The Producers

Ramiro and Victoria Granda live on their farm in San Antonio, Pichincha, Ecuador, which has been in the Granda family for 100 years. They’re joined by their children Martín, David & Emilia, grandson Tiago and youngest granddaughter, Elina.

As a trained agronomist, Ramiro tends to the coffee which is planted on just three hectares of their estate, and also avocados, citrus fruits and bananas. These other food crops create supplementary means of income but also support biodiversity of wildlife on the farm. Victoria is a co-owner of the farm and is in charge of quality control procedures and guiding the staff.

Their Approach

The area itself is very dry, but a spring provides fresh water for irrigation on the farm. As well as small amounts of Robusta (after all, Ecuador does produce a lot of instant coffee), they are growing Typica Mejorado, which is actually a cross between Bourbon and Geisha, as well as Typica (gifted to them by Jesuit missionaries.

In 2017 there were some obstacles Ramiro needed to overcome to break into the specialty coffee market. Despite having high quality varieties producing on his farm, he was drying the coffee at his neighbour’s house, and it was improperly done. Poor drying can quickly undo the hard work undertaken at the propagation, harvesting and processing stages. With help from Caravela and their PECA team members, a new infrastructure has been built at the farm, replete with raised beds slung with mesh to allow for optimal ventilation around the drying parchment coffee.

During the harvest season they employ a handful of local people, around 5 in total, to work under Henri, their year-round farm manager, and Victoria. By supplying them with burgundy-coloured wristbands the pickers are able to compare the colour with the coffee on the trees, to enable uniformly ripe selections.

In 2019 Ramiro’s Typica trees, which had been stumped back and not producing for the 2018 crop, were cropping again, and the lot we roasted was a combination of Typica and Typica Mejorado. It isn’t advised to mix varieties at the harvesting stage, as they may require different fermentation protocols and drying times. However, we still got a tonne of sweet, floral character in the Grandas’ coffee last year. This year the lot is entirely Typica Mejorado once again, and the focus and clarity has improved once more.

Familia Granda

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Familia Granda

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Familia Granda

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