Meet our catuai natural coffee farmer, Pablo Bonilla
Don Mayo Micro Mill
How long have you been growing coffee and what got you started?
“In my case, I am the fourth generation of the family growing coffee, although the first two were not dedicated at 100% to the activity, because for those generations was more important other subsistence activities such as growing basic grains.”
What is your favorite part of growing coffee?
“Working the land is by far my favorite part, because it is not only rewarding the feeling of nature growing, but also it is important, since we transform seeds and fertilizers into food. Now having the Micro Mill, we have the opportunity of get further in the produce value chain, so it is also a world of new experiences.”
Conversely, what is the hardest part of your job?
“For all farmers, the most difficult aspects of agriculture are dealing with climatic variations and pests and diseases... and at the end, since farming is also an investment, the final concern is the uncertainty of the market, and if the harvest can be sold properly.”
What is unique about how you grow and harvest coffee?
“Even though we live in Los Santos, a privileged area for high quality coffee production, we have focused in every single detail of the whole process. At the farm level, we pay special attention to the health and nutrition of our plantations, in order to enhance greater and better production and express the maximum quality potential of our crops.
Starting with the highest quality of coffee grains that is possible to achieve coming from the farm, at the micro mill level we also take care of every step of the milling process in order to keep the coffee free of any preparation defect and letting its quality to be reflected in clean flavors at the cup.
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What are your plans to continue improving quality?
“On the farms, we are looking to improve agronomic management as it is essential to keep learning every day on how we can improve the care we give to the plants. There is also the need to search on how to prevent adverse effects of climatic changes.
At the mill, it has been a continuous learning process since we started to mill our own coffee 15 years ago. We are looking to improve on getting the best use of our equipment and learning about the different methodologies for preparing the coffee. We also want to improve the feedback with our customers, in order to enhance fidelity and extend our relations for the longest period of time that can be possible. We think that it is the only way the activity of growing coffee can be sustainable over the time.
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