You can’t beat a lovely, clean and sweet coffee from Guatemala, and our newest single origin from Finca Villaure is no exception. Enjoy this delicious offering from Aurelio Villatoro, a member of the famous Villatoro coffee-growing family in the Huehuetenango region.
A Coffee Farm in a Unique Microclimate
Guatemala is a hugely diverse coffee-producing country, made up of eight distinct regions as designated by the country’s coffee growers’ association, Anacafé. Each region has its own unique topography and climate, and one of the most renowned is Huehuetenango, situated in the west on the border with Mexico.
Huehuetenango is known as the highest and driest of the eight producing regions, containing as it does the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, the tallest non-volcanic mountain range in the whole of Central America. Many of the roads in the region are rough or only accessible by four-wheel drive vehicles, which means most producers must process their coffee on their farms.
At just over 31 hectares, Finca Villaure sits at between 1,650 and 1,800 metres above sea level near the town of Hona Blanca. Because of its position on the slopes of one mountain and surrounded by two others, the farm benefits from a microclimate that protects it from the worst weather and also allows optimal sun exposure: strong in the morning, and more muted in the afternoon.
For this coffee, freshly-picked cherry is depulped—where the skin of the cherry is removed—and placed into fermentation tanks for 24-36 hours. After this, the beans are washed to remove the final cherry remnants, and then sun-dried on patios for up to 20 days.
Aurelio’s attention to detail and vast knowledge has made him one of Guatemala’s most celebrated farmers, and he has competed multiple times in the country’s Cup of Excellence green coffee competition. He has also received numerous awards, including Huehuetenango’s Best Coffee Producer from the Italian roaster Illycaffè in 2003.
Alongside his own farm, he also manages others alongside his extended family, most of whom are also coffee producers and part of the Villatoro coffee-producing dynasty.
Joining the Family Business
Although Aurelio Villatoro is a well-known coffee farmer in his own right, he also follows in the footsteps of his father, Eleodoro Villatoro. The elder Villatoro founded the acclaimed Finca La Esperanza in 1956, in a Huehuetenango that was even more inaccessible than it is today.
Aurelio grew up on that farm, alongside seven siblings, and learned the family business before leaving to study. He returned in 1986 and started Finca Villaure on land beside his father’s. Farmer succession is an important topic in Guatemala and other coffee-producing countries, as many young people do not see the appeal of joining an unstable profession. Across the globe, the average age of coffee farmers continues to rise.
This is because coffee farmers in Guatemala have faced numerous challenges in recent years: climate change has impacted the stable weather patterns that their trees rely on, and diseases like coffee leaf rust have hit many farms. At the same time, costs continue to rise and labour for the harvest season has become harder to find due to workers moving in search of better opportunities.
This is not the case with the Villatoros, most of whom are involved in coffee production in some way. Aurelio eventually went into the same work as his father, while at Finca Villaure, Aurelio’s children have also joined the family business. His two sons, Jenner and Rodin, grow their own coffee as well as acting as, respectively, head of quality and head of logistics for the Villatoro farms.
In 2018, coffee production was named “An Intangible Heritage of the Guatemalan Nation”, and we look forward to bringing you more amazing examples of this intangible heritage in the future.
