Williams and Johnson coffee beans bag 250g

Located near the town of San Cristóbal Verapaz, in the cool, rainy reaches of Cobán, Guatemala, Finca San Lorenzo nestles in the verdant hills at around 1,500 metres above sea level. San Lorenzo is the Valdés family’s second farm, purchased in 1987 as a sort of ‘little brother’ to another of our favourite Guatemalan farms, Santa Isabel. When Lorenzo was first bought, there was only one small plot of land under coffee. Today, the family have developed 20 different lots under coffee, covering 110 hectares of the farm. The remaining 35 hectares are under forest cover, which the family is managing in a very interesting way. It is necessary to maintain this sort of forest cover, firstly, in order for the farm to be sustainable with regards to lumber. However, the family feel strongly that setting aside this large tract of land is the right amount of natural conservation to preserve wildlife in the area. In fact, throughout the farm, a very high priority is put on conservation. Although the farm isn’t organic, great care is taken with regarding to application of agrichemicals and organic composts are preferred. There is no hunting allowed anywhere on either San Lorenzo or Santa Isabel, and all forest land is managed so as to optimise native flora and fauna. By establishing more diversity, the family hopes to have a forest composition similar to what existed 50 years ago. This will foster a stronger, more resilient ecosystem in the long run.