LAS FLORES/JHOAN VERGARA

Las Flores began in 1990, it was founded by Edilberto Vergara and Nubia Ayure. Originally from the
department of Cundinamarca, children of coffee growers who inherited their passion for the countryside and
especially for coffee. The farm was 16 hectares, with only 2 cultivated in coffee and it is where Jhoans
parents began their work in cultivating the rest of the free land. From the year 1998 the farm was already fully
cultivated. By this time our family had already formed in a nucleus of 5 children, from eldest to youngest:
Xiomara, Leonardo, Carlos, Jhoan and Diego and at this time the traditional was to cultivate, harvest, wash,
dry and sell, this was the productive cycle. In 2006 my mother took the initiative to compete in the cup of
excellence and was ranked 16th and it was at that moment that she took the first steps to explore the great
world of specialty coffees.

Years later, their mother passed away and left a very important legacy, a task that they must carry out.
She was a person who faithfully believed that the field had a future as long as they studied in depth
everything related to coffee. Growing up we began to ask many questions such as what happens after
delivering our coffee? What is its destination? How could we improve? Will there be a broader market?
Jhoan begins investigating a little more about each question and entering a public institution called Sena,
where he learns and deepens theoretical and practical knowledge on coffee-related issues and learns better
agricultural practices that lead to improving quality in the cup. At this time the traditional Caturra variety that
they had cultivated began to be renewed and little by little they visited producers, getting to know different
coffee varieties, tasting and analyzing sensory profiles that were consistent with the height of their farm and
available soils. This lead them to plant and now have a number of exotic varieties including Java, Pink
Bourbon, Tabi, Chiroso and Bourbon Sidra.
Already immersed in the subject of quality. Carlos, Jhoan and Diego decide to take the next step. It consisted
of starting to develop replicable profiles and thus highlighting the potential of each variety. Carlos and Diego
are in charge of processing and giving proper management to fermentation times, types of processes and
care in drying. Jhoan is in charge of analyzing the experiments, defining which process is best for the variety.
He is also in charge of the commercial part of publicizing the work.

ACHIEVEMENTS
Jhoan Vergara, Pink Bourbon, Washed 10/9/2024

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Jhoan in 2019 participated in the MASTER OF COFFEE contest, in the coffee grower - roaster modality,
occupying the first place of 162 participants with his flagship rosé bourbon variety with a semi-washed
process. He had the opportunity to travel to South Korea and participate in an auction with coffees from
different parts of the world, achieving first place in the auction. This achievement makes them believe that
they are on the right track, motivating them to improve and give their best to always bring excellent coffee to
customers. In each process they carry out, they always imagine being in a contest and put into practice every
bit of knowledge they have.