Nestled in the highlands of northwestern Panama, next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of La Amistad International Park, Café de Eleta stands for flavor, tradition and sustainability.
Originally established in 1978 by don Fernando Eleta Almaran, the Eleta estate primarily produced agricultural crops and livestock. In 1995 the company began to specialize exclusively in coffee, growing its first lot of arabica coffee, a Catuai variety, preserving the primary and secondary forests and abundant streams throughout the farm. It was at this time that the company took the name of Café de Eleta, S.A. Since then, Café de Eleta has significantly expanded, growing to nearly 420 hectares. The farm’s first exported coffee in 1998, catering mainly to European and American markets.
The Eleta coffee estate represents an important buffer zone for La Amistad International Park. Located between 1,250 and 1,500 meters above sea level, the coffee-growing areas are surrounded by tropical rainforest with temperatures between 18° and 24° C and annual rainfall between 2,000 and 4,000 mm. The soils, flora, fauna and microclimate combine to offer one of the best environments for growing specialty coffee of the highest quality.
Today, 200 hectares of Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Geisha, Maragogype, Pacamara and Typica coffee varieties are grown, and even Peaberry is available by special request. The farm uses state-of-the-art technology in order to procure a sustainable, environmentally conscious coffee processing operation, including the organic treatment of wastewater from the washed coffee processes and composting of solid waste.
Coffeeprocesses include washed, natural, honey and experimental. For natural process coffee, grains are harvested at their ripest and dried on raised beds or patios, and by mechanical air dryers. Washed coffee processes include meticulous fermentation to achieve the perfect balance in the cup.
The Eleta estate employs 50 people year-round and, during the harvest, provides employment for 700 additional workers, many of whom come from indigenous communities around Panama, primarily from the Ngabe-Bugle indigenous jurisdiction.
Honoring our founder’s spirit for community service, in 2000 the Eleta estate established ‘La Escuelita Café de Eleta’ (Café Eleta’s Little School), a daycare and school project developed to prevent child labor and to promote education. Starting with just one room, the school has grown to serve the wider community, with a three-classroom schoolhouse, where in partnership with Casa Esperanza, children receive healthy meals, support with math and reading, and medical attention. Also, since 2016, Café de Eleta has been certified as compliant for its good practices by Panama’s Ministry of Labor.
Since 2000, the farm has been part of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama and has participated in the Best of Panama cupping competition, achieving outstanding scores. Since 2003, Café de Eleta is also a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, focusing on producing specialty coffee in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Piedra de Candela, Renacimiento, Chiriquí
Contacto: Guillermo de Saint Malo Eleta
+507 395-0000
email info@cafedeeleta.com
web www.cafeeleta.com
Instagram: @cafeeleta
twitter: @cafeeleta
Facebook: @cafeeleta
El Valle del Volcán, sede de Finca Carmen, a una altitud de 5.600 pies (1.750 metros) es la zona más importante en plantaciones de café cultivado en montaña y sombra de la región del Volcán Barú en Panamá. El valle sigue el curso del río Chiriquí Viejo mientras fluye desde las montañas del Cerro Punta hasta el Océano Pacífico. Su rico suelo negro volcánico y su excelente drenaje son ideales para nuestro café variedad Arábica.
En 1960 Efraín y Carmen Franceschi comenzaron a cultivar variedades de café arábica (Caturra, Geishas, Catuai) en sus fincas y la familia Franceschi ha estado involucrada en la agricultura durante más de 50 años.
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PRODUCERS
Finca Don Benjie , our beautiful coffee plantation of 33 hectares is located in the Highlands of Chiriquí, north of the town of Boquete in the Bajo Mono Canyon, at the slopes of the Barú Volcano.
The mystic location and landscape of the farm is an attraction for tourists, nature and coffee enthusiasts.
Our plantation is under a constant renewal, always aiming for excellent quality, taking care of the environment and the well being of our workforce. We are producing micro lots of specialty coffees that are carefully harvested by varietal and then processed as naturals, washed, using innovative fermentation techniques (Carbonic Maceration, Natural Yeast Fermentations etc) to bring out the best of our unique terroir.
Historia
To achieve and preserve the quality of the beans, Don Pepe Estate Coffee will only produce “pure lots” farming each variety separately to achieve only the top quality coffee cup. We will only harvest the red beans at their optimal ripeness which is key to ensuring that our coffee beans are traceable throughout the entire process until final export.
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At the end of the 1940s, in the District of Boquete at a region known as El Salto which is located near the top of the Baru Volcano, the highest mountain in Panama; the coffee tradition of our parents, Vidal Suarez and Eira Gutierrez de Suarez, was born.
Nowadays, after 70 years and with a lot of pride and respect for their legacy, two of their six children (Carlos and Laura Suarez) decided to jointly continue this tradition and formed the enterprise of Grupo Vicala; this company has three farms and estates named in the same way.
