Casimiro García López of Pluma on Community Origins & Modern Challenges

We were excited to be able to interview Casimiro García López of Pluma de Oaxaca, as well as his son Omar, face-to-face in Oaxaca. A second generation coffee farmer, Casimiro and his wife Reyna Petronila Luna farm 20 hectares (an unusually large farm for the Pluma region) just outside San Agustin Loxicha en Aguacate, a community growing both coffee famous for its malic character and avocados. Casimiro’s older children support in both farm work and marketing, contributing agronomic knowledge learned in local courses. In the off-season, the family works as blacksmiths. He’s been one of the most consistent parts of our Oaxaca coffee community year over year. In this interview, translated from Spanish, Casimiro and Omar talk to us about the history of their family in Pluma, the origins of the unique Pluma Hidalgo variety, and the biggest challenges they face in the present. 

Adam: Mr Casimiro, thank you for coming. I would love for you to tell us a little bit about the story of how your grandfather started to produce coffee in Loxicha and how he managed the fields. I think this story is very interesting.

Casimiro: The origin of our coffee and our work here started about 70 to 80 years ago.The plants came from the community Pluma Hidalgo. We got them because the community here in Loxicha, where I am from, was very poor. The people didn’t have good quality of life, the most they had was two or three heads of cattle.

What happened was that a community member suggested that the community switch from cattle farming, which was very cost intensive and unprofitable, to coffee farming, from which they could make more money and improve their quality of life. That’s what led the grandparents of our community to go and bring coffee plants back from the community of Pluma Hidalgo. Back then, there was no transportation, there were no paved roads, there was no way to transport the plants, so they had to bring the plants on mules, however they could, even just carrying them in their hands; and that is how they started to sow.

From there, my father continued working, and so did my generation, and my children. Now, we are very thankful to be working with Red Fox.

Adam: And how many days did it take to bring the coffee from Pluma Hidalgo to Loxicha en Aguacate by mule?

Casimiro: Well, it was two days going there, and two days coming back.

Adam: Walking?

Casimiro: Yes, walking, cars didn’t exist. The big road from Miahuatlan to Pochutla had cars, but not like the cars we have today. We were ranchers, we couldn’t go by car, so the mules were the only transportation we had.

Adam: And this is the same variety that you still produce up to date?

Casimiro: That’s right, exactly. That is the variety “Pluma” that we have.

Adam: Can you explain to me how your communal system works? How many family members do you have around? Do they bring you cherry? How do you coordinate and work with your relatives and neighbors?

Casimiro: In our area, the vast majority of our relatives are coffee producers. Some neighbors too, they are a bit further away. Each person has their own plot, each plot has its own coffee. The harvest starts in December, around the 15th, the 20th, people start collecting their coffee. 

Our method is letting the coffee ripen well so the coffee can turn out well after processing. I saw that people in other communities would start collecting the coffee when the fruit was still yellow, and the coffee isn’t good like that, it has to be ripe. Then we harvest, and in the afternoon, we depulp together and leave the coffee to rest all night long and for part of the next day. Between 15 to 20 hours, give or take. Then we wash the coffee and take it to the drying patio, for six to seven days. We manage watch over the drying. And that’s it. 

Adam: What is the biggest challenge you face in producing high quality coffee, like the cost, finding employees, etc?

Casimiro: Well, in times of harvest, first of all, we need people. If we don’t have people, then we can’t work. So, for this, the most difficult part is to have money to be able to pay the pickers.  

Adam: But you have work all year round, no? Like now, it started raining, so you told me the coffee was starting to flower, so what happens in the season when there is no harvest? What is the work then?

Casimiro: After the harvest, the work that we have is to grow seedlings and prepare the farm. To plow the trees, to get coffee, and prepare the starts. And then in June, we start sowing, it is time to plant new seedlings. After that, we start cleaning (weeding and pruning),then cleaning. We start harvest after that. So, during all that time we spend, we manage money to invest. 

Adam: Omar, I am not sure if you want to comment, since you are Mr. Casimiro’s son, and you also have your own kids. What is your vision to keep producing coffee? What do you need to keep producing coffee and to make it profitable? To have a good life?

Omar: To continue in the coffee industry, I believe that the most important thing is to have passion for coffee, to keep moving forward, because today, we have many obstacles, mainly with the coffee leaf rust. But I believe the coffee industry is something beautiful. On a personal note, I would like to own my own farm in the near future so that I can continue working, continue innovating, and with time maybe adapting new processes to improve the quality of the coffee. When we improve the quality, there’s a bilateral benefit for both parties, it’s good for the consumer and for us as well. 

