By Christoph Sauser

Spending time in Colombia with Valentina (Siruma Coffee), visiting our coffee farmers, is so valuable! Being at the heart of Colombia's coffee world is incredibly enriching and such a learning experience. Nothing comes close to feeling it, smelling it, and tasting it right there on the farms and cooperatives.

Horizonte Coffee was more or less founded because of getting to know Valentina during my first bike trip in Colombia. It was right after I retired from cycling and I was looking for new opportunities, or better challenges. Valentina had just started Siruma Coffee, exporting speciality beans and I saw the potential of doing something special together with her, while also discovering the world of coffee. Meanwhile, Valentina got hooked on cycling and is now crazy about riding her bike and enjoying the local cycling scene in Manizales.

- Valentina Duque - Siruma Coffee.

I cupped a lot of traditional flavour profiles, plus some crazy funky co-fermented and yeast-fermented coffees in Valentina's new office, where she now employs 15 people. 

- Coffee cupping (testing and judging).

On our origin trips, Jerry also joined us — a newly hired agronomist at Siruma. He has such an impact on the farmers, helping them increase yield and quality while decreasing expenses, all thanks to his knowledge. In the end, it's not only the farmers who benefit, but us roasters too — and this cycle is probably the most sustainable of all. "Give and take…!"

- Jerry, Valentina and myself.

My visit was at the end of July, at the start of the main harvest, which runs until November (and sometimes stretches into December, depending on the region). This main harvest yields the vast majority of the annual production — typically around 75% of the total crop. The secondary harvest runs from April to June and accounts for the remaining 25%.

When we visited a cooperative, farmers were already bringing in the first bags of coffee and they were paid immediately in cash, based on quality and the market price — something that isn't usual. For example, if you want to sell avocados (many coffee farmers also grow avocados), you're only paid weeks later in installments and the market is very volatile.

- Cooperative paying the farmer right away.

Siruma, together with Falcon Coffee (a green bean trader from the UK who works with Siruma), is investing in several projects to support small farmers and their families — not only with knowledge, but also with hardware. It was super interesting to see the first solar beds. After picking and removing the skin from the coffee cherries, the beans are washed and fermented in water and then need to be dried, normally on an open patio. Since most coffee grows on steep slopes with frequent, unpredictable rain, open-patio drying risks mold and spoilage. These solar beds solve that problem by placing raised mesh platforms under a greenhouse-like cover, creating a protected drying microclimate.

- Solar bed.

This was also the first time I witnessed how the water gets filtered after washing/fermenting coffee. After the fermenting process, the water is acidic and sugar-rich; left untreated, it strips oxygen from streams and kills aquatic life. Filtering makes it safe to reuse, keeps farmers certification-compliant and turns the leftover pulp into compost. Under Colombian law, farmers are required to filter the water, but these installations are expensive and most smallholder farms can't afford to invest in them, so the water runs unfiltered into the streams. This practice is tolerated by the authorities — otherwise it would call into question the existence of thousands of smallhold farmers.

- Post harvest filter.

One of the first Colombian farmers we started working with, back in 2019, was Jhony Melo from Anserma. At the time, he had just taken over a small plot from his father, which he'd been looking after. We bought part of his first harvest that year. Jhony is now managing the whole farm and it was so nice to see him again and how well he's progressing. He now has a small but modern post-harvest station, uses agronomist Jerry's knowledge to increase yield and quality, grows different varieties — and still rides his bike a lot :-) Most of our Colombian coffee for 2027 will come from Jhony, and we're already looking forward to receiving his bags at the roastery.

- Together with Jhony.

- New post harvesting station of Jhony.

One of the most beautiful farms we visited was the one of William Tapasco, set high up (which is usual in Colombia) in the mountains above Riosucio on a mountain ridge.

- William's family farm.

After walking through the coffee fields — which also included pineapples, bananas, vegetables, plenty of chickens and three dogs — we had a long talk with the whole family, grandparents included.

- A conversation among three generations.

- Grandma.


- Coffee farmers are often very much self-sufficient.

They were also very interested in the life of Swiss farmers, their challenges and the differences with Colombia. Most small coffee farmers in Colombia don't have a car, just a motorbike for going into town. The kids walk to school, or if they're lucky, get a ride with a Colombian Jeep closer to where more cars pass. We could sense that William sometimes wonders what life would be like in the city, since coffee farming isn't an easy job — access to opportunities and healthcare is limited and on the farm you face daily struggles like the weather, market prices, leaf rust (a fungus on the leaves), and the berry borer (a beetle that bores into the coffee cherries to lay its eggs, ruining the beans inside). 

Fertilizers such as phosphorus and nitrogen as well as liming to neutralize acidic soils, are a major topic. Precise soil analyses can significantly boost production — which makes investing in these inputs worthwhile.

- A view over the grandparents' and William's family farm.

We could sense how happy William and his family are in their little coffee kingdom and that settling in a city is not something they would want.

Only a few days after we left, Colombia was hit by a severe earthquake that caused enormous destruction in our coffee region. Thankfully, no one we know was seriously harmed, but the devastation is immense.

We wish all those affected all the very best and a lot of positive energy — alongside a donation, the least we can do from home by now.