Highlights

“Juan Peña manages Hacienda La Papaya, a pioneering farm in Ecuador's Saraguro region at 1800–2200 MASL. A former rose producer, Juan turned to coffee in 2010 after weather disasters wiped out his flower fields. Today he runs a scientifically rigorous operation with a 'garden of inputs' to track fertilizer impacts on cherry development. The farm employs local workers, 80% of whom are women, and provides the only formal employment in the zone. For this Natural Gesha, cherries are carefully cleaned, manually selected, and dried in temperature-controlled rooms for up to 30 days, turned 3–4 times daily. The Gesha variety was introduced in 2018 from Boquete, Panama, and has since placed in top international competitions.”