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Chapter 1
Everything started in the 1920s or 30s; my mem-
ory has been blurry. Maybe it all began with a coinci-
dence, a conspiracy, or something else ... Well, no one
can really tell.
A raging fire hit Pereira back then, wrecking houses,
taking lives and causing huge economic loss. I have no
clue how many blocks were burnt down, but people always
say the disaster was staggering. Among the burning hous-
es was a coffee trading company, which also peeled and
processed coffee berries. After the fire was put out, the
police, the fire brigade, the owners – I guess they were
from the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Co-
lombia – gathered there, finding nothing but ashes.
Mr. Gómez decided to buy the house with no hesita-
tion. The man who had just arrived in Pereira from Antio-
quia made an extremely cheap offer, but the house owner
agreed to the deal without hesitation or further demands.
No one could understand the point of buying a ruin.
The very next day, Mr. Gómez came back and cleaned
the house with his brothers. They found the burnt coffee
berries were actually intact. After removing the ashes of
the burnt skins, the berries were still green, totally qual-
ified for processing and sale. That’s how they got kilos of
coffee without paying a penny, thus embarking on their
journey to wealth and later emerging as one of the richest
families in Pereira. I don’t know whether this was a coin-
cidence or their conspiracy; after all, it was a business in
the old days.
* export and relending. There was no room for two tigers
The increased coffee production in Colombia has
granted the Federation a more important role for coffee
farmers. With unique geographical advantages, Risaralda,
Quindío and Caldas Departments have become the center
of coffee plantations in the country. Here, the slopes of
the mountains stretch northwards; the sunny and mild
climate brings rain at the right time for each harvest. In
the first half of the 20th century, the three Departments
took over all the property from the ruined large coffee
estates in Santander and Cundinamarca, including machin-
ery, knowledge and migrant workers. Then, coffee moved
here and the Federation embraced an enhanced position.
The Gómez family, pioneers and great merchants
from Antioquia, made Pereira their new treasure trove.
They owned businesses from grinding and roasting to
procurement and export; their fortune grew together with
the soaring coffee production. These merchants also
helped to open a new chapter of coffee history in the city,
by providing credit at low bank rates to local farmers who
were not good at roasting and exporting.
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Coffee production was centered around coffee. Ever since he drank the first
brought more debt cups of coffee in his mother’s womb, it was clear that cof-
fee would never be absent from his life.
It was not easy to make a living from coffee at the
than profit, and time, although it remains the same today. Coffee farmers
were born for coffee. I have often said that coffee farming
created more cost is one of the most dangerous occupations. Coffee produc-
tion brought more debt than profit, and created more cost
than output, but than output, but there was no way not to do it. Their
passion for coffee is also a dangerous addiction which is
there was no way not beyond control. I came to know Gabriel because of coffee.
In mud-stained trousers and half-buttoned shirts, he
to do it. Their pas- commuted between coffee and banana plantations, drove
livestock, sowed seeds, and ran the farm inherited from
sion for coffee is also his father in Altagracia … That’s where he grew up; it would
also be the place of his final farewell. Later, Gabriel mar-
a dangerous addic- ried me, an agricultural engineer from the city. I found
tion which is myself loving coffee more than I loved him. I loved farm-
ing and had learned a bit about coffee, but there was still
beyond control. much to learn.
We didn’t have much, but enough to put food on the
table. We have three sons who grew up with the coffee
and the farm, until that damned day, July 4, 1989. The
International Coffee Agreement collapsed, the economy
opened up, coffee prices plummeted, the government did
nothing to intervene, and we fell apart. It was a time of
But this gamble did not last long. The first plan of a real famine. The Federation monopolized the right to buy
private coffee plantation came to an abrupt end. To put it all the coffee at very low prices, and also exclusively oc-
more precisely, it was snuffed out. The Federation was cupied the roasting and export rights. A dead end.
emerging, so was the Gómez family. They played the same My eldest son had always maintained good relation-
role: lending, fertilizing, procurement, grinding, roasting, ships with coffee farmers and roasters, so before coffee
prices slumped, he was aware of some illegal export routes
to live in peace, so a gun was aimed at the Gómez family to Ecuador and an “underground” roastery which was still
to phase them out in Pereira. Who did it? The judiciary operating in Pereira. Hunger left us with no choice but to
never made it clear. It was another unfinished, forgotten risk exporting coffee to Ecuador.
case, not too uncommon in Colombian history. Some of
the Gómez family left the industry, and some left the *
country; they were not short of resources. Rumors were Everything was under the control of the Federation,
abound that the first Colombian coffee beans in Japan and the rock-bottom coffee prices were unsustainable.
were brought by a brother of the Gómez, who fled Perei- Hunger drove the coffee farmers to seek illegal channels
ra to the Asian country and settled down there. Who to transport their products. The sons of Ángela and Ga-
knows? Nevertheless, one thing is for sure: the private briel managed to contact a buyer abroad, possibly from
business came to a dead end, making the Federation the Canada or perhaps Japan … doesn’t matter. This customer
only official representative of local coffee farmers. was waiting to sample and buy the coffee.
However, Gabriel was too weak to take on the new
* task. When the three were discussing how to address this
My husband Gabriel’s father inherited a farm in the challenge, Ángela stood up and banged the table with her
Altagracia farming area, not too far away from Pereira, tired fist. She would take charge of everything, including
where he also inherited a coffee buying station which was roasting and sending out samples, she said. Her son stepped
no longer in operation because of the fire accident. When in, trying to convince her to give him full responsibility.
he passed away, my husband, who continued the Gómez He paced briskly around the dining room, explaining it
line, became the third generation of coffee farmers. His life was for the best since it was a man’s world. Silence ensued.
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