Celebrating Inza producers

Within the framework of the 54th edition of the: ‘Fiesta Civica Agroempresarial Inza’ that took place on 9 December 2017, the municipal authorities in collaboration with UMATA (Unidad Municipal de Asistencia Agropecuaria – Municipal Unit of Agricultural Assistance) wanted to pay tribute to coffee and the work of the producers, for being one of the main protagonists of Inza’s economy.

Inza producers are known around the world for both the quality of their coffees, as well as being pioneers in the Cauca department producing specialty coffee. Some distinctive flavor notes that make their coffees unique are brown sugar, jelly and grapefruit, with a creamy residual flavor. It has proven highly successful both for espresso blends and filter coffees.

Thanks to the experience we have acquired organising the Best Cup events, we teamed up once again with our long-term partner Café Imports, to organize a small contest to bring to life the initiative of the municipal authorities of Inza and UMATA.

At the event, members of our Banexport team had the chance to interchange ideas with Inza producers. We talked about the different opportunities that are available for them in the specialty coffee market, and explained in detail how the process of physical and sensory evaluation works, as well as how developing quality is rewarded with a good price.

Buyers from Louisiana, California, Montana and Minnesota (United States), came to the event to understand the context in which these coffees have been produced, the process, to meet the farmers and cup the samples of the contestants to explore the potential that Inza producers have to offer.

The buyers were satisfied with the profiles of these coffees: flavor notes of mango, pineapple, jasmine, vanilla, chocolate, were predominant, however, one of them seemed to be a common denominator among all the different samples: brown sugar. The general impression was that Inza coffees taste like nothing they have ever tried before from the Cauca department.

The ten finalists and the winner received excellent prices for their coffees, above the ones offered in the traditional market. The exploration of the potential of the specialty coffees from Inza is just beginning!

Winner:

Fabio Nelson Salazar Chate

Finalists:

Marta Isabel Villaquiran Salazar

Neiver Hernán Medina Rojas

Maria Teresita Rojas Muñoz

Miguel Quiguanas Findicue

Octavio Ramos Fernández

Misael Cuello Pacho

Emma Peña Pajoy

Nini Johana Rojas

Huber Hernán Rivera

Written by Adriana Ruiz

Photos by Juan David Cerón