Grown in the Loja province of southern Ecuador, this coffee's name comes from the local Bosques de Marfil, a forest and nature reserve that extends for more than 200 hectares (500 acres) and is located close to the parroquia of El Limo. The forest has abundance of Tagua trees, a species of palm found in South America, and provides life and income to the communities that inhabit the region. In the past, the Altos de Marfil has been a collection of up to 44 smallholder farmers in the area - for this harvest, however, it comes from just three: Francisco Beltran, Gladys Alvarez and Edison Loyoga.

These three producers have a very long tradition in coffee production, passing the knowledge on from generation to generation, and as a result their practices are traditional - however, with the help of the PECA educator they were able to learn more about processing and drying to achieve better tasting coffees. They grow traditional varietals and in recent years have introduced new ones at their farms such as the famed Bourbon Sidra.

Each farm is truly a family business, where every member helps in the production of coffee - and in some cases, the wife overseeing coffee while the husband works in construction or cattle to get additional income. Interestingly, most of the families are involved with beekeeping, which is extremely helpful for the pollination of the coffee trees and other plants on their farms, but also provides extra income.

These farmers also benefitted from Caravela's coffee farmer education program PECA. Its main role is to educate producers and their families season after season on best practices to increase productivity and improve quality, with the end goal of becoming more profitable. In recent years with the visits of the PECA educator, the coffee producers of Altos de Marfil have improved in farm management and environmentally friendly practices. They have a huge potential and are hungry to improve year after year.