La Palma y El Tucan
La Palma y El Tucan is a farm, mill, and coffee eco-tourism project tucked in the mountains of Zipacon, Cundinamarca. The farm’s name speaks to the concept at the core of their operations: symbiosis, where actions are mutually beneficial. In the same way that palm trees and toucans coexist in a synergistic relationship within their habitat, La Palma y El Tucan approaches the coffee ecosystem through sustainable production and innovative processing with acute attention to detail.
Neighbors & Crops Program
The Neighbors & Crops Program by La Palma y El Tucan is a sustainable coffee relationship model developed to help small-scale farmers produce top-quality coffee with traditional Colombian varieties.
Working with more than 200 neighboring coffee-growing families located within a 10km radius of La Palma y El Tucan, they buy & process exceptional coffee cherries while controlling every step of the production line.
The program offers neighboring coffee-growing families various benefits, both monetary and non-monetary, that incentivize them to become better at growing and maintaining their crops. The support the program provides helps these small farmers to be active in the industry and revitalize the coffee-growing culture in their region.
Meet Farmer Gustavo Parrado
Gustavo Parrado is a 70 year-old traditional coffee farmer. Since his parents were coffee growers, don Gustavo has been connected to the crops for as long as he can remember. Beginning as a picker he fell in love with these beautiful trees. During the time when the price of coffee dropped don Gustavo decided to move to the city searching for new opportunities. He worked as a driver at the Bogotá City Hall, and as his wife Miriam he got his pension from the National District Secretary.
After his retirement, don Gustavo decided to return to his roots and dedicate the rest of his days to the lands which gave him everything. With the coffee price still quite low and no help offered by the national coffee federation, don Gustavo decided to plant avocado and cane. It wasn’t until after the emergence of La Palma y El Tucán that he could return to his true passion, coffee. For don Gustavo his plants are the most important thing, he loves to take care of them and watch them grow beautiful and disease-free.
Don Gustavo has seven adult children, but only two of them, Deivi and John help him with the crops. They both help him planting the trees, while Deivi also handles the accounts for the farm. The other five work in the city and are not very interested in agriculture.
