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A small post on Bolivia Machacamarca

So as that title say’s this is going to be a very small post, but sprucing up this blog, I read over some of the older posts (I really think you should too, I used to write some ok stuff), and I realised I had not told you there latest news and what is happening at Machacamrca in Bolivia. In fact it had been a while since I updated myself.

If your not sure what I am talking about check out the post here and here.

The post inspired me to pop an email to Lupe as its an age since I caught up with her. She tells me that the farm is coming back, more importantly her relationships with the local community is being repaired, and that this year they have been able to produce the tiniest amount of coffee (just 50lbs) of coffee. Most of it will be distributed between the family, but luckily Lupe says I am family so I expect the tiniest amount of coffee.

Large areas of the farm are either dead (a whole bunch got flooded and rotted) or are inaccessible because the weeds and brush have simply overtaken them. Almost all areas will have to be cut back, so we don’t expect a half-decent harvest until 2016. We hope that next year we will have a few hundred pounds of coffee but from acorns. The good thing is Machacamarca is back and we look forward to tasting this amazing coffee. We haven’t give up and neither has Lupe and Mario.

So we hope to have some of this coffee this year, how much ? well it will be 10-20 250g bags if that. How we sell it I have no idea, but I’d like to help Lupe and Mario with the clear up, so all ideas are gratefully received.

About the author Just Steve Leighton

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4 Comments

  1. Nice to see you blogging again – and a timely reminder to order some coffee, which I’ve just done… 🙂

    The obvious answer would be to sell those bags at a higher price and funnel a good chunk of that back to them. Is there anything they need in particular?

  2. I floated this idea to Lupe but she is proud lady and wants the coffee to be right for everyone. Such a small lot might not be so good, I’ll try and twist her arm 🙂

  3. Good to hear how things are going at Machacamarca. Please send Lupe and Mario my love and sympathy, and hope, too (I’d like to say from the coffee community as a whole, but I can’t speak for everyone)!

    What equipment or other things do they need to get the farm sorted? If they won’t accept money raised from selling the coffee at a higher price, would they accept some equipment bought from that higher-price-coffee money? (If it would be enough to fund purchasing any useful equipment?)

  4. I’m with Adam on this one, Steve. I would gladly pay well above the average for their coffee. The quality of the cup would be unimportant, but the gesture of support for a family that have brought so much pleasure to us is indeed very important!

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