FLORENCE, Italy – The Italian national championships of the Barista and Brewers Cup at Sigep scheduled for January 2025 are imminent. Ditta Artigianale has therefore decided to select the most talented baristas to decide in a competition who can represent the company in the Rimini championship. The event took place on the fourth of July in Florence, the pulsating center of the Renaissance movement of art and coffee.
Special guests of the competition were the Hartmann family, owners of the Hartmann Finca in Panama, committed to growing coffee while respecting sustainability and workers.
The winners of Ditta Artigianale internal competitions, Yana Zhyryada and Cesare Spinella, will not only represent the company at the next national championships but will also have the opportunity to collaborate with Finca Hartmann.
The Hartmann family is considered one of the pioneers of specialty coffee in Panama. They are located in Santa Clara a corregimiento (subdistrict) in Renacimiento District, Chiriquí Province, Panama. The Hartmann family currently has three farms. The first one was founded in 1925 and it is currently the biggest. The farm is a family business.
We interviewed Ratibor Hartmann and his son Ratibor Krzysztof Hartmann to learn more about their project.
What does specialty coffee mean to you?
“First of all, specialty coffee cannot be produced without special people working behind it. For us, the most important thing that sets our coffee apart from others is the love for nature. Our grandfather taught us to be passionate about the environment and sustainability and we learned how to preserve natural settings with love.
For example, on our biggest farm, we have more than 200 hectares, and half of that contains a forest, a private reservoir that preserves wild nature.
The social aspect is also important for us. Creating relationships and bounds with producers and customers is crucial: this is one of the reasons we are here in Florence, creating and improving our bond with Francesco Sanapo and Ditta Artigianale”.
How important is formation for coffee farmers?
“Formation is truly important. If there are people who don’t know what they are doing on the farm we cannot possibly produce specialty coffee.
We have to teach our farmers how to pick the coffee, and how to cut the grass properly. We do not use any chemicals in order not to interfere with nature. Furthermore, our coffee picking is made completely manually. Formation and knowledge are crucial in this field of work. We teach them how to create specialty coffee with love and passion”.
What is the role of competitions in spreading specialty coffee culture?
“Coffee competitions are important to increase knowledge of what makes a good product but there is more than that: it’s crucial to understand that an excellent barista can truly make the difference between a good and a bad cup of coffee.
If you do not work well as a barista, everything good that has been done on the farms to make a good specialty coffee goes to waste. The Barista competitors are doing better these years.
The mindset of the coffee market is changing in a good sense: we now understand more the difference between coffee infuses and natural quality coffee. In competitions is also important to build the relations between roasters and consumers”.
What was the evolution of specialty coffee consumption in Panama?
“The consumption of specialty coffee in Panama and Europe is very similar and it has followed a close growth in popularity. Five years ago no one knew what specialty coffee meant. Now people are more eager to try new things and consume them. The same concept applies in Europe. The specialty coffee market is growing at a fast rate. We are actually planning to attend more events in Europe. Also, we want to expand our presence in Asia. A large part of people who consume our coffee are in fact from Asia”.
