Colombia Oscar Hernandez Prodigioso

HISTORY OF THE LOS NOGALES FARM: THE LEGACY OF RICAURTE HERNANDEZ

Between the majestic and green mountains of the largest corregimiento in Colombia, Brussels, in the village of El Diamante, on the fertile land that welcomed the coffee seeds, the “Los Nogales” farm is bursting with life and passion. The hospitality of the peasants, the fresh air, the rough mountain embraced by the thick clouds comprise a territory that keeps the history of the Hernández family among its fields covered with coffee trees. Five generations of a family that carries in its roots the love for the land and the coffee, passed down to these very days.

Approximately 80 years ago, when the district of Brussels was just being formed, Ricardo Hernández and Concepción Castillo arrived from some wastelands in Nariño. Finding this new paradise, they decided to form their family. From the fruit of their love, eight children were born, who dedicated their lives to the countryside. Among them, one child stood out, leading the family to be remembered forever in the world of coffee.

Ricaurte Hernandez, the youngest son of Ricardo Hernandez and Concepción Castillo was born in 1952. He became a farmer who learned from the land the value of generosity and humility. His profession had always been 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. Together, they would build a coffee empire, hand in hand with their children: Olga Lucia, John Fredy, Liliana, Nancy, Paola, Oscar Fernando, Patricia and Angie Julieth.

Ricaurte’s 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 animals farming and emigrated to Caquetá. The cattle business did not work out and they returned to their land which would give them the greatest reward. For the year 2005, Colombia revolutionized the world of coffee with the first “Cup of Excellence” contest,  where more than 280 lots participated. Among them, the Los Nogales farm led by Ricaurte Hernández, won the first place, because their coffee was catalogued by a group of international juries as the best among all the coffee groups that participated in the competition.

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