El Socorro farm is located in Palencia, municipality of Guatemala department, 50 kilometres away from Guatemala City. The farm used to be part of Hacienda San Guayaba, the property of Antonio López Colom in 1905. After he died, it was inherited by the youngest son Julio Colom Gómez Carillo, who sold it. For many years it was owned by different people until 1968, when Dr. Mario de la Cerda and his wife Maria Colom de la Cerda bought it back to the family.
In 1980, his son Juan de la Cerda Colom began to plant coffee. This is the fourth generation of owners. Juan de la Cerda and his son Juan Diego are now in charge of producing one of the best coffees in Guatemala. El Socorro´s success is the result of strict quality control throughout the whole process, from the management of the plantation to the picking and the wet milling.
The farm has an efficient ecological wet mill. It depulps coffee cherries dry and recycles the water in the process. Then, the water is treated with clean production techniques, before allowing it back into the forest.
Finca El Socorro is one of the three farms owned by Juan Diego la Cerda. Juan Diego is experimenting with different varieties such as Java, Red and Yellow Bourbon, Yellow Caturra, Maracaturra, Pacamara, Purpuracea, and Geisha. The Maracaturra variety is originally from Nicaragua and a cross of Maragogype and Caturra. It was initially planted in Guatemala as an experiment against leaf rust. In 2007 and 2020 Juan Diego scored first place in Cup of Excellence, 2021 second place.
60% of his land is covered with natural forests. Coffee cultivation only makes up 25% of his land. The rest is covered with cows and flower plantations. All coffee trees are natural shade trees that have been on the farm prior. Each Parcel has a sign with information about age, varieties, size, etc.
