Jairo Arcila Passionfruit

COUNTRY: Colombia

FARM/COOP/STATION: Santa Mónica

VARIETAL: Castillo

PROCESSING: Washed Wine Yeast / Passionfrui

OWNER: Jairo Arcila

REGION: Quindio

FLAVOUR NOTES: Passionfruit, lemon verbena, orange blossom, apricot

ABOUT THIS FARMER

Jairo Arcila is a third-generation coffee grower from Quindio, Colombia. He is married to Luz Helena Salazar and they have two children together, Carlos and Felipe Arcila. Jairo’s first job was at Colombia’s second-largest exporter, working as their Mill Manager for over 40 years until his retirement in 2019.

Jairo has received great advice and guidance from his sons who are now experts in producing Specialty Coffee. With their help, Jairo has greatly improved the picking, sorting, and processing of his coffees. His sons have also guided Jairo in the production of exotic varieties. He now grows varieties like Pink Bourbon, Java, Papayo ,and Gesha growing across his farms. The guidance from his sons has empowered Jairo and given him the tools needed to produce fantastic coffees with amazing flavour profiles.

Besides coffee, Jairo also grows other agricultural products on his farms such as mandarin, orange, plantain, and banana. Jairo enjoys starting the day with a really good breakfast! But most importantly, he enjoys spending time with his family.

COFFEE IN COLOMBIA

Although coffee production in Colombia did not become a large commercial industry until the 19th century, it is likely that coffee was introduced to Colombia about a century earlier by Jesuit priests.

Once commercial production started, it spread quickly. The first commercial coffee plantations were established in the northeast, near the border with Venezuela. Today, coffee is widespread and grown commercially in 20 of Colombia’s 32 Departments.

Historically, Colombia’s most renowned coffee-growing region has been the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Axis), also known as the ‘Coffee Triangle’. This region includes the departments of Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. With a combined total area of 13,873 km² (5356 mi²), the region covers about 1.2% of the Colombian territory and composes 15% of the total land planted under coffee in the country. The region has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

While the Eje Cafetero is still a coffee-producing powerhouse, coffee production in Colombia now extends far beyond this zone. In recent years, the departments of Huila, Tolima, Cauca and Nariño have become sought after and well-known coffee-growing regions. Today, they are the largest producers of coffee in Colombia by volume.

Today, there are an estimated 540,000 coffee producers in the country; around 95% of these are smallholder farmers with landholdings that are under 5 hectares. These farmers collectively contribute around 16% of the country’s annual agricultural GDP.