Caripe

Caripe was identified in 1956 by Eng. Agrón. Gustavo Buonafina Parra, professor at the University of Oriente, in the municipality of Caripe in Venezuela (located in Monagas state, among mountain ranges that border the Caribbean Sea). As part of his role as Head of Coffee Nucleus No. 5 in Venezuela’s Ministry of Agriculture and Breeding, Buonafina Parra toured the region's coffee farms regularly. At the time, local production was dominated by the Typica variety. Local farmers showed Buonafina Parra that some Typica plants on their plantations were especially productive. In 1958, Buonafina Parra began his own selection program on several farms, and began trials that verified their higher production. Today, Caripe is an important regional variety in Monagas state in northeastern Venezuela.