Introducing El Carmen

El Carmen is the first member of the Red Associations project, based in Pitalito, Huila. The Red Association in this region began with the creation of a drying hub, where producers from the local area could dry their harvest without the risk of rainfall rinsing away their profits.

Previously, producers had to sell their parchment wet, through an intermediary who would dry on their behalf. This meant that this vital step was out of the producer’s control, which in turn meant they could only capture a portion of the potential return for their harvest.

Once these hubs were complete, attentions turned to a space for the QC and cupping lab to be housed. This is a space next to the drying hub, that will be fully repurposed for the lab. Once the equipment has been purchased and fitted in the hub, producer members of the Red Associations will have direct access to how their coffee is graded, first hand, with the opportunity to better know the market that their coffees move into, and how best to later their own methods at farm, to potentially capture a larger return for their harvests.