Berley Hernandez produces coffee in the small, remote community of La Tarralla in the district of Angel Albino Corzo. This community is one of the highest and most distant in Chiapas. In the steepest part of the mountain lies La Tarralla, Spanish for “The Fishing Net” and named for its shape.
To get to La Tarralla, we first fly to the Chiapas airport, then drive 4 hours to Angel Albino Corzo. To reach the producers’ houses we drive for another hour. Unlike the producers of other communities whose farms are next to their houses, the farms at La Tarralla are located further up the mountain. Berley’s house is on the side of the road but her farm, El Recuerdo, is located a 1.5 hours trek up the mountain.
Berley’s story is similar to that of many Mexican women. Many years ago, her husband had to migrate to another country in search of better job opportunities. Since then, she has been fully in charge of managing the farm and raising her 2 children. Now, Berley is a coffee expert and has detailed and exceptional management of the farm, El Recuerdo (“The Memory,” named in memory of her parents).
Berley’s days start early at 5am, when she prepares breakfast and lunch for her children before they head to school. She makes the hike to her farm where she spends the entire day harvesting alone or with the support of local workers that she hires during the harvest season. Then, she hauls coffee on her back from the farm to the house, where she ferments the coffees for 30 hours in cement tanks and sets them up to dry for 12-15 days on concrete patios.
When she has the coffee processed down to parchment and bagged, she hires a unit so that she can transport the bags from her house to the collection center that is an hour away in Jaltenango.
Like many producers here, Berley uses the native leguminous ice cream bean tree for shade and nitrogen fixing, and fruit trees for shade and organic matter to add to her compost (also made from coffee pulp).
One of the main characteristics of La Tarralla is the sense of unity that exists between its residents. There’s a lot of mutual support between neighbors and a lot of pride in belonging to the La Tarralla community. Producers here also have plenty of friendly competition, which drives them to improve their agricultural practices and always search for excellence in productivity and quality.
La Tarralla, unlike other Mexican coffee communities, still has a large young population that’s dedicated to coffee. This has meant that many of the producers in the area are under 30 and see coffee as an ideal livelihood with which they can provide a better future for their children and future generations.
La Tarralla is a small, remote community in the district of Angel Albino Corzo. This community is one of the highest and most distant in Chiapas. In the steepest part of the mountain lies La Tarralla, Spanish for “The Fishing Net” and named for its shape.
La Tarralla, unlike other Mexican coffee communities, still has a large young population that’s dedicated to coffee. This has meant that many of the producers in the area are under 30 and see coffee as an ideal livelihood with which they can provide a better future for their children and future generations.
Berley knows that El Recuerdo will be a highly valuable inheritance that she will leave to her children, in whom she also instills a love for coffee that’s highly in line with this community.
