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Palmilera farm belongs to Mr. Didier Sánchez Godinez, age 44, who started his coffee career at a very young age and can now say his been a coffee producer for the last 32 years. He bought Palmilera 15 years ago thanks to hard work and the support of his family.

He only uses environmental friendly products and uses good agricultural practices in order to produce sustainable coffee.

Advised by some friends, he ventured and chose the production of the Gesha variety. Nowadays he looks back and can say he is really satisfied by the different comments of the people that have cupped his coffee, by the recognition this non-conventional coffee is getting and that gave him 2^nd place in this Cup of Excellence.

The Palmilera has 60 ha of land divided as follows: 30 ha dedicated to the conservation of primary forest, 20 ha for pasture and 10 ha dedicated to coffee, in which 4 ha are planted with the Gesha variety. The name of the farm comes from the plant called Palmilera that is found in the 30 acres of forest conservation.

The decision of participating in this event was taken in conjunction with the mill managers, who have supported Mr. Sánchez toward his growth as a producer and as a small company.

It was a great experience full of emotions since the begging of the process, preparing the sample, transporting the coffee to the mill, and then the results!! Needless to say the anxiety and excitement we felt the day of the award ceremony!

La Candelilla Mill has participated several times in Cup of Excellence delivering several winners. This makes us proud and gives us the strength to keep on producing great coffee.

Cup of Excellence has been a great opportunity that offers the producers feedback, knowledge and where all the efforts are recognized, either way, by receiving a price or by learning how to improve the coffee for the next harvest. What matters is to stay involved, participating and fighting for the name of coffee. We need to keep improving the quality and fight on behalf of all the costarican producers, who have struggled year after year thru difficult times and have continued giving the world a great cup of coffee.