Cesar Buesaquillo was born into a traditional coffee farming family. He owns the farm La Esmeralda which is 6-hectares in size and is located at 1,800 MASL in Buenavista, Quindio. When you visit Don Cesar, you will see a marvellous view across his farm. Don Cesar has planted some beautiful shade trees on his farm such as Guamo, Yarumo, and Carbonero among others. He also grows other crops on his farm like plantain, banana, and avocado.

Cesar, his wife Maria and their son Kevin manage all the operations at La Esmeralda. Maria supports Cesar in every step of their family business. She guides Cesar and they tackle the important decisions together, they are a very strong team. Cesar has been involved in coffee farming all his life. His parents worked as coffee pickers and then farm managers on a variety of coffee farms. He would visit the farms his parents worked on and in doing so he fell in love with coffee. Approximately 20 years ago, his parents were able to purchase La Esmeralda which Don Cesar and his family now own.

The first years in coffee production weren’t easy. It was challenging because he came from a traditional farming background that was focused on producing commodity-grade coffee. Cesar wanted to pursue Specialty Coffee practices and focus on more unique varieties so he had to change his approach to farming. He started planting Pink Bourbon and then Gesha. Now, he is constantly experimenting with processing methods and believes quality should be the focus of the coffee industry moving forward into the future.

When not working on the farm, Don Cesar enjoys time with his family, drinking coffee or sharing a meal while sitting on the patio and basking in the beautiful view over his farm.