In the south of the region of Tolima, in between rugged mountains, and luscious vegetation we meet Yakes Paya and her husband. They are at their farm El Triunfo near Gaitania.
Yakes has been involved in coffee all her life. Her father was a producer from whom she learned the tricks of the trade and inherited the passion for this fruit. Alongside her husband, Gilberto Socorreño, they have been on the farm and producing coffee for 15 years now only for the last two years in specialty coffee.
This change of mentality–looking for quality–has brought several changes in the farm such as the infrastructure, way of treating the coffee trees, and processing. Most of all, however, it has improved the family economy and as such the quality of life.
What keeps Yakes motivated and brings her joy is being recognised and having her coffee consumed by people in other countries.
Currently, both her and her husband manage the farm, and during harvest they hire people for cherry picking. Their constant challenge is to maintain the quality of the farm to keep producing high quality coffee. One main goal is to always improve the general infrastructure as for example the wet mill right now.
