Yonal Fernandez

From Peru, we present to you a lot from Yonal Fernández and his wife Imelda Villalobos. They are the proud owners of Finca El Barejón, located in El Vencedor, Colasay in the northwest of Peru. Their plantations represent 3.25 hectares and are divided into three plots: El Limón (Lime), El Laurel (Laurel) and La Mandarina (Tangerine). They only grow the Bourbon variety there at the moment but the couple plans to diversify the plants in the coming years. 

The couple have been working with our partners Origin Coffee Lab for several years. The heart of the original coffee lab mission is to have an impact on the lives of producers through their project called Solidario. In this project, they teach both financial and agricultural techniques that enable lasting change. The progressive Solidario model aims to improve agricultural practices and make coffee farming a viable future for the community. This relationship with Origin Coffee Lab was made possible thanks to our import partner Apex Coffee. 

Grown at an altitude of nearly 1,750 meters, the farm's cherries are picked and sorted by hand before being subjected to a 24-hour dry fermentation in large vats. The cherries are then pulped, washed and slowly dried for 15 days in solar dryers.