Ecuador Finca Arashi - Washed

Specialty coffee producer Abel Salinas was born in the town of La Papaya, which is about 19km from the city of Saraguro, Province of Loja. Abel has a large family, being the fifth child out of twelve, and is currently approaching his 60’s. He and his wife, Lidia Marianita Castro, have four children themselves, with two grandchildren to complete the family. Abel and his family were not always in the coffee agriculture and production industry. Abel, himself, was previously engaged in mining in the Costa Region. He was required to return to La Papaya in the year 2000 for a healthier climate to recover from a necessary surgical procedure, leaving the mines no longer a fit place to reside and work.

Upon returning to La Papaya, Abel and Lidia Marianita dedicated themselves to raising cattle and tomato productions, alongside other perennial crops. It was not until 2016 that the Salinas family would begin in coffee. Arashi is seven hectares of space that was inherited from Lidia Marianita in the year 2000. 

Their initial crop production was not providing enough income for the family due to a drop in prices and value, forcing Abel and Lidia Marianita to search for alternatives. With the help of the Ministry of Agriculture, and recommendation from a fellow successful coffee growing neighbour, they began dedicating their time to coffee production. The first trees were planted in 2016, and their first harvest came in 2019, which happened to be the year they won first place in the Best of Loja 2019 coffee competition. We are happy to be sharing the work coming from the farm Arashi, and hope to see many more successful harvests from the Salinas family.

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