Artido Arce Calderon: “Triple Certified” Farm
We visited Artido Arce Calderon on his triple certified farm – that is Fairtrade, Organic & Rainforest Alliance. Making our way through the lush coffee trees laden with ripe cherries growing under the multilayered forest canopy it is clear that Artido is a very professional farmer and has great pride in his achievements.
The trees are well maintained and there is a huge amount of organic debris, from fallen branches and banana leaves to naturally growing plants covering the forest floor. These are ideal conditions for growing Organic and Rainforest Alliance certified coffee.
Speaking to Artido we found that he has a yield of approximately 40 quintales (100 Lb) per hectare and he only produces washed coffee. Artido reckons that 86 % of his coffee is of export quality – a fantastic achievement compared to farms in neighbouring Ecuador. The highest percentage of export quality achieved is 96 % from the farm of Manuel Chinchay, he is a retired teacher and has an important role in educating farmers on how to produce the best quality.
Each house has a ‘pulper’ (the machine used to separate cherry from the beans) each seems to be adjusted correctly (contrasting to Ecuador), the washing tanks are clean and all are tiled on the inside to ensure maximum bean quality. Artido’s coffee is dried in its parchment on raised drying beds and he was rightly proud of the consistency of his beans.
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