El Yalcon, Hulia, Colombia

Mist passing over Finca Esmerelda, La Plata, Huila. Where source coffee for our Ozone Coffee El Yalcon single origin
Relationship model: Representation by third party
Producer: Caravela
Mill: Caravela
Shipping: Ozone Coffee Roasters
Visit history: Started 2016, 5 visits since
Total green coffee purchased (2020): 200 x 60kg bags

To source our coffee in Colombia we enlist the support of Caravela, a B-Corporation certified company and exporter founded to facilitate sustainable relationships between quality focused small holder farmers, and speciality coffee roasters like us. Caravela create solid business relationships and provide access to argonomic education so that both we and the farmers can rely on the security of long-term relationships.
For example, they provide: 

The PECA education programme for farmers: Aimed at engaging and educating the next generation of coffee farmers to maintain profitable farm operations and focus on quality and sustainability.

‘Virtual Classrooms’: Aimed at educating both producers and their children on subjects such as agronomy, the harvest, post-harvest processing and sustainability.

An Innovation and Experimentation Centre: Focused on applying best practices, experimenting with new processing methods and developing tools to make coffee production more sustainable.

Farm Field Schools: On-the-ground educators whose main role is to continuously educate producers and their families on best practices, thereby increasing productivity and improving quality so farmers can become more profitable.
Ongoing investment into cupping labs, dry mills, drying infrastructure and in both training and education for farmers and cuppers.

Caravela provide huge value and inspiration to us in terms of their sustainable practices and producer-focused initiatives. They enhance the work of, lift, educate, support and champion small holder coffee producers in Colombia, in turn encouraging even better coffee. Through our relationship with Caravela, we work with and support over 35 different Colombian small holder producers - only made achievable and feasible through the support, representation and assistance of the Caravela team.

El Yalcon is a Colombian speciality coffee produced by small scale growers in the municipality of La Plata. The name El Yalcon comes from the indigenous people that used to where La Plata is today. This special coffee is the result of many years collaboration between Caravela and the cooperatives Global Cafes and Occicafe.

There are 36 small and medium sized coffee producers from La Plata and El Pital who make up this coffee, and these farms range from 1 to 5 hectares and are mostly located at higher altitudes (above 1500 masl). Mostly cultivated with traditional varieties such as Caturra and Typica, in order to guarantee a consistent quality and cup profile the Caravela team physically analyse and cup every single lot delivered – no matter its size. Only the best lots that fit the El Yalcon profile are selected. This year, from this producer group we purchased four container lots in total – two for the UK and two for NZ. We are committed to this group of local producers and through our relationship with Caravela, have recently signed purchasing contracts with these farmers, strengthening our relationships with them and providing them with long-term security.