From producing and exporting to roasting and running cafés in Medellín, Pergamino is a progressive, family-owned company we’ve proudly worked with since 2017.
Led by Pedro Echavarría Jr. and Léo Heno Trina, Pergamino is driven by deep knowledge, years of experience, and a clear commitment to quality and to supporting smallholder producers. We’ve been fortunate to spend time with Pedro and Léo in Colombia on multiple visits, and more recently during their trip to Australia in 2023. Over the years, they’ve shared some truly exceptional coffees with us and introduced us to remarkable producers. In 2022, Pergamino became our major purchasing partner in Colombia.
The Echavarría family has been growing coffee since the 1970s, when Pedro Echavarría Sr. purchased a small farm in the mountains of Antioquia. He recognised the potential of the region’s microclimate, volcanic soil, and elevation for coffee production. What began as a single farm grew into a network of farms in and around Santa Barbara. Today, the Santa Barbara Estate provides 60 permanent jobs year-round and hundreds more during harvest. The family continues to pay fair wages and is deeply invested in supporting their community.
In 2010, after growing frustrated with the lack of transparency in the commodity market, Pedro Jr. launched Pergamino as a way to mill and export the family’s coffee directly. This allowed them to connect with specialty buyers and secure better prices. Léo, Pergamino’s first non-family hire, brought with him expertise in logistics, agronomy, and fermentation science, along with strong relationships with smallholder producers.
Pergamino believes the best way to improve smallholder livelihoods is to increase the premiums paid for their coffee. Through their Allied Producer Program, they offer training, resources, and ongoing support to growers while connecting them with specialty roasters around the world. Today, Pergamino works with over 600 smallholder producers across several regions in Colombia, and around 80 percent of the coffee they export is sourced through this program.
In addition to producing incredible coffees on their own farms, Pergamino sources standout lots from other producers. Some of our favourites here at Redbrick include Lomaverde, a citrusy-sweet gem we return to year after year, and El Camino, a coffee we co-developed with the Pergamino team. El Camino is a blend of cherries from the Echavarría family’s farms and smallholders in Antioquia, Huila, Tolima, and Inzá. We use it in our house blend, Coffee Coffee, and roast it as a single origin filter too. We absolutely love it.
Pergamino continues to be a source of inspiration for us, and we’re proud to be on this journey together.