From producing, sourcing and exporting, to roasting beans, cafes in Medellin, and everything in between, Pergamino is a progressive family-owned company that we are proud to have been working with since 2017.
Pergamino is headed up by Pedro Echavarría Jr. and Léo Heno Trina, a duo with a wealth of knowledge, experience, expertise, passionate commitment to quality and uplifting other smallholder producers. We are privileged to have spent time with them in Colombia on several occasions and, more recently, on their visit to Australia in 2023. Over the years they have provided us with some truly exceptional coffees, connected us with some amazing smallholder producers, and in 2022 they became our major purchasing partner in Colombia.
The Echavarría family has been producing coffee since the 1970s after Pedro Echavarría Sr. purchased a small farm in the mountains of the Antioquia region. Pedro Sr. recognised that the distinct micro-climate, volcanic soil and high elevations of this area were perfect for coffee production and what began as a single farm soon expanded to the town of Santa Barbara. Today, Santa Barbara Estate encompasses several farms, provides 60 permanent positions year-round, as well as hundreds of jobs during harvest. They pay fair wages and are heavily invested in the livelihoods of their community.
In 2010, after becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of transparency in the commodity market, Pedro Jr. launched Pergamino to privately mill and export the family’s coffee. This move allowed the family to connect with specialty coffee buyers and access fair premiums for their coffee. Léo, their first non-family hire, brought expertise in export and logistics, agronomy and fermentation science, along with pre-existing connections to smallholder producers.
Pergamino is passionate that the best way to improve smallholder producer livelihoods is to increase the premiums paid for their coffee. Their Allied Producer Program provides training, resources and support for growers, connecting exceptional producers with specialty coffee buyers. Today, they work with over 600 smallholder producers in different regions of the country, and around 80% of the coffee Pergamino export is sourced through the program.
Pergamino produces outstanding coffees on their own farms and sources some exceptional coffees from other producers. Favourites here at Redbrick include Lomaverde, a delectably citrusy-sweet lot we’ve purchased year after year; and El Camino, a line we’ve worked closely with Pergamino to create. Coffee cherries for El Camino are sourced from the Echavarría’s own farms and other smallholder producers in the Antioquia, Huila, Tolima and Inza regions. We use El Camino in our house blend, Coffee Coffee, as well as roasting it as a single origin filter coffee. We love it!
Pergamino is a constant source of inspiration for us here at Redbrick.