Aristobulo Rayo Mendez is the owner of finca La Victoria which is 47 Ha farm located in Ortega, Tolima. He has been growing coffee for 50 years and it is part of their family history to be a coffee grower. The farm only has 8ha of coffee and also includes a 10ha area of natural forest taht he protects. The varietals on the farm is castillo, caturra and geisha with a total of about 38000 trees. In the harvest coffee is picked every 20 days with the pickers receiving a premium for ripe cherry selection. Once the coffee is picked and taken to the beneficio it is then pulped and ferments for 24 hours in a tiled tank. The coffee is then washed 3 times and taken to African beds to dry.
Aristobulo Rayo Mendez has been a member of Cafe Agrario for 6 year and it is an association of producers from Ortega in Tolima. Most of the associates are coffee growers and there are 35 associates. Cafe Agario has seen some difficulties being situated in a region troubled by the civil war but also from poor leadership and coffees being sold on credit to coffee buyers that never paid for coffee delivered. In the more recent years they have been focusing on specialty coffee to add value to their product and then also being roasting and selling coffee locally.
