Juan Peña

Selections from Hacienda la Papaya have been used by US barista and roasting competitors with multiple 1st, second and 3rd place finishes! Of course we were super grateful in 2021 for the chance to taste a selection from Juan Peña’s farm, Hacienda la Papaya, and were delighted to subsequently share a naturally processed typica as our first offering. Last year we were able to share a second selection, a carbonic maceration processed typica lot.

Juan is a multigeneration farmer, but he’s relatively new to coffee: A former long-stem-rose producer, he started experimenting with coffee plants in about 2010, after disastrous weather wiped out his flower fields.

Turning his energy entirely to coffee, he has worked to develop as healthy, hardy, and horticulturally intentional a farm as possible, with a very well-nurtured plant nursery and a “garden of inputs” on the property. The “inputs garden” is interesting and shows Juan’s dedication to science and methodical experimentation: He has coffee trees planted several yards apart and labeled with the fertilizer inputs they’re given, to track the impact of the nutrients on growth and cherry development.

Juan grows several varieties on this land, and is actively engaged with processing experiments as well. His farming is meticulous, scientific, curious, and giving: He provides neighbors and farm workers space in his nursery, along with seedlings, so that they can develop plots of their own.

Juan Peña is also working to create opportunity for others. Hacienda la Papaya employs 7 permanent workers. During the 4 months harvest, they hire up to 40 additional workers. It’s a source of formal employment, because those who work on the farm have social security. It’s the only business that provides formal employment in the zone. All of the workers are from the community. Eighty percent are women, and most workers have families with kids. Also, during the months of school vacation, high school students work on the farm as well because it coincides with the months of harvest. They’ve been hiring these students seasonally for 7 years now, and its been a great success.

We are happy to have a strong business relationship with Juan Peña, and his coffee exporting business Cafexporto.

Transparency Information

1. Spot Purchase

Early in Sweet Bloom’s history, we worked closely (and still do) with some of the best importers in the US to purchase our coffee. These importers have similar values to Sweet Bloom and a genuine care for those they purchase coffee from. Most of these importers hold “Spot” coffee which means they’ve purchased a given amount of coffee from a specific producer or co-op and import it to their warehouses as inventory. Many of our first coffees were purchased from importers as spot coffee. A few coffees, especially from East Africa, are still purchased this way.

2. Contract Purchase

As Sweet Bloom grows, most of our coffee purchases have transitioned away from spot to contracted. Contractual buying, basically means we commit to purchase a given amount of coffee at an agreed upon price, from a specific producer or co-op, before the coffee leaves the country of origin. Contracted coffee is the beginning of what we view as a relationship coffee. These purchases still rely heavily on importers, but there is sustainability built in as we show a level of commitment to a given lot, and the importer can make a more confident purchase from the producer.

3. Repeat Purchase

During Sweet Bloom’s second year as a roastery, we began to purchase lots again, from producers we bought from in our first year. We view a repeat purchase from a given producer or co-op as a significant step towards building an ongoing relationship. The bulk of coffee we purchase now from Central and South America are at a minimum, second time purchases. For example, 50% of our Hometown Blend comes from two growing groups (Timana, and Los Naranjos in Colombia). We rotate seasonal lots from these two groups, and have been doing this for many years. The Timana and Naranjos groups can be confident that we’ll continue to purchase large quantities from them every year. They can rely on our repeat purchases, and we can plan on getting great coffee.

4. Visits

As we’ve stated from the beginning, the heart of Sweet Bloom is to connect, in meaningful ways, the producer with the end consumer. Our dream from the beginning was to invite the producers we do business with to Sweet Bloom, and we’ve had the privilege to host a number of producers over the years. These visits have been a special time for the producer to share their story with our retail and wholesale customers, and to experience their coffee being brewed and sold in some of the best cafes in Denver. These visits have also been deeply meaningful to our staff, and our customers who can now put a face to the name on our bags. Sweet Bloom is also committed to visiting the producers we work with and will be increasing these efforts in the years to come as our team grows.

5. Payment & Ongoing Projects

Ultimately, our intention is to build on our relationships with producers that go beyond visits, in ways that are mutually beneficial. One project that we are proud of and will continue to replicate is pre-paying for our coffee. This allows the producer to have access to funds at a time when there is a large outflow of cash to pay pickers and increased expenses due to processing.

6. Intentional Purchase

Building genuine relationships with producers is hard. With each harvest, changing markets, competition from other buyers etc, the best of intentions can sometimes turn into what feels like failure. It can be messy and disappointing. At times, we’ve let down producers that we work with, and at other times, we’ve been let down. But we’ve also built relationships that are deeply meaningful, mutually rewarding and long lasting, and we will continue to work towards that end!

For us, a relationship that falls into this final category means we've worked together with this producer for many years. We've visited them, they've visited us, and we've built a relationship that goes beyond a financial transaction. We have an understanding of:

1) challenges faced from one year to the next
2) sustainability practices on the farm
3) how the farmer is caring for their staff
4) ways in which we can benefit projects the farmers have implemented on the farm and in the community

We also consider this stage as a stepping stone into the future of how we purchase coffee and build relationship. We are working on a green buying strategy where we set prices directly with producers that far exceed Fair-trade prices and meets our understanding of a living wage for the producer and those working under them.

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Transparency Information

Coffee by Juan Peña

Transparency Information

Coffee by Juan Peña

blackberry, papaya, kiwi

Juan Peña – 6 oz Bag

blackberry, papaya, kiwi

Juan Peña – 5lb Bag