TIMANÁ, HUILA, COLOMBIA
Coffee with a place, and people, behind it.
Urban Calm starts with specialty Colombian Arabica from southern Huila, connected to the women’s coffee program around ASPROTIMANA and roasted in Calgary. Origin, processing and people are part of the cup, not side notes to it.
FROM ORIGIN TO CUP
The coffee comes first.
Specialty coffee is not one flavour or one roast level. It is the result of origin, variety, harvesting, processing, drying and roasting decisions that build on one another.
Southern Huila combines high elevation, varied microclimates and a deep coffee-growing culture. The lots used for Urban Calm include Castillo, Caturra and Colombia varieties and are fully washed, then dried in protected solar dryers before export.
High-elevation Arabica
Coffee begins in Timaná, where altitude, climate and careful farm work shape the raw material before roasting ever begins.
Washed for clarity
Selective harvesting, washing and protected solar drying help preserve a clean, consistent expression of the coffee.
Four profiles in Calgary
Light, medium, dark and espresso profiles shift sweetness, acidity and body without losing the character of the Colombian coffee.
Built for the way you drink it
Whole bean, ground and K-Cup formats make the same coffee story practical for everyday brewing.
WOMEN + ORIGIN
Women are part of the coffee story, not a separate chapter.
Urban Calm sources through the women’s coffee program connected to ASPROTIMANA in Timaná. The association works with coffee-growing families across southern Huila and supports coffee quality, technical development, environmental sustainability and stronger participation by women and rural youth.
The women’s coffee program tied to the lots Urban Calm buys is built around women producers and the work they do across farming, selective harvesting, post-harvest processing and the quality decisions that shape the green coffee before it ever reaches Calgary.
For us, women-led sourcing is not a badge added at the end of the story. It is part of the origin, the quality and the reason we want customers to know where their coffee comes from.
Every bag begins with people, place and craft long before mushrooms are added.
A HUMAN VIEW OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Meet María: a story inspired by the women behind our coffee.
María is a composite story inspired by the women producers connected to the Timaná coffee program, not a biography of one specific farmer.
Picture a small coffee farm high in southern Huila. Harvest does not happen all at once. Ripe cherries are picked selectively, coffee is processed close to the farm, and decisions about fermentation, washing and drying affect the quality that eventually reaches a roaster thousands of kilometres away.
For women working inside this system, greater access to training, processing skills and market participation can mean a larger role in the business of coffee, not only the labour behind it. That is the part of the story Urban Calm wants to keep visible.
Every bag begins with people, place and craft long before mushrooms are added.
WHY WOMEN-LED SOURCING MATTERS
The pieces are connected.
Coffee quality and economic opportunity are connected. Access to training, processing knowledge, market information, credit and a stronger role in decision-making gives producers more tools to build long-term value from the coffee they grow.
Hover, focus or tap a puzzle piece to explore the ideas represented in Urban Calm’s original women-led farms graphic.
SOCIAL CHANGE
More room to participate in the business of coffee.
Coffee is a demanding crop and requires significant investment in time and resources. When there is more sharing of domestic responsibilities within a family unit, it allows women the time to engage more in the business side of coffee farming.
ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Knowledge supports stronger farm decisions.
Education and training is necessary for gaining the technical knowledge required to make informed decisions that can improve productivity and create strong crop yield and quality.
INFLUENCE IN DECISION MAKING
Training can strengthen a voice in farm decisions.
With increased knowledge and training in farming techniques, women are able to provide valuable insights and suggestions into the business side of overall farm productivity.
ACCESS TO CREDIT
Financing can create more options at farm level.
Ability to get credit and access to financing enables women to purchase high quality fertilizers, pay living wages, and obtain the training on agricultural methods for advancing their crops.
LAND OWNERSHIP
Ownership can affect access to credit and income.
Land ownership is critical for accessing credit, and in many cases a prerequisite to joining a farmer organization. When women own their own land, they can earn income from that land and obtain financing using their land as collateral.
ASPROTIMANA
Quality, community + continuity.
ASPROTIMANA is an agricultural producers’ association based in Timaná, Huila, supporting coffee-growing families while promoting specialty coffee, sustainability, technical development and participation by women and young people.
Its work helps connect the coffee in the bag to a real place, a real producer organization and a quality-focused supply chain rather than an anonymous commodity blend.
Urban Calm’s role is simple: buy exceptional coffee with a story we can trace, roast it carefully in Calgary and make sure the people and place behind it are visible instead of disappearing behind the final bag.
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