Guatemala Finca Belen

Finca Belen is owned the Maria Castillo, and came in to the family ownership in 1980. Currently Maria is managing the farm, production and marketing and lives there with her husband Jorge. Her son, Nohelio Castillo owns another farm we have bought from, Buena Esperanza.

Located in La Libertad, close to the Mexican border in Huehuetenango the farm has grown over the years to cover 120cuerdas -an almost historical Guatemalan measure of length or area that is not entirely fixed – and can cover anywhere between 20 x 20varas to 50 x 50, with a varas being just under a metre.

Regardless of the length, the farm is now 120cuerdas, with 78 of that under coffee production, 23 producing corn and the rest used for housing. Particularly in the steep forested mountains of Huehue, drying patios are the roofs of houses, providing the largest flattest area around.

After the cherry is pulped on their artisanal machine, it undergoes a 30 hour fermentation before being washed and spread to dry under the sun on concrete patios.