About this coffee
Grupo Asociativo El Bombo Pitalito Inza, Asombombo for short, was founded by Luis Alfredo Diaz to increase market access and attain fair, sustainable prices for their coffee. Today, more than 80 members are Organic certified and sell their coffees with Asobombo to garner higher prices for their hard work.
This lot was produced by 15 female members of Asobombo who live and farm in Huila. They are Organic certified and dedicated to producing high-quality specialty coffees through careful cultivation and processing. They continue to invest the premiums from their coffee into improving their farm and processing infrastructure and they’re always looking to learn new processing techniques to improve overall quality. In total, about 60 women in Huila and Cauca are a part of Asobombo’s women’s program. The cooperative estimates that, indirectly, about 180 people (children, spouses and other family members) of those 60 women also benefit from this work toward gender and opportunity equality.
In 2023, Asobombo conducted extensive research and conversations with community members to identify the biggest issues facing coffee farming families in their cooperative and begin addressing those issues. What they found was that monocultural agricultural practices caused food insecurity and imbalanced eating habits for families. They also found that a lack of knowledge and opportunities about sensory coffee improvement restricted family income. Their analysis showed that gender inequality was a key factor in achieving sustainability and livable incomes for their members. When women are empowered in the family and business, they can be key drivers for social and economic improvement. Thus, Asobombo’s Women’s Group is focused on strengthening gender equity and creating more opportunities for women and their families to learn about balanced diets, resource allocation and coffee quality improvement.
Cultivation
In Pitalito, farms tend to be slightly larger than other regions of Colombia. Most farms here are between 3 and 5 hectares, compared to 1 to 3 hectares in other regions.
Most of the families living in Pitalito today immigrated from Nariño in the 19th and 20th centuries. Nariño used to be much more densely populated than Huila, but many people migrated to Pitalito in search of affordable, fertile land.
In addition to coffee, many producers in Pitalito also grow sugarcane. Asobombo helped member communities build mills where farmers can process sugarcane into panela, a typical raw sugarcane product that is common in rural Colombia.
Asobombo is providing education and support for families in the cooperative to establish organic and sustainable vegetable gardens that will add nutrients and variety to their family diets.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
The women contributing to this lot and their families selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and process it on their farms. They pulp cherry on small hand crank pulpers and ferment it in tanks for 12 to 36 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid in parabolic beds, marquesinas or patios to dry. They rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying.
Asobombo is offering training and support in physical and sensory improvement during post-harvest practices. Coffee farmers in the cooperative can access these services to help them improve coffee quality and ultimately, the price they receive for their coffee.
About Huila
The Huila region is one of the most well-known coffee growing areas of Colombia. The Department of Huila has a population of 1.125 million and is located in the southwest of the country. The capital of the department is Neiva, a city of about 380,000.
Along with Cauca and Nariño, Huila is one the three departments where the Colombian Massif is located. A massif is a group of mountain ranges and the Colombian Massif, which is known locally as Nudo de Almaguer, provides up to 70% of safe drinking and agricultural water for the Colombian population.
The Magdalena River, Colombia’s largest river, runs through the region, providing plenty of water for coffee farming and generating (directly and indirectly) up to 86% of Colombia's GDP. The mountain range also features the fertile volcanic soil so typical to the Andean Mountains.
Coffee in Colombia
Colombia has been producing and exporting coffee renowned for their full body, bright acidity and rich aftertaste, since the early 19th century.
Colombia boasts a wide range of climates and geographic conditions that, in turn, produce their own unique flavors in coffee. This also means that harvest times can vary quite a bit. In fact, between all its different regions, Colombia produces fresh crop nearly all year round.
The increasing focus on the specialty industry is changing the way traders and farmers do business. It is becoming more common for farmers to isolate the highest quality beans in their lots to market separately. These higher-quality lots are often sold under specific brands or stories.
Besides its wide variety of cup profiles, Colombia has quickly expanded its certification options over the past 10 years. The most common certifications available are Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and Organic.