Guatemala - Guatemala Finca Santa Rita

In 2001, Finca Santa Rita, formerly Santa Gertrudis, entered a new chapter under Rita Graciela Cohen and her husband, Fernando Castillo Ramírez. After inheriting the land from her parents, Rita continued its steady transformation from dairy farm to coffee estate.

The roots of that shift trace back to 1968, when her parents, Isidoro and Rita, planted the farm’s first Guatemalan varieties; tall trees bearing fruit high in their canopies. In the years that followed, Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuaí were introduced, gradually reshaping the landscape into a fully planted coffee farm.

It took five years before the first harvest arrived. The quality of that crop earned early recognition — a standard the family has continued to refine and build upon with each passing season.

Since the 2010s, Finca Santa Rita has entered a period of deliberate expansion and renewal. More than six hectares have been grafted with Catuaí and Geisha, strengthening both productivity and cup potential, alongside the construction of a wet mill to bring greater precision to post-processing.

Once focused solely on mechanically washed coffees, the farm has since embraced natural processing. A dedicated drying patio was built within the mill — a structural shift that signals both confidence and ambition.

The renewal continues at scale: 22,000 trees, including Pacamara, Catuaí, Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon, and SL28, have been planted. Meanwhile, 32,500 Catuaí and 8,500 Geisha trees were being carefully strengthened in greenhouses and later transplanted into the field.