I would also like for my kids to continue with the beauty of being coffee producers, and for them to have their own plots, their own methods, for them to continue innovating, and to continue this beautiful life, and to continue well.

Adam: Do you drink your own coffee? Do you roast and drink your own coffee from the one you produce?

Omar: We do consume it, but in a very traditional way, I mean, in our case, my mother, when she prepares coffee, we have a manual coffee grinder. The way we roast it is in our traditional way, we have our clay pot, our stove, and my mother roasts the coffee there. The moment when she sees the coffee is ready, she grinds it in the manual grinder, then she brews it, it is a very traditional method. 

Adam: It is very interesting to be able to taste it in different roasting and brewing methods, right? To be able to understand the results based on the changes in the processes, in the harvests, and the effect that it has in the cup, no?

Omar: Yes, exactly, the different results would teach us things, to see the difference of a long drying time as opposed to a short drying time. In that aspect, it would be really interesting to do it.

Adam: Is it important for you that, the variety Pluma, that your great-grandfather brought, that it still has the recognition in the market? Is that something that motivates you? Or is it just what you have and what you continue producing?

Omar: Well, I would tell you that for the coffee Pluma, or even more so, before knowing you, the recognition was practically zero. Before, we only delivered the coffee, we got our payment, and no one would tell us anything. Throughout the years we met Red Fox, we met you, and you let us know that the quality of the coffee is very good. The Typica variety, and you have let us know that you found very nice notes in our coffee. Like chocolate notes, hazelnuts, and all notes that can be found in the Pluma coffee. And it is a huge satisfaction that this coffee is well known, not only in our state, but also in the USA where you are, if not the world. And that people recognize the quality of our product—it fills us with pride and satisfaction, and it motivates us to continue to work, to continue improving and to continue producing quality coffee.

Adam: That’s so great, it makes me really happy. Because we have clients that were buying specialty coffee in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and they always speak about Pluma Hidalgo, I believe it had a name back then and it had gotten lost in the last 20 years. So, for us, it is something interesting and also important for the new generation of roasters in the market that they can also know a very special coffee. Because Pluma Hidalgo, the Pluma variety, is different from the Typicas of other regions. It has a very unique flavor.

For us being able to meet you, and be able to build a relationship, and to know that this variety works for you is wonderful. We’ve seen your farm several times and the plants are very healthy, it is productive, it is well kept, To us, it is important to reflect that profile and carry it on in the market. It is interesting to be able to continue and recover a little bit of the history. To know that your great grandfather brought it from back in the day, and that it continues producing, for me it is an important part of the specialty coffee and to maintain the story. This is the link to the ancestors.

Is there anything that you want the consumers or the roasters to know about your work, or about the relationship we built between Red Fox and your family?

Omar: Yes. Four years ago, we met the company Red Fox, I believe before we met you all, the recognition that our coffee got before you was practically zero. Sometimes we received only the payment and that’s it. We wouldn’t hear from them until the next harvest. Then we met Red Fox. You recognize the work we do on the farm, all the coffee processes, the drying, the fermenting, the washing, and I think that you have recognized our work, I think you leave satisfied with all the processes we all do. And that relationship, in all areas, administrative and coffee production-related and financial, it is a good relationship, and to carry that on that is my father’s wish. Our wish and the wish for the farm. To continue working, to maintain the relationship, and to keep it for as many years as possible.

Adam: Thank you so much for coming, for talking to us and for always investing more and strengthening the commercial relationship that we have. We’re looking to come back again with the new harvest to be able to visit your ranch, and you know we have a house here; you are welcome whenever you would like to come.

Omar: Thank you! Thank you very much Mr Adam, you know you and everyone at Red Fox have a home at San Agustin Loxicha and in the community of El Aguacate. In San Agustin, in Pochutla, whenever you decide to visit us, it will be a pleasure, our honor to have you with us, you are all invited to our house, and we would love to have you all there next year. And during the harvest so you all can really see the work we do there.

Adam: Yes, thank you so much. It was very gratifying to take my kids, for them to get to know the farm, so they can also know a little bit about our work and have the experience of getting to know you. They are always talking about your son, and the time they spent there on the farm.

Omar: Yes, it is gratifying year after year, when you go, and not only the same people, but new people come over. Sometimes a roaster comes, sometimes another person that works for Red Fox comes, or families. During this harvest you brought your wife and your kids, and my son got really excited to have new friends. Now he says that he has friends from the USA, so we are all very happy, and we hope the relationship continues for a long time. And whenever you want, you have a home there.

Adam: Thank you, thank you very much.