Oldemar’s Organic Coffee Farm: Background

Oldemar’s coffee farm, La Bella Tica, was originally a part of the Santa Luis food co-op. There were 28 families who for 20 years farmed a portion of the land. After the co-op went bankrupt ten years ago, the farmers were forced to continue on their own with no assistance. Oldemar’s 50 hectare farm was one of the few farms in the area that carried out the entire coffee-making process of growing and roasting coffee beans before the co-op went bankrupt. Today, La Bella Tica is one of 12 farms that carry out the entire production process, producing an average of 80 sacks of coffee a year. Two years ago, the farm obtained its organic certification from a company called Ecologica. In the past ten years, they have established a market in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and a few other European countries.