Pablo Emilio Montoya – Urrao - Colombia

This 100% Caturra Microlot was produced by Pablo Emilio Montoya from Urrao, Antioquia and was specially selected for Mercanta by Pergamino Coffee Exporters, Mercanta’s good friend and exporting partner in Antioquia. Mercanta has worked with Pedro and Leo at Pergamino for many years and has greatly supported their quality-improvement work with small producer organisations. By working with small growers such as Pablo and his family, Pergamino and Mercanta ensure a great price for the smallholder producer and highlight the work that small coffee farmers in Antioquia, Colombia are doing to improve the quality of their coffee.

Don Pablo, always with his black hat, is a crucial member of the community in Pavón and was the originator of the Grupo Pavón collective of specialty coffee producers. He is one of the main leaders of the group and has long been one of the strongest voices in insisting on a specialty coffee focus as a means of attaining sustainability. Pablo and his neighbours were heavily inspired by Jose Arcadio of Finca la Falda, two-time winner of Cup of Excellence and, coincidentally, also from Urrao. Though working smaller farms than La Falda (which is still small, at approximately 10 hectares), Pablo convinced the group that if they decided to work together they just might be able to improve their coffee quality so that they could access the speciality market. They succeeded! In 2014 the group achieved 3rd place in Colombia´s COE, under the name of Pablo Emilio Montoya, and 2 Top 60 positions in the local Best Cup of Antioquia Competition. It was at this point that they came to the attention of Pergamino, who wanted to support their efforts by helping them to achieve export sales on a wider scale.

Pablo still lives with his wife and son at La Esperanza, and has now given his son a part of the land to manage and harvest. He continues to be very committed to the best agricultural and post harvest practices, however, so as to ensure the quality of his coffee.

Like many producers in the area, Pablo uses a form of ‘extended fermentation’ to process his coffee. Over the course of three days, each day’s pulped cherries are added to a fermentation tank with the previous days’ pickings. In this method of ‘extended’ fermentation, each consecutive batch raises the ph level (i.e. makes more alkaline) of the fermentation tank, permitting longer fermentation times that will produce a fruit-forward cup but without the acetic acid produced by bacteria at a low ph. In this way, the producer is able to maintain the correct ph level and avoid very low ph levels during processing that can lead to over-fermentation and vinegary qualities. In addition to giving more control over ph levels also gives more control over yeast and bacteria activity. Interestingly, the practice is common with small farmers throughout Antioquia and Huila, who often have two or three day fermentation as their farms are so small that one day’s picking is often not sufficient to make up an entire lot. Don Pablo works with these traditional methods, but puts extra attention into making sure every step is perfectly executed.

Pablo is a member of Coocafisa (Coop Salgar), one of the largest cooperatives in Antioquia. Coocafisa is the only cooperative with a presence in Urrao, a remote municipality of Antioquia that was hard hit by FARC violence in the 1990s due to its remote location and lack of infrastructure. While the region is known for agriculture, it is less identified with coffee, and because of the remote location and the violence, the area has been slow to develop the necessary infrastructure for specialty production. With the steps towards normalisation between FARC and the Colombian Government, however, some small scale producers in the region have seized the opportunity and begun to make the most of their location – which presents the perfect conditions for high quality coffee.

The group has recently begun working with the Pergamino team on various quality improvement programs. High quality lots are cupped and graded by the Pergamino team (who also provide quality assessment training within the cooperative). Not only has Pergamino committed to monthly visits to the cooperative in order to cup and advise on quality, they have committed to purchasing all coffee produced by the group that cups at 84+ points. For this coffee, the producers receive and exceptionally high price that covers cost of production along with reinvestment in the cooperative itself and includes a specialty coffee premium once the purchased lot has been sold. Very high scoring lots, such as this one, are separated out as a microlot and are assured of being marketed under the producer’s own name. Lots such as this one also receive a very high premium, far above local market prices.