Region: Chinchiná, Caldas
Villamaría's processing station, Jamaica, was chosen due to its perfect climate and altitude for the drying of naturally processed coffee. Alongside this, the large space available meant that producing high-quality naturals at scale was a possibility not available before.
As the project gained speed, roasters worldwide began to buy long-term from Villamaría, and neighbouring communities were able to see the merits of selling cherry to La Aurora, the delivery and buying point for Jamaica, instead of parchment to a nearby trilladora. The sale of whole cherries to a processing station is a method uncommon in Colombia but seen in many other coffee-producing countries.
We can see that the communities including Villarazo, La Batea and Corozal have been positively affected by the existence of Jamaica. Today, we see a continued increase of producers delivering their cherry to La Aurora, which is also a contributing farm managed by Rubiel Orrego. Like many coffee producers in Colombia, producers of Villamaría had historically been promised higher prices and the purchase of a farmer's entire crop by large institutions in the past. Having never delivered on this promise, understandably faith in new ventures had greatly diminished amongst producers.
Corozal is the highest area within Villamaria. Situated towards the Otun lagoon, the area is located 25 minutes by car from Finca La Aurora, Villamaria’s buying station.
This area is also known as Tierra Fria, or the Cold Land, where some farms sit as high as 2100 MASL. The combination of altitude and cold weather provides a particularly interesting microclimate for the farms of the Cold Lands.