Oswaldo Acevedo, a marketing and political-polling consultant, began producing specialty coffee in 1995 on a small plantation founded by his great-grandfather 130 years ago. He planted shade trees, applied natural fertilizers and pesticides and ended up harvesting a gourmet-quality arabica bean known as Café Mesa de los Santos. Acevedo’s coffee is now recognized as Colombia’s most popular organic export, with sales to 80 small roasters in the United States and green seals from the U.S.-based Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and BioLatina, a Lima-based certifier. The experience has sold Acevedo on the environmental benefits of organic production and its potential to boost the incomes of Colombia’s struggling producers. But for all his optimism, Acevedo remains frustrated by the weak promotional efforts behind most specialty coffees and discouraged by what he considers slow growth in the sector. He spoke to EcoAméricas’ Colombia correspondent Steven Ambrus. [Log in to read more]

Would you like to Subscribe?