El
Socorro farm is located in Palencia, municipality of Guatemala
department, 50 kilometers away from Guatemala city.
The
farm used to be part of Hacienda San Guayaba, property
of Antonio López Colom in 1905. After he
died, it was inherit to the youngest son Julio Colom Gómez
Carillo, who sold it. For many years it was owned by different
people until 1968, when Dr. Mario de la Cerda and his wife
Maria Colom de la Cerda bought it back to the family. In
1980, his son Juan de la Cerda Colom began to plant coffee.
This is the fourth generation of owners.
Juan de la Cerda
and his son Juan Diego are now in charge to produce one
of the best coffees of Guatemala and the world. Why are
we confident about this? Our success is the result of a
strict quality control through out the whole process, since
the management of the plantation, the picking and the wet
mill.
The farm has an efficient ecological wet mill. It
depulps coffee cherries in dry, it transports the coffee
and its pulp mechanically and it reuses water in the process.
Then, the water is treated with clean production techniques,
before throwing it away. Since 2005, we have been working
on tests to uniform the fermentation process and we have
obtained satisfactory results. Drying of coffee is done
in patios.
The farm is certified by Rainforest Alliance
and Coffee Practices.
The total area of the farm is 700
Hectares, divided in the following activities:
• 55
% is a natural reserve, which is the biggest in the area
nearby. It is a natural habitat for many wild species of
the region and migratory birds. Pine and oak are the primary
trees of the reserve. Most of the animal and botanical
species have been identified and documented.
• 25
% is planted with coffee (about 126 Hectares).
• 20
% is dedicated to other activities, like milk production,
corn and vegetables.
In 2007, a coffee lot of the farm
was awarded with the prestigious Cup of Excellence Presidential
Award.
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