Pollard Coffee Guatemala Rio Colorado

The Rio Colorado farm is located in the village of El Manantial, municipality of Palencia, Republic of Guatemala, 62 km from the capital city. The farm began around 1920 by the Colom family and in 1950 it was inherited by Jose Colom Argueta. He was the promoter of coffee cultivation in the municipality of Palencia; he began coffee production and propagated its planting throughout neighboring villages through free nurseries, promoting the development of coffee cultivation as the main crop in Palencia. 

Rio Colorado was established as a family business company in April of 1985 by the children of José Colom Argueta, José Carlos Colom Kaehler, and Ana Beatriz Colom Kaehler, it was founded specifically for agricultural and forestry production, especially dedicated to growing coffee. Currently, Rio Colorado continues to be a family business of three generations. After the death of its founder José Colom as well as his son José Carlos Colom Kaehler, it is now worked by Ana Beatriz Colom and her two children Jose and Marisa.

The company's priority is the cultivation of strictly hard gourmet coffee, producing 80% Bourbon Arabica and 20% Caturra, Maracaturra, Pache, and Pacamara; He was the promoter of cultivation in the municipality of Palencia; he began the production and propagated its planting throughout neighboring villages through free nurseries, promoting the development of coffee cultivation as the main crop in Palencia. 

Grown by shade of cuje, gravilea, medlar, avocado, mango, peach, macadamia and capirol. The height of the coffee plantation ranges from 4,500 to 6,200 feet above sea level, which gives a special characteristic to the quality of the coffee. The harvest season begins in mid-December and ends in mid-April due to the differences in altitude on the farm. The farm has a wet mill in which the coffee is fermented for 36 hours then fully washed and dried by sun on cement for 8 to 20 days on patios using wooden rakes, depending on the client's taste and the weather. 90% of production is exported internationally to roasters. It is the first farm in the area to use organic fertilizer made by worms fed by coffee pulp as part of its fertilization and is the first farm to give work to local women all year round. The farm has three rivers, El Colorado, La Danta and San Miguel, and seven artificial lagoons and it has a forest reserve of 533 hectares of pine, cypress and oak for the conservation of water sources.