Finca San Bernardo

Julio Gándara is a fourth generation coffee grower who looks after Finca San Bernardo with his brother. The family’s work with coffee began in Cobán, where Julio Gándara’s great-grandfather first planted. In 1967, his grandfather, Rodolfo Figueroa Argueta, moved the operation to Fraijanes. His grandmother, Amparo Rodriguez de Figueroa, worked on the farm every day alongside their dedicated team until she retired at 85 years old, and many of those team members still help run the farm today. 

Julio’s family exchange lower yields with the shade grown coffee for slower cherry maturation and denser seeds, resulting in higher quality coffees. Seeds for new plants come from the farm’s own trees, and fertilizer and fungicide use is kept to a minimum, with natural inputs chosen whenever possible. Weeding and shade maintenance are done by hand. Each year the family also plants cypress, walnut, pimiento, cedar, and other native trees across the property. Many non-coffee products can also be obtained at San Bernardo, including various varieties of banana, oranges, yucca flowers, honey, natural spring water, fish and more. In 2011, Finca San Bernardo was selected for the Guatemala Cup of Excellence auction.

Processing

Pickers harvest only ripe cherries by hand. Everildo Padilla, who has more than 44 years of experience at the wet mill, oversees fermentation. All processing uses water from natural springs on the farm. After washing by hand, the parchment is sorted into three grades, and only the first grade moves on to sun-dry on patios before it is packed at 11% moisture to rest. Around 2015 the family began exploring honey, natural, and anaerobic processing alongside their fully washed coffees.

Reforestation

In addition to environmentally conscious production methods, the team at San Bernardo also actively contributes to environmental improvement by carrying out the important task of reforestation. "Although we know that production can be increased by leaving plants in direct sunlight, we choose high quality coffee over higher yields, so all our coffee plants live under shade trees. Shade-growing coffee allows the fruit to mature more slowly and seeds to achieve greater density, capturing the best flavors for the longest time possible." - Julio Gándara