Dwight Aguilar
Peruvian coffee farmer who dreamed and managed to be great

On October 29, the public attending the V International Fair of Specialty Coffees of Peru (Ficafé 2021), in the Cusco city of Quillabamba, let out shouts of celebration when the young coffee grower Dwight Aguilar, 38, was crowned for the second time in just five years as the producer of the best Peruvian coffee during the award ceremony for the Cup of Excellence Peru 2021 contest.

Hearing his name, the young coffee farmer hugged his mother and burst into tears. Then he went on stage and, among a sea of ​​people who chanted his name, he thanked God, his family and the land where he was born: "Thanks to coffee I am a champion again," he said. “This award is dedicated to Peru. Up with Peru, up with Cusco, up with the Province of La Convención, and up with the district of Santa Teresa!”

Dwight Aguilar dreamed at some point of going to Lima to study Agronomy, but the economic situation of his family prevented him from doing so. He had no choice but to stay working in the fields, so he began to perfect his technique for harvesting coffee, learned as a child with his parents. Today, after two national awards, he is one of the best coffee growers in all of Peru. Also, someone who discovered that it was not necessary to leave his town to find happiness.

DWIGHT AGUILAR

The story continues...

Dwight Aguilar took first place in the 2021 Cup of Excellence with a score of 90.20 and with the geisha variety.

It all started in Santa Teresa
Dwight's earliest memories date back to the town of Huadquiña, in the Santa Teresa district, where he grew up. This district is one of the 14 that make up the Andean-Amazon province of La Convencion (Cusco). Located at a height of more than 1,500 meters above sea level, Santa Teresa is recognized for its agricultural activity and tourism, thanks to the fact that here is the Amazonian access to the renowned citadel of Machupicchu.

Due to the climate and natural conditions of the place, the farmers of Santa Teresa have seen an opportunity for growth in coffee. According to Dwight, soil that is moist and rich in minerals, such as potassium and phosphorous, is perfect for his crop.

In recent years, Peruvian coffee has become a product of national and international recognition. According to data from the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri), the country is the second largest producer of organic coffee in the world, behind Mexico, and eighth in terms of world exports.

The first lands that Dwight spent his childhood and worked on belonged to his father, Timoteo Aguilar. He acquired them thanks to the land titles received by the farmers during the Agrarian Reform of 1969, when President Juan Velazco Alvarado expropriated the lands of the landowners and gave them to the peasants. “Land for those who work it”, was his motto. And so Dwight and his family enforce it to this day.

But Santa Teresa has witnessed terrible natural disasters. One of them was the 1998 flood, which devastated almost the entire district, leaving it incommunicado for months. The Aguilar Masías family was one of those affected. They lost much of their land, the only livelihood for them. For this reason, Dwight's parents could not continue paying for his studies at the José Pardo Adventist school in the city of Cusco.


At the age of 15, Dwight returned home to finish school.

The need to stay home
Unlike many young people, Dwight knew very well which college major to pursue: Agronomy. He had always called it the field. After high school, he believed that it was time to complement what he learned with his parents with the knowledge of the university. But it was not like that.

His mother, Belarmina, fell ill with cancer just the year he finished school, so, now 16 years old, Mr. Timoteo entrusted him with the land and the work. Meanwhile, they would go to Lima in search of the possibility of curing the disease.

“Those were difficult times. My mother got cancer and my father sold part of his land and everything he could to pay for the treatment. We get into debt. We were just recovering from the flood. They were not good times in general,” says Dwight as he sits next to one of the coffee dryers on his farm, Nueva Alianza, where he employs between 10 and 15 people, mostly women, who work in the picking and packing. grain washing.

Like any young man, Dwight admits that at first he was frustrated that he couldn't pursue a career. Fate and money prevented him, so he had no choice but to assume life in the countryside. “I took on the role of my mother,” he recalls. “She would get me up at three in the morning, take care of the chickens and cook for the workers who were going to help with the work. I took the kituchi (a tool to plow the land) and started working for my family. My back ached. It endured the rain, the sun and the constant bite of mosquitoes. Yes, it was a painful experience."

During the years he took care of his family's land, Dwight educated himself with the few tools he had on hand. To learn about coffee, the favorite product that he liked to harvest from the beginning, he turned to books, videos and all kinds of materials that would allow him to improve its production.

dyana

Although the family has specialized in coffee growing, in recent years they have launched the "Dwight Aguilar Coffee" brand, which they sell at local and national fairs and have begun to sell it in coffee shops around the country.

