Its History

La Esperanza Farm

A variety of oranges, the lulo, was its seed.

Hertson Bernal's Farm

Planting lulo, a type of orange, was the seed that allowed Hertson Bernal to buy the La Esperanza farm and exchange oranges for coffee.
The La Esperanza farm was for Hertson Bernal love at first sight, he believed in its potential from the first moment, he loved its location, a hollow in the eastern mountain range of Colombia.

The beginnings of the farm

Hertson and his brother Jesús worked managing a coffee farm for several years, where they learned a lot. They were well in their jobs but their entrepreneurial spirits led them to Finca La Esperanza.

While managing the coffee farm, they decided to plant lulo – a type of orange – together with one of the owners of the farm where they worked.

They strived to have the lulo crop well supported and at the same time respond well on the coffee farm. This effort was rewarded because when they harvested the lulo fruit they were able to sell it at a very good price and this allowed them to create a small savings that would help them to fulfill their dream in the future.

Love at first sight

When they first saw Finca La Esperanza, they fell in love with it, and saw the potential they could use it to create their project with their families. They liked the Finca because of its location, close to the school and also close to the sidewalk, although the condition of the sidewalk was not optimal when they bought it.

The farm was abandoned, had very old coffee trees of the common or Arabica variety, the house was in very bad condition and the mill was in very bad condition and did not have a dryer.

Finca La Esperanza had belonged to Jorge Omar Esterling, an older man who had been widowed and had moved to the town a few years ago to attend to his children’s studies, which is why the farm had been neglected.

Mr. Jorge was enthusiastic about Hertson’s project to improve the Finca he had loved so much, so they managed to reach a purchase agreement where both Hertson’s and his brother’s employers supported them with their signatures.

The evolution of the farm

After a year of all these efforts, Hertson was able to move to the La Esperanza farm and began to renovate the existing coffee plantations with the Caturra, Castillo and Colombia varietals.

Shortly after living on the La Esperanza farm, they made a profit and later built the house where Hertson and his family now live.

Since they acquired the farm they have not stopped making improvements, shortly after moving in they also built a room for the workers with a bathroom and separate laundry room, and for the last seven years Jesus, Hertson’s brother, has also been living with his family on the farm.

Currently on the farm , in addition to the mill, there is a drying shed where Hertson has begun to dry its coffees to participate in fairs and competitions.

The whole family has always been dedicated to the world of coffee and they are putting into practice everything they have learned on their own farm, they are happy at Finca La Esperanza living and working in the fields.

Publications of our coffee blog

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Today, coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. We can drink a cup of coffee in any country, from Italy or the United States to Ethiopia, and we immediately realize that the way it is prepared and served differs enormously from one place to another.

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Cupping is a practice in which, through tasting, each of the characteristics that define a coffee are determined and evaluated.