Astrid Medina
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Astrid Medina Pereira (born 9 January 1977) is a Colombian coffee producer who gained international prominence on winning the Colombian
Cup of Excellence The Cup of Excellence is an annual competition held in several countries to identify the highest quality coffees produced. It is organized by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, which was founded by George Howell, Susie Spindler and Silvio Leite. ...
award in 2015.


Biography

Born on 9 January 1977 in Gaitania, Planadas, in the Colombian department of Tolima, Astrid Medina Pereira is the daughter of Aureliano Medina Arce and Rosalba Pereira. She is the fifth in a family of 14 children. Following in the footsteps of her paternal grandfather and her father, who introduced her to coffee farming when she was 14, Medina graduated in agricultural production technology at Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA). In 2006, together with three younger siblings, she inherited the Buena Vista farm from her father who had been killed by Marxist rebels. Her mother and one of her brothers had died earlier when they were swept into the river by a landslide near their home. The farm is now owned by Medina, her husband Raúl Antonio Durán (who also comes from a family of local coffee farmers) and her younger sister. At an altitude of over , it is located in a remote region of southern Tolima which until recently was not popular with coffee buyers as a result of conflicts with guerrillas. In 2014, Medina started to produce speciality coffee under a scheme for developing late-harvest coffee launched by the National Federation of Coffee Growers. On 13 March 2015, she won the annual Cup of Excellence award for Colombian coffee in a ceremony held in
Ibagué Ibagué () (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the New Kingdom of Granada, Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima Department, Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia. The city ...
, the departmental capital of Tolima. The judges commented on the coffee's "creamy body with sweet and fruity notes". Medina subsequently reported that the award had changed her life, as her speciality coffee sold for over 10 times the normal price of Arabica. The profits have allowed her to improve the farm's infrastructure, to travel abroad and to offer her children a good education.


Personal life

Medina's husband, Raúl Antonio Duran, graduated as a veterinarian. The couple have a son and daughter.


See also

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Coffee production in Colombia Coffee production in Colombia has a reputation for producing mild, well-balanced coffee beans. Colombia's average annual coffee production of 11.5 million bags is the third total highest in the world, after Brazil and Vietnam, though highe ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Astrid 1977 births Living people People from Tolima Department Colombian businesspeople Colombian women in business Colombian farmers Businesspeople in coffee 21st-century farmers 21st-century women farmers