Colombia - Narino

About the Coffee

FUDAM, short for Fundación Agraria y Ambiental Para el Desarrollo Sostenible, was founded in 2000 by seven producers in La Unión, Nariño, Colombia. It has since grown to 300 organic-certified growers, all of whom are also Rainforest Alliance-certified. The farms sit between 1,500 and 2,200 meters above sea level, in a geography that is a bit unusual for Colombian coffee: in La Unión, the towns sit at high elevations while the farms drop down into the valleys below, surrounded by steep, rugged peaks.

FUDAM was built around sustainable agriculture and community development from the start, and that focus on organic farming has held even as pressure from chemical inputs has grown. When asked about it recently, the association's leadership said plainly: "This is not just a practice for us; it is our way of life and our deeply held beliefs." The cooperative grows Castillo and Caturra varieties, both well-suited to the high-altitude conditions of Nariño.

Farmers here follow a consistent washed process. Harvesting happens during the day, with depulping in the afternoon and a dry fermentation (where the beans rest without water) lasting 16 to 24 hours. After fermentation, the beans are washed two or three times, then dried using small individual drying structures called "casa elbas," mechanical dryers, or parabolic dryers. Mechanical drying runs 25 to 40 hours; natural drying methods can take up to 15 days.