ALTITUDE - 1900 MASL // REGION - ANSERMA CALADAS // PROCESS - NATURAL // VARIETY - CASTILLO

Anserma is located in the western area of the department of Caldas. It is an agricultural centre where the cultivation of coffee stands out. The cooperative started operating in 1967 and has an extensive knowledge and experience in the commercialisation of coffee, and the support of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia and the Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers of Caldas. It operates in the municipalities of: Anserma, Risaralda, San José, Belalcázar and Viterbo.

Its main purpose is the commercialisation of coffee and other agricultural products seeking to promote and improve the economic, social, technical and cultural conditions of the associates, as long as as these are linked to the agricultural activity and especially to the production of coffee in all its areas.

The cooperative has 2,083 associated coffee growers who cultivate excellent quality coffee with dedication and passion. Amongst coffee they also grow crops like sugarcane and bananas to sell for income.

The Cooperative with the new General Manager Luis Miguel have looked to embrace technology and the shift towards specialty coffee production. They have been building temperature controlled areas in the warehouse for looking after the micro lots that the producers deliver. As well as this at the cooperative they have started to experiment with producing naturals for the first time without putting the risk on the producer.

Luis Miguel invested in a Nuna Coffee drying box that can regulate the temperature and the humidity to dry the coffee. These boxes were pioneered in Colombia to try and combat the extremely challenging in the ever changing daily climates in the Colombian Andes. To start this project they selected a few local producers who are known for quality to buy cherry from over the regular market price. From here that the cooperative they then set up a sorting station to pick the ripest cherry and create uniformity. The varietal used in this lot is Orange Castillo.

After picking and separation the coffee is then washed and fermented in sealed barrels for 96 hours. After this it is then put in the drying box where it is dried at 35 - 40 centigrade for 100-120 hours.

This is the first steps and initial trial which they hope to expand and improve the capacity at the Cooperative and involve more producers in this program.