Elias and Shady Bayter
El Vergel in Tolima, the first coffee farm in Colombia to develop the koji fermentation process.
- Farm or site
- El Vergel Estate
- Region
- Tolima
- Country
- Colombia
It all began in 1995, when the parents of the Bayter family decided to embark on an agricultural adventure at the El Vergel farm. They began by growing avocados, making their farm one of the most productive in the country. In 2006 avocado prices dropped sharply due to a disease that severely affected the crop.
It was then, between 2009 and 2010, that Martha, the Bayters' mother, decided to diversify her crops by introducing coffee varieties such as catimor and red and yellow caturra, challenging the limits of her knowledge.
As interest in coffee grew, the Bayters worked their way through pulping and different types of fermentation. Together with Nelson Moya, a coffee enthusiast who showed them different processing equipment, they went looking for specialty coffees from Colombia and certified their farm as Rainforest by the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros between 2014 and 2015. In 2016 they met Miguel Jimenez, an expert in varietal and specialty coffees, who guided them in planting Geisha, Java, Pacamara, Red Bourbon and Laurina, with the first productions arriving in 2017.
The farm was modernized through 2018 with aerobic and anaerobic natural processing and silos for storage. Today El Vergel carries more than 28 varietals and is the first coffee farm in Colombia to develop the koji fermentation process.
It was then, between 2009 and 2010, that Martha, the Bayters' mother, decided to diversify her crops by introducing coffee varieties such as catimor and red and yellow caturra, challenging the limits of her knowledge.
As interest in coffee grew, the Bayters worked their way through pulping and different types of fermentation. Together with Nelson Moya, a coffee enthusiast who showed them different processing equipment, they went looking for specialty coffees from Colombia and certified their farm as Rainforest by the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros between 2014 and 2015. In 2016 they met Miguel Jimenez, an expert in varietal and specialty coffees, who guided them in planting Geisha, Java, Pacamara, Red Bourbon and Laurina, with the first productions arriving in 2017.
The farm was modernized through 2018 with aerobic and anaerobic natural processing and silos for storage. Today El Vergel carries more than 28 varietals and is the first coffee farm in Colombia to develop the koji fermentation process.
