In Coatepec, coffee, beyond being a business, is a tradition. That’s how the producers here describe coffee growing, a job into which they put so much effort 365 days a year for generations.
Coatepec is a city with strong traditions in Veracruz, Mexico. Known as the orchid capital of Mexico, it’s located in the central mountainous area of the state and surrounded by different topography ranging from trails to hills and waterfalls.
Coatepec’s capital is located an hour and a half from the Veracruz airport, after which getting to Las Lomas community takes about 15 minutes, the farms in Las Lomas are very near the center of the town.
Despite the short distance between the city and farms, the panorama changes radically from the city with slopes and houses to verdant jungle. Producers closer to the city have a variety of work options outside of coffee harvest, but this is not the case for producers who are further out and who depend entirely on agriculture, making them more vulnerable to sudden changes in inflation, coffee prices, fertilizer, and more.
Las Lomas has a privileged but also limiting geographic position. It’s located in the lower part of the Cofre del Perote volcano, so its lands are very fertile and suitable for almost any crop. At the same time Las Lomas’s location in relation to the Gulf of Mexico means cold air arrives from the north, meaning that coffee can only be grown up to 2000 meters above sea level due to the constant risk of frost in higher areas.
In addition to coffee, the producers in the area grow corn, lemon, avocado, and vegetables for their own consumption and sale. The farms in this area are usually small between 2 and 3 hectares. During harvest time they usually use family labor for all work; it’s unusual to hire external workers for the harvest. The typical shade trees used by the producers of Coatepec are native trees such as bananas, Chalahuitl, and Encino. The producers here have a deep-rooted organic culture, so they only usually use chicken manure and other organic products to fertilize the farm.
Las Lomas’s harvest, like the rest of Veracruz, is moved in cherry (unlike other areas where producers wash and dry their coffee and trade it in parchment). A truck transports the cherry from the farm to the central collection center in Coatepec where fermentation and drying take place.
Although Las Lomas was an area with a rich indigenous culture, currently a large part of the pre-Hispanic traditions no longer exist and have given way to Catholic religious traditions, which are very strong in the area, such as the festival of San Jerónimo which is celebrated every year in September.