But the feeling of personal frustration persisted, especially when he met former classmates and teachers from the school, who were surprised to learn that one of the most dedicated students stayed to work in the fields. “As the years passed, I saw my teammates finish their careers and that hurt me. I even started crying because I couldn't be like them. But over time one understands things differently. That not only being professional can stand out. That's not true at all".

In 2011, Peruvian coffee exports reached a peak of 1.55 billion dollars, considerably improving the market for the more than 221,000 families that harvest it in Peru. Seeing this scenario, he and Dyana, his partner, decided in 2012 to risk everything to dedicate themselves and support his family with coffee production. And they didn't give up even with the economic setback they had in 2016, when Dwight had to find a second job as a night security officer at City Hall.

In 2017, some young entrepreneurs who had created a new mobile coffee shop in the city of Cusco called Three Monkeys Coffee Company, arrived at his farm. You were asked to assemble a micro batch of coffee to enter a barista competition. It was the first edition of Ficafé, which that year was taking place in the province of Oxapampa, in the central Peruvian jungle.

Dwight accompanied them and was impressed with the Cup of Excellence competition and the fact that international virtual auctions were buying more than a thousand dollars a quintal (46 kilograms) of coffee. After that he did not hesitate to prepare for the next edition. This is how in 2018 he got his first victory in the Peru Cup of Excellence.

dyana Aguilar

A key part of the team...

Dyana Mellado, Dwight's partner, is also in charge of going to the fairs to sell and explain the quality and type of coffee produced on the Nueva Alianza farm.

While Dwight received the award for the best coffee in Peru last October, Dyana, his life partner, mother of his two children (Moisés, 15, and Dubán, 9) and hand right in the administration of its brand, Dwight Coffee. Like him, Santa Teresa saw her born and succeed with her partner.

Dyana Mellado, 38, of farmworker parents, like Dwight, was also unable to pursue a college degree due to financial problems. However, she managed to afford a technical career in accounting, with which she closely followed the coffee cooperatives. On one of those visits, she and Dwight, both just 18 years old, met. Since then they have been on their way together.

“Coffee is everything: it brings families, friends and people together,” reflects Dyana as she serves customers at a fair of local producers in Quillabamba. With her accounting knowledge, she takes care of the logistics, the sale and the roasting of the coffee. But first and foremost, she is the one who works alongside Dwight to improve the production every year. In parallel, she educates her children with virtual classes and prepares food for her and Dwight's in-laws, who work on the farm.

Moisés, her eldest son, is a bit shy, although when he prepares coffee he forgets the people around him. He lays out his filter paper in the coffee pot, boils the water, and you can see that he is very aware of the filtering time. A minute or so is key for the drink to be ready.

Moises Aguilar

Moises, Dwight and Dyana's oldest son, makes some freshly ground coffee at home using the filter technique.

Listening to him talk is like listening to Dwight. Using technical terms that only coffee specialists understand, he follows the preparation ritual while saying that in recent years he has become passionate about the art of barista. But even though he has learned a lot about brewing coffee, he has decided to study Civil Engineering. Dyana, like any mother, confesses that it will be difficult to see him leave home, but that it is necessary. Moisés now has the opportunity that his parents did not have at the time.

It is almost December and Dwight must travel to the city of Cusco for an award ceremony by the Regional Management of Foreign Trade, Tourism and Crafts. He must also prepare for the international electronic auction on December 14, where he and the other 23 coffee producers who are finalists for the Cup of Excellence will have the opportunity to offer their coffee to international companies.

In February 2022, another trip, probably the most important, awaits him, to the distant country of Dubai. There he will exhibit and sell his best production as part of the Dubai 2021 expo, where he has been invited.

In their home, the family has a small room where they display the awards they have received so far, as well as photos that remind them that this journey they have had thanks to coffee has not been easy, but it has been full of joy and satisfaction.

Dwight continues to live in this district where he grew up, learned the work of the fields, raised his family and now succeeds worldwide. Every day he still wakes up before the sun rises. He grabs his hat, his tools and begins the walk to his farm, the same one he has been doing for more than 20 years.

Text: Jimena Rodríguez Romaní

Illustration: Rocío Rojas

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