This caturra was produced by Elvis Choquehuanca on his farm which is located near the town of Copacabana (sitting at 1550 M.A.S.L). Since 2015, he has taken part in the Sol de la Mañana Project - a training program for coffee producers in the Caranavi province to equip them with skills to elevate their coffee quality and volume in a sustainable way. This coffee is a testament to the project’s success and Elvis’s hard work – it is bright and fruity with nectarine, raspberry and wildberry notes.

The story

The Sol de la Mañana Project was set up by the Rodriguez family (Pedro and his children, Daniela and Pedro Pablo), one of the most highly respected coffee producing families in Bolivia. In 2014 a group of local producers approached Pedro requesting support and guidance on how to increase the quality and yield of their coffee. The family established the Project as a mentoring program to guide these producers through every step of coffee farming – from setting up their nurseries to the benefits of careful pruning and using fertiliser.  Pedro Pablo also visits each producer’s farm on a monthly basis to provide feedback on their farming practices, and they also benefit from weekly engineer visits.

The program has been an undeniable success. Producers have substantially increased both the quality and volume of cherries produced every harvest (in many cases, from 10 to 25 bags of cherries per hectare of their land), translating to a higher income, year on year.  The members of the project also have the opportunity to sell their coffee cherries to the Rodriguez family.  Each producer receives 70% of the price sold for their coffee.