Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Northern Colombia)

Our Colombian single origin coffee comes from the mountainous regions of the Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta in Northern Colombia. Equal Exchange works with a group of indigenous people known as the Arhuacos, the guardians of the Sierra Nevada. With around 300 farms belonging to individual families Anei have created their own Womens project, where the women are producing their own speciality coffee. This allows the female farmers of Anei to control their own work and manage their own funds within the coffee farming community, something that is still rare in the coffee world, despite the huge amount of work that women do.

Arhuacos have a strong relationship with the natural world, believing in a balance of giving and receiving from the earth. Completely self-sufficient, they grow a vast array of fruits and vegetables whilst nurturing the lands around them. With a strong knowledge of how to get the best from their crops the women farmers are continually excelling with their coffee varieties.

Alba at Anei

Alba, one of the lead farmers at Anei, is a success story for the women farmers there. After years of hard work, learning how to get the best from her coffee plants, she is now excelling in her quality scores at harvest time. Alba is exceedingly knowledgeable about her coffee and she knows exactly how to get the best from her crop. She is keen to spread her knowledge to the rest of the women in order to help Anei consistently produce high quality coffee providing a strong future for the Arhuacos.

Josh (EE) & Alejandra (Anei)