Finca El Corozal, example of perseverance

Angela Capogna

Angela Capogna

People

Delfin Carvajal is an ambitious and talented man who runs Finca El Corozal. Driven by his curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit, Delfin shows us his remarkable talent. He took part in the 2020 Huila Mágico Competition which we ran in Colombia and got ranked in the Top 10. In addition to his ranked lot, The Coffee Quest is now receiving another lot from him, a sign that our collaboration is a great success. 

Finca El Corozal is located in Garzón, Huila and sits at an altitude of 1500 m.a.s.l., where Delfín is growing 20000 trees. Among the main coffee varieties planted, on his 3 hectares, you will find Caturra, Castillo, and Colombia.

Coffee production is part of a 4-generation family heritage. Finca El Corozal belongs to the Carvajal-Castiblanco Family (Delfín’s and his wife’s family) but is actually managed by Delfín’s brother, Euclides Carvajal Córdoba. Finca El Corozal was born as a de facto corporation of 7 brothers, who bought the first 3 hectares in 2004, then they kept extending the farm until 2011.  

“Growing and producing specialty coffee is an opportunity for us to live with dignity and for this reason, we do it with passion and discipline” – Delfín Carvajal

Product

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The main focus of Delfín Carvajal is to optimize space and time during the drying process of his specialty coffee, by maintaining all the physical and organoleptic characteristics. So, he launched a project focused on mechanical drying and focused all his interest in finding a way to obtain the financial resources needed. How? The story behind is worth mentioning, read on. 

He actually was able to get seed capital. For those who are not very familiar with this, seed capital refers to the loan of money granted by the state and that should not be returned as long as all the requirements of the projects are fulfilled. To do so he formulated the project on four basic studies: market, technical, financial, and organizational. 

Thanks to the help of Mr Javier Rivera, owner of the company Metalcol, in Colombia, Delfín decided to make technical adjustments focused on the conservation of the beans during the mechanical drying process. This innovation was sufficient for the approval of the project and the disbursement of the loan. It was demonstrated that this project would have had an impact on one of the main sectors of the economy of the country.

For a year Delfin had continuous follow-ups by auditors verifying whether the project was maintained over time. It was! Today it’s indeed a great success, also because his goal is to expand his efforts in favour of the production of specialty coffees.

Delfin’s fermentation process for his natural coffee includes 14 hours in cherries, then it is brought for an average of 8-12 days on solar dryers. The process is then completed when the coffee goes through the mechanical drying for 32 hours at 36°C. 

Price

Our relationship with Delfín is not new. He indeed took part in our contest we ran in Huila, Colombia (Huila Mágico Competition). It is always heartwarming to see some familiar farmers’ names coming back again in future containers. This can only keep us motivated to invest more in our relationships, such as this one with Delfín Carvajal.

Planet

Finca El Corozal is environmentally friendly. They gained the Rainforest Alliance certification in 2009 and they keep making efforts to respect the environment. They do not allow any hunting or burning activities, they carefully control the water system during the washing process, re-use and transform the by-product from coffee cherries into compost, and avoid chemicals for plants’ diseases and pests as much as possible. 

What draws us to invest in such a determined coffee farmer is his passion to find and implement new and better techniques and make an impact.

Moreover, Delfín also created an association of more than 20 members from the same geographical area. Everybody is committed to planting different varieties and to marketing their coffees. This is a great motivation and helps every coffee farmer and a great benefit for the local economy as well.

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