Colombia Tacueyo

Tacueyó Reserve is located in the Toribio municipality in the North-Eastern part of Cauca. The association that produces the Tacueyó Reserve coffee, ASPROCRIT, is the largest Association in Cencoic. It joined the Cooperative in 2012 with 194 families and has seen significant growth since then, with 521 families now in the Association producing this wonderful coffee. On average, each farm is 0.8 hectares.

Over the last 4 years the association has invested and has both built a warehouse for receiving coffee and also a mechanical dryer to ensure that all their coffee, regardless of how it is delivered, is dried to a consistent level. This has given the Association more control over their quality and has laid solid foundations for future growth. Lusber, head of the warehouse, and Reinaldo, head of finance, are the dream team that have been the backbone of the Association’s recent successes.

Individual producers are catalysed by making investments through development plans focused on strengthening production units framed in productivity and quality improvement. Additional programs contribute to the mitigation of environmental pollution such as treatment of honey and grey water so as not to pollute rivers, as well as the management of non-biodegradable solid waste by carrying out separation and recycling processes. This has a large importance.

Another important point in the investments is the possibility of contributing to the education of their children through the payment of tuition or educational elements. Finally an alternative contemplated in the development plan is the investment in improving housing conditions looking for better conditions of a good life for the producers.

The majority of the community speak Spanish as their mother tongue but there is currently a drive to recuperate the local language Nasa Yuwe. More bilingual schools have been created as a result.

Washed coffees are collected and taken to the beneficio, where they undergo flotation, pulping and fermentation for around 14-18 hours on average. The beans are then washed in fresh water, and dried under parabolic driers or patios for between 8 to 15 days.