equal trade.

Finca El Pastoral

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Finca El Pastoral