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Finca La Perla is a classic Guatemalan coffee winning
Cup of Excellence in the prestigious growers competition. Rich and velvety with citrus notes. According to the judges, "Sweet", "citric" and "fine" were among the adjectives used by the jury to describe the coffee submitted by La Perla farm, which received the highest total score in the competition.
La Perla means "Sleeping Woman" in Xamac, a Mayan language used in the Ixil Triangle, where the farm is located, some 38 kilometers northeast of Chajul, in the province of El Quiché. While famed for its cultural richness and diversity, El Quiché has not been known for coffee. However, planting coffee since 1940 has placed the farm of La Perla among the ranks of traditional coffee producers.
The farm produces 6,000 to 7,000 quintales parchment of Caturra, Catuaí and Bourbon between 3000 and 6500 feet. Soil is loose, clayey and sandy over a limestone base. Fifteen percent (493 hectares) of the farm¹s 3,285 rugged, rolling hectares are planted in coffee. Another 990 hectares are dedicated to the preservation of the environment through forest reserves of native trees and plants. These are also the source of several natural springs, and more than enough river water flows from the Ixtupil and Sacsiwan rivers to irrigate the farm.
Producing quality coffee is very important to the owners of La Perla. They pay attention to details: from harvesting at the exact moment to wet milling and drying the beans both in the sun and dryers, depending on the weather. For the owners, maintaining and improving the quality of their coffee is a high priority, as is putting into practice the combined knowledge acquired by all involved on the farm in the production of coffee.
The climate in Chajul is steamy, hot and humid, with 197 to 217 inches of rain each year. Because of the special characteristics of the farm, a wide diversity of other crops can be grown. Cardamom, macadamia nuts, basic grains and among other crops produced at La Perla.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 persons live on the farm. They carry out different jobs related to coffee production throughout the year, as well as tending to their plots of land on which they grow basic grains for family consumption. About 500 formed a Solidarity Association whose different activities have raised standards of living within the farm community. Their commitment permitted the farm to continue to produce during the armed conflict, which recently ended, despite the fact that the farm is located in the area where the conflict was most intense.
It is important to mention that at the end of the armed conflict, the farm worked hard to reintegrate those most affected by the violence, the refugees who fled to save their families. La Perla provided work, reconstructed entire villages, and promoted health campaigns, like vaccinations, that facilitated the repatriation of many whose lives were adversely affected by a war in which they were victimized by both sides.
