Sol de la Mañana

The Sol de la Mañana program was established in 2014 by the Rodríguez family—Pedro Rodríguez and his children, Daniela and Pedro Pablo—who operate the exporting company Agricafe and the Fincas Los Rodríguez farms in Bolivia. The initiative began after local producers in the Caranavi region approached the family seeking guidance on how to improve their coffee production. Recognizing a responsibility to support the broader Bolivian coffee community, the Rodríguez family launched the program to share the knowledge and techniques they had developed on their own farms with neighboring smallholders.

At its core, Sol de la Mañana is an educational and logistical framework. The program focuses on teaching farmers modern agronomic practices, such as precise harvesting techniques, soil management, and nursery development. A hallmark of the program is the emphasis on selective harvesting; producers are trained to perform multiple passes—sometimes as many as seven or eight—across their coffee plants to ensure that only the ripest cherries are collected. While this approach is labor-intensive, it is essential for achieving the high cup quality required for the specialty market.

Logistically, the program bridges the gap between small-scale farming and international export. Because many individual producers in the program operate on small plots, their individual harvests are often too small to be processed or sold as single-farm lots. To solve this, the program facilitates the delivery of these cherries to the Buena Vista mill, which is owned and operated by the Rodríguez family. There, the coffee is processed with the same rigor applied to the family's own Fincas Los Rodríguez production, often resulting in high-quality regional blends that represent the collective output of the participating farmers.

Geographically, the program is centered in the Caranavi region, where the climate and high elevation—often exceeding 1,550 meters above sea level—provide ideal conditions for Arabica varieties like Caturra and Catuai. The program has been instrumental in demonstrating to local farmers that their land has the potential to produce world-class coffee. By providing access to the Buena Vista mill and professional processing, the Rodríguez family has helped hundreds of producers realize significantly higher returns for their crops than they would receive through traditional commodity channels.

The impact of Sol de la Mañana extends beyond simple technical training; it represents a shift in the economic model for Bolivian coffee. By focusing on quality over quantity, the program helps insulate farmers from the volatility of the commodity market. The Rodríguez family’s role as both mentors and processors allows them to maintain strict quality control, ensuring that the coffee produced under the Sol de la Mañana banner meets the sensory standards expected by specialty roasters globally.

Today, the program stands as a vital pillar of the Bolivian specialty coffee industry. It has successfully professionalized the operations of over 200 smallholder producers, creating a sustainable pathway for them to participate in the global specialty market. Through the continued leadership of Pedro, Daniela, and Pedro Pablo Rodríguez, Sol de la Mañana remains a model for how private-sector expertise can be leveraged to uplift smallholder communities and preserve the future of coffee production in challenging environments.