Florinda

Florinda is an artisanal panela producer from Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, with 29 years of experience. She runs a  factory that makes panela, a natural sweetener produced from sugarcane juice that she sources from local farmers, strengthening the community economy and ensuring a constant supply of raw material for her production process. Florinda produces more than 400 blocks of panela daily using a traditional mill and artisanal ovens that allow her to process the sugarcane juice in the traditional way, guaranteeing the quality and characteristic flavor of her product.

She is a single mother and lives with two of her six children in a house she bought several years ago. Her older children are independent adults, while the younger ones help with some tasks in the factory when needed.

A loan of $3,834,605 COP allows Florinda to purchase an additional sugarcane mill to optimize panela production. This investment will increase milling capacity, improve process efficiency, and allow her to produce more blocks daily, strengthening her productive activity.