El Aguacate Café | Finca

el aguacate café is a family-run coffee farm in the vilcabamba valley, loja, ecuador, situated at 2,100 masl on volcanic slopes. the farm was established as a coffee-growing and agrotourism property by founders gonzalo and susana eguiguren after more than 65 years of marriage. in 2018, their grandson pablo andrés eguiguren calisto took on production responsibilities, modernising processing and beginning export. the farm operates an agrosilvopastoral production system, uses virgin mountain water for irrigation, and produces coffee organically and by hand. the main variety in production is arabica, with documented cultivation of typica mejorado and sydra. in 2021, el aguacate placed second in ecuador's inaugural cup of excellence competition, with pablo's natural-process sydra scoring 90.21 points from the international jury. the farm works with gonzalez brothers, a loja-based direct-trade exporter, as one of six partner fincas supplying green lots that are cupped before contracting. lots have been exported to multiple countries. buyers sourcing through this supply chain access traceable single-origin green coffee from a verified cup of excellence competitor at sca specialty grade.