Juan Diego de la Cerda is a third-generation Guatemalan coffee producer and owner of Finca El Socorro, a 700-hectare estate in Palencia, Guatemala (85 hectares under coffee), at altitudes up to 1,800 masl. He took over the farm, originally purchased by his grandfather in 1968, and has led it to become one of Guatemala's most decorated estates, winning the Cup of Excellence in 2007, 2011, 2020, and 2023 — placing in the top five ten times total. De la Cerda is known for cultivating exotic varieties including Geisha, Maracaturra, Pacamara, Java, and Bourbon, and for discovering the Purpuracea variety as a natural mutation on his farm in 2008.
