Finca La Perla
Coffee:
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Finca La Perla
Finca La Perla y Anexos S.A.
Caturra and Bourbon
Washed and dried on patios
1,100-1,800 metres
Arenas Family
Chajúl (La Perla is 38km north-east of the town)
El Quiché
Guatemala
Additional information:
Finca La Perla lies amid the steep green hills of the ‘Ixil Triangle’ high in Guatemala’s western
highlands, an isolated area famed for the strength of its indigenous culture and the beauty of its landscape.
‘La Perla’ means "Sleeping Woman" in Ixil, a Mayan language spoken widely locally (Spanish remains
a second language at best in this hard to reach area).
Coffee has been growing at La Perla since 1940 and the farm now produces 6,000 to 7,000 quintales
of parchment each year. The coffee grows between 1,100-1,800 metres above sea level and is
planted in a loose soil with a high content of clay and sand over a limestone base. The Arenas family
pays scrupulous attention to detail at every stage of the coffee process. The beans are harvested by
hand only when perfectly ripe, then wet milled and dried either in the sun or in mechanical dryers,
depending on the weather.
La Perla won a Presidential award at the 2006 Cup of Excellence competition and has made the
auction final 4 times (2001, 2002, 2006 and 2008).
Around 15% (493 hectares) of this vast farm’s 3,285 rugged, rolling hectares are planted with coffee –
of the Caturra and Bourbon variety. A further 990 hectares are set aside as native forest reserves,
which are a haven for animals, birds and native plant species. The farm’s rain-drenched hills are also
the source of several natural springs, and its Ixtupil and Sacsiwan rivers provide more than enough
water to irrigate the entire farm.
The climate in the area is steamy, hot and humid, with 197 to 217 inches of rain each year. These
conditions also support a wide selection of other crops, including cardamom, macadamia nuts and
grains.
The farm’s land is scattered with small settlements, which are home to between 2,500 and 3,000 local
Mayan people. Most work on the farm throughout the year, as well as tending to their own plots of land,
where they grow staple foodstuffs for consumption at home. Some 500 workers have formed a
solidarity association whose activities have helped to raise standards of living within the farm
community.
The commitment of its workers permitted La Perla to continue to produce during the civil war (circa
1960-1996 – the longest civil war in the history of the American continent), despite the fact that the
farm was located in the heartland of the conflict between the Army and guerrilla groups, which used
the surrounding mountains as a base. Over the period of the armed conflict thousands of civilians in
the Ixil Triangle area were killed, tortured or disappeared as the Guatemalan Army pursued a
‘scorched-earth’ policy to destroy villages. [A UN-sponsored report published in 1999 estimated that
the state was responsible for 93% of the human rights violations committed during the war, the
guerrillas for 3%. An estimated 83% of the victims were Mayan.]
At the end of the armed conflict, the farm worked hard to reintegrate those most affected by the
violence: the refugees who fled to save their families. La Perla provided work, reconstructed entire
villages, and promoted health campaigns, such as vaccinations, that facilitated the repatriation of
many whose lives were adversely affected by the conflict.