Colombia Oscar Prodigioso

HISTORY OF THE LOS NOGALES FARM: THE LEGACY

OF RICAURTE HERNANDEZ

“ I made the decision to start a business around coffee, but I always thought that this had to be profitable, that it provided decent employment, that it had a professional level, that it was well paid and encouraged people to continue studying.” Oscar Hernandez, leader of the Los Nogales company!

From the fertile land that welcomed the coffee seed, between the majestic and green mountains of the largest corregimiento in Colombia, Brussels, is the „Los Nogales” farm, located in the village of El Diamante. The hospitality of the peasant, the fresh air, the rough mountain embraced by the thick clouds  comprise a territory that keeps the history of the Hernández family among its coffee plantations. Five generations of a family that in its roots planted love for the land, coffee and transmitted it to this day.

Approximately 80 years ago, when the district of Brussels was just being formed, Ricardo Hernández and Concepción Castillo arrived from Nariño, to some fertile wastelands, grateful to those who would be their protectors and would mark a precedent in the history of coffee. Upon finding this paradise they decided to form their family and from the fruit of love 8 children were born, who dedicated their lives to the countryside. Among those eight brothers, one stood out leading the family to be remembered forever in the world of coffee.

Ricaurte Hernandez, youngest son of Ricardo Hernandez and Concepción Castillo was born in 1952, a farmer who learned from the land the value of generosity, humility and the ability to undertake. His profession was always coffee farming and he dreamed of being able to see his children grow up on his farm with the values ​​he learned. Ricaurte meets his life partner Suldery Arango in Valle del Cauca, an enterprising woman who had coffee in her blood and with whom she would build a coffee empire hand in hand with her children, Olga Lucia, John Fredy, Liliana, Nancy, Paola, Oscar Fernando, Patricia and Angie Julieth. His leadership in the region led him to be the president of the community action board, in his commitment to the community and his union.

However, in the 1990s, they decided to start farming and emigrate to Caquetá; At the point of selling the farm, the cattle business did not work out and they returned to their land which would give them the greatest happiness of their lives.  For the year 2005, Colombia revolutionised the world of coffee with the realisation of the first „Cup of Excellence” contest where more than 280 lots participated, among them, the Los Nogales farm led by Ricaurte Hernández , winning the first place, because its coffee was catalogued by a group of international juries as the best among all the coffee groups presented in the competition.

It was a fortune for Huila, for Colombia, for the family because that split the history of coffee growing, they began to talk about special coffees before and after, and that contest made history split in two,” said Oscar Hernández youngest son and current administrator of the Los Nogales estate.

Ricaurte always wanted to promote the field from other perspectives, giving added value to specialty coffee, promoting new ways of treating the soil, seeking new ways to market and do business, a passion that he passed on to his children who would inherit this great responsibility.