Neyid Pillimue has been involved in coffee production from a young age; his family has a longstanding presence in Cauca, having farmed coffee here across four generations. Neyid’s farm, El Carmen, sits in the steep, rugged hills that surround the town of Alto Palmar – an area with excellent coffee-growing conditions thanks to its high elevations, rich volcanic soil, and stable, year-round climate.
Neyid lives at El Carmen with his wife Isaura, their four children and four grandchildren. They moved to the region nearly 12 years ago, after saving enough money to buy their own property. Coffee at El Carmen is farmed using traditional techniques and intercropped with shade trees and subsistence food crops. At harvest time, the ripe cherries are hand-picked and then expertly processed at the farm’s on-site wet mill, with most of the work carried out by Neyid and his family.
Neyid and the extended Pillimue family play a vital role in supporting the local coffee industry and connecting our export partner, Pergamino, to local producers. One of the youngest members of the family (and Neyid’s son) recently began working with Pergamino as a cupper (taster) and lab assistant, further demonstrating the family’s ongoing investment in supporting the next generations of coffee producers in the region.
