Finca Don Rafa started working in 2014 with Teddy, a Coffee Hunter from Korea; His Korean name is Byeong Soo Kim, he uses Teddy Kim as a pseudonym to relate in the western coffee market. Teddy used to visit Mexico every year since 2008 in search of the best Mexican coffee to bring back to his country. At the end, Teddy decided to live in Mexico with his family, his wife and his two daughters.
Don Rafa Farm is located in a small community: Las Margaritas, with only 270 inhabitants in the state of Chiapas. Teddy not only works with his own farm, he also joined with small farms around the community and makes them part of his business. Teddy produces conventional and specialty coffee.
When Teddy made the decision to live in Mexico he had two objectives. Firstly, to make a fair deal with the producers, not only with a 25% higher than average payment, but Teddy committed himself to teach them good practices in specialty coffee production, including nature friendly practices.
The use of chemicals such as fertilizers and herbicides are not allowed in Don Rafa Farm, neither at the small farms that it works with.
Secondly, Teddy's vision for Mexican coffee is simple: To make it known as a quality coffee. This is how Don Rafa Farm has been working for almost six years to meet the goals.
Teddy refers the quality of his coffee to the excellent work that the farmers do in selecting the ripe cherries and continues to improve his techniques and to be constantly trained.
For his natural drying process he uses African beds and patio drying; at the end of the drying process he adjusts the humidity from 10.5 to 12.5%.
On his farm he carries out a half anaerobic fermentation process, which consists of placing the selected cherries in an Ecotac bag and once sealed they ferment for 3 to 5 days resulting in excellent flavours; this fermentation can be repeated if necessary.
From this process, Don Rafa Farm intends to test and apply new and different processes.
Finca Don Rafa exports 70% of its production, 20% is destined for the national market retail and 10% is consumed in Teddy's own coffee shop.