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About Cafe Ruiz |
| Since the late 1800's, three generations of the Ruiz family have been dedicated to the traditional coffee
varieties and natural-system growing methods characteristic of excellent coffee flavor and nature preservation.
What was once a single farm in Boquete, is now a family owned and operated coffee crafting enterprise in Panama. Casa Ruiz, S.A. not only grows coffee and processes the green coffee beans for exports but also roasts and packs 7% of it under its trademark CAFE RUIZ. *Note: for more information about green coffee go to Casa Ruiz, S.A. in "Visit Panama."
In addition to our farms, over three hundred small-scale family farms partner with Casa Ruiz, S.A. to process, roast and market their coffee. The headquarter is located in the Boquete Valley at the skirts of the Baru Volcano, in the western side of Panama.
Much of the coffee in the world is grown using the monoculture technique of clearing the land by cutting all the trees and planting high production hybrid coffee varieties. Casa Ruiz, S.A. and its partner family farms choose to follow the Boquete's traditional way: the environment-friendly or nature-system grown technique; coffee that is grown according to the natural surroundings demands. While this type of growing coffee does not produce a high yield, the combination of shade trees and coffee plants provides many advantages:
Biodiversity is created per each type of geographical location.
Soil quality is maintain and improved.
The traditional, more flavorful, non-hybrid and shade loving coffee varieties, known as Typica, can be grown.
The trees provide a natural food supply for birds and beneficial insects.
Migratory and resident bird habitat is provided.
The tree canopy provides mulch for the coffee to grow.
The use of chemicals is greatly reduced or eliminated.
People, as key actors, learn to understand sustainability through observation of natural systems per geographical location.
To consistently supply the highest quality coffee, only the ripe, red coffee cherries are picked. Casa Ruiz, S.A. processes the coffee beans by cultivation altitude, coffee variety (typica or hybrid type), bean size, and bean quality. Each batch of coffee is then labeled and stored. CAFE RUIZ is a result of taking those beans and roasting them to develop their well appreciated cup characteristics.
We are dedicated to crafting the most consistently flavorful coffee possible, to maintaining a healthy natural environment and to the sustainability of the farms and region. This is a direct contribution to the efforts of the Boquete Community to keep the valley as green as it was left from generations past.
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The image below is the family homestead, which was the first coffee processing facility. The building located on the left was where the coffee was handled and processed for production. Doņa Rosa, the grandmother, was in charge of the farm (photo from early 1920's).
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