La Virgen

La Virgen

Guadalupe

Story

Guadalupe is a small, picturesque municipality in Huila, nestled along the skirts of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Since its founding, Guadalupe has been deeply shaped by Catholic tradition, with priests and devoted individuals playing a key role in its history. On December 12, 1715, Francisca Salazar, the daughter of a wealthy Spanish landowner, Francisco de Salazar, donated three hectares of her family’s hacienda to establish a town in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, whom she worshipped. This land became home to an important church, surrounded by houses that soon formed the town of La Viciosa.

In 1827, tragedy struck when a massive earthquake destroyed the town. However, with the same resilience that defines its people today, the town was rebuilt a year later and renamed “Guadalupe.”

Guadalupe is blessed with an abundance of water sources, including the Suaza River, which nourishes the fertile lands and sustains both the community and its agricultural bounty. The region’s water supply, combined with fresh, cool weather, creates ideal conditions for growing high-quality crops. Today, the hardworking people of Guadalupe make their living through cattle farming, river fishing, and cultivating crops like corn, beans, citrus fruits, and, most notably, coffee – one of the area’s most valuable resources.

Coffee is grown in the remote highlands surrounding the town, at ideal elevations between 1,400 and 2,000 meters above sea level. These high-altitude farms benefit from nutrient-rich soils, cool breezes, and abundant rainfall, all of which contribute to exceptional coffee production.

In 2013, Caravela began working with the coffee growers of Guadalupe. At that time, producers traveled to our purchasing station in Pitalito to deliver their coffee. Recognizing the potential of this coffee-growing region and its remote location, Caravela established a purchasing station in Guadalupe to be closer to these dedicated farmers.

At the heart of this station is a commitment to quality. A skilled quality analyst carefully evaluates each lot of coffee, while a PECA technician works directly with farmers to improve both quality and sustainability. Today, this station primarily receives coffee from the highlands of Guadalupe and neighboring Suaza, supporting a community of growers who are deeply committed to producing exceptional coffee that embodies the rich traditions and abundant natural resources of their homeland.

Contributing Producers

Coffee growers in Guadalupe are very traditional coffee growers. They work with their families and their communities to grow and produce coffee how they’ve learned through their lives from their parents and grandparents. Additionally, coffee growers in this region are very committed to the environment, some of them having achieved the Rainforest Certification. Each farm has their own wet mill and drying infrastructure or at least one per family in which they all share their spaces. They own farms with average of 5 hectares. In the last few years, we’ve noticed an interest in improving their quality, changing some varieties and processes with the objective of achieving better quality for their coffee.


In Guadalupe, we work with many aging producers. However, many of the sons and daughters of these producers are stepping up to support and continue with the family traditions with greater energy, innovation and care for the environment.

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Coffee Process

Coffee producers with whom we work in Guadalupe start their process with a manual and selective harvesting process. During the pickings, they try to get only the ripe cherries, or there are some that carry out a hand-sorting before de-pulping. After de-pulping, they do a fermentation of 16-36 hours, and then 2 or 3 washes. In some cases, we do see coffee growers doing cherry resting for between 18 and 36 hours in plastic bags or silos before de-pulping. The coffee is then dried under shade in covered facilities. Their drying process may vary depending on the farm characteristics and the weather conditions, but in average, drying in these farms take between 15 and 25 days. Then, they take their coffee to the purchasing station in the town to be analyzed by the Quality Analyst. Here it goes through a rigorous physical analysis first to measure moisture level, water activity and yield factor. After, it undergoes through the sensory analysis which will finally determine the quality grade of the coffee. Then, the coffee grower will bring the coffee to the warehouse to sell it depending on the feedback of the physical and sensory analysis. From the warehouse, the parchment coffee is sent to Caravela’s Dry Mill in Armenia where it is processed and sent to port.

Location

  • Country

    Colombia

  • flag

    Department

    Huila

  • Municipality

    Guadalupe

  • Elevation

    1,200 – 2,000 MASL

Varieties

  • Varieties

    CATURRA COLOMBIA CASTILLO

Technical information

  • Processing

    Washed

  • Average farm size

    4 Hectares

  • Harvest

    First semester: May - August Second semester: September - January

  • Drying method

    Sun-dried on parabolic covered patios and covered raised beds.

  • Shade

    Guamo, Cachingo, Carbonero and fruit trees.

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