El Paraiso - Colombia 2018 Verified listing

Diego Samuel started with his coffee growing project Finca El Paraiso in 2008. To him growing coffee was fascinating, he would love visiting his friend’s farms and see them growing coffee. No one in his family grew coffee at that time so he says that he’s been adopted by the coffee growing industry. His family owned a farm that was isolated so Diego saw the opportunity to grow coffee there and after getting the permission of his family to start growing coffee he begins a 2.5 hectares project while doing his studies on Agricultural Enterprise Management. Selling his coffee to the local cooperatives allowed him to pay his studies and start evolving as coffee producer. After asking himself about why he couldn’t afford other things than his studies out of the coffee sold from his farm. He decides to start building a network going to different shows in different regions meeting people and realised that there were other ways to produce coffee in different qualities, from different varieties and submitting them to different contests.

In 2015 he participates for the first time in a regional contest where he gets first place, thanks to this he starts to get better recognition for his coffees which gave him the motivation to keep growing excellent coffees.

Today through his company Indestec (Innovación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Caficultura) Diego has managed to create new innovative technologies in order to keep the consistency of his great cup profiles not only from his farm but neighbour farms from his family and friends. He says that he likes to be out of the comfort zone as this has been always helped him to keep evolving.

Diego grows in his farm Bourbon, Laurina, Gesha, Castillo and Colombia and plans on growing more varietals. He expects to keep participating in this kind of contests as this has been the way to promote his work and establish new commercial relationships.