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Chapter 1 Coffee production was centered around coffee. Ever since he drank the first

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