Fair Trade and Organic Colombia ASOPEP

Our recent trip to Planadas, Tolima—where we met the ever-energetic Enciso Crew—was a full-sensory experience: coffee-filled mornings, Amarillo-filled evenings, and golden light spilling over the hills as street dogs trotted past like they owned the place (and honestly, they kind of do).

We were there to visit ASOPEP, a cooperative that’s brewing up far more than great coffee. In a region once shadowed by conflict, this community is investing in its young people—and it shows. At ASOPEP, youth are being trained not only in the craft of coffee but in leadership, entrepreneurship, and environmental stewardship. They’re choosing farming over fighting, futures over fear.

And the coffee? It mirrors the place—bright, sweet, creamy, and a little wild around the edges. Nutty and fruity with a softness that lingers. You can taste the purpose behind it. Mornings started with steaming cups and good conversation; evenings wound down with cold beers, golden light, and taking far too many photos of the dogs roaming town like little ambassadors of peace.

It’s hard to leave a place like that unchanged. But thankfully, the stories—and the coffee—come home with you.