Peru

CENFROCAFE

CENFROCAFE was founded in 1999 with 220 small-scale coffee farmers in eleven community-based associations. Nearly fifteen years after their founding, CENFROCAFE, now based out of Jaen, serves more than 3,000 farmer members in local associations spanning across twelve districts within the lush Cajamarca region.

From technical assistance and quality control workshops for their farmers, to economic and leadership training for the young people in their rural communities, CENFROCAFE works not only to support the commercial endeavors of its members – but also to facilitate the development of their communities as a whole. The CENFROCAFE financial team provides short-term credit that help farmers cover the front-end costs of the harvest and materials in the coffee production.

CENFROCAFE is one of the leaders in creating a cooperative alliance with like-minded associations in the greater Cajamarca region to provide important technical and marketing services to thousands of small-scale farmers in Northern Peru. Without this kind of strong organization, local farmers would have otherwise been left each to his or her own devices to develop best practices for healthy fields and increased production yields, or for the marketing and sales of their coffee.

Results to date are impressive. On average, CENFROCAFE producers yield 20qq (100lb sacks of parchment) of organic coffee per hectare, and often show in the top finalists in national and international quality competitions. The improved revenue for CENFROCAFE farmers has been instrumental for their access to basic health, education, and other social services.

CENFROCAFE founding member and former president of the producer Board of Directors, Anselmo Huaman Moreto, explains: “A huge difference in our lives is that now our children can actually go to school, our coffee is being recognized in the market for the quality we produce, we are receiving a fair price for our efforts, and our members can be proud again to be farmers.”

We began importing from CENFROCAFE in 2005. Since then, our relationship with this cooperative has flourished both in coffee purchases – with more than 2 million pounds direct purchased — as well as roaster efforts to support their production and quality improvement initiatives.

NORANDINO

Coop Norandino (formerly known as CEPICAFE) was founded in March 1995 with 200 members. Today the group has grown into a second level non-profit organization which represents coffee and sugar cane producers of the Piuran mountains of northeastern Peru. Norandino’s primary objectives are to sell 100% of their coffee to the specialty market, to strengthen their organization, and to establish respectful and collaborative commercial alliances with their international network of buyers.

Through the consolidation of member organizations under the Norandino umbrella, producers are now active and respected agents for sustainable development in their region. They have worked collectively to improve quality and overall production under certified organic practices, and have increased their exports from 550 qq of coffee in 1997 to nearly 40,000 qq into specialty markets in North America, Europe and Asia. Farmers also enjoy access to financing and to development projects. This has facilitated the diversification of their production base to include a range of products from panela (raw brown sugar), jams and cocoa, to crafts and tourism.

For the past several years, Coop Coffees has been working with Norandino to resuscitate the traditional natural process coffees of the Canchaque region of northern Piura. That process saw the first successful fruits of Norandino and member cooperative Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui’s labour during the 2012 harvest. That’s when the farmers around Coyona produced three, small-lots of natural process coffee.

“Prior to 1990, nearly 100% of Sierra Piurana coffee was natural process” says Norandino manager Santiago Paz. “This Canchaque coffee was famous world-wide for its special flavor profile.”

The producers themselves say, recovering the Cafe Canchaque is both sentimental and a smart marketing move, creating a unique niche and distinguishing the region as one of the only producers of high-quality, unwashed coffees in all of Peru. Characterised by its consistently sweet blend of tropical fruit and caramel flavors, full body and bitter cocoa finish, this very special prep coffee has now become a stable offering to our roaster/members.

Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui in Coyona is one of the oldest coops in the region – founded Nov 4, 1969 (and named after an indigenous hero Tukamaro II who led a revolt against the Spaniards Nov 4, 1779).  With a total of 200 members spread across 5 casilleros, this represents the vast majority of the local population in the region. Within that membership, 100 producers live in the town of Coyona itself with coffee fields located between 1,000 and 1,600 meters above sea level. This kind of proximity and cohesion is rare in rural cooperatives, offering their members greater opportunities for community impact and development.

COYONA NATURAL PROCESS

Prior to 1990, nearly 100% of Sierra Piurana coffee was natural  ("unwashed") process, and over the last several years Coop Coffee has worked with Norandino to revive this traditional, water-conserving method of preparing the coffee beans. During the harvest of 2012, Coop Coffee saw the results of cooperative member José Gabriel Condorcanqui's hard work and dedication when he successfully produced around three small lots of natural process coffee. Third Coast Coffee was among the first roasters to offer this distinctive coffee in the U.S.

Founded in 1969, Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui is one of the oldest cooperatives in the Canchaque region of northern Piura, Peru. It is named after an indigenous hero, who in 1780, aware of dissatisfaction with colonial rule, led a rebellion to improve the rights of indigenous Peruvians suffering under the Spanish Bourbon Reforms.

Coop Condorcanqui is a member of Cooperativa Norandino, a second level non-profit organization serving its coop members’ marketing, financing and technical training needs. 

For the past several years, Cooperative Coffees has been working with Norandino to revive the traditional natural process coffees of the Canchaque region. Norandino and Coop Condorcanqui saw the first successful fruits of their labour during the 2012 harvest, when the farmers around Coyona produced three small-lots of natural process coffee.

 “Prior to 1990, nearly 100% of Sierra Piurana coffee was natural process” says Norandino manager Santiago Paz. “This Canchaque coffee was famous world-wide for its special flavor profile.” 

The producers themselves say, recovering the Cafe Canchaque is both sentimental and a smart marketing move, creating a unique niche and distinguishing the region as one of the only producers of high-quality, unwashed coffees in all of Peru. 

Characterised by its consistently sweet blend of tropical fruit and caramel flavors, full body and bitter cocoa finish, this very special prep coffee has now become a stable offering to our roaster-members.

Coop Candorcanqui has almost 200 members spread across 5 casilleros, which represents the vast majority of the local population in the region. 100 producers live in the town of Coyona itself, with coffee fields located between 1,000 and 1,600 meters above sea level. This kind of proximity and cohesion is rare in rural cooperatives, offering their members greater opportunities for community impact and development.

Sol y Café

Located in the province of Jaen, in the rural department of Cajamarca, Peru, Sol & Café was founded in 2005 with support from Caritas Jaen, a Catholic social service and humanitarian organization, member of the Caritas Internationalis. This cooperative moved quickly to acquire the necessary organic and fair trade certificates in order to sell directly into North American and European coffee markets. Its initial 27 producer base groups have grown to more than 60 producer associations, bringing together some 1,000 farmer families. Sol & Café continues to share an office space in the Caritas complex in Jaen, where it maintains a warehouse and quality control lab.

Sol & Café has followed a steady growth plan, with clear and strictly applied membership criteria. Members are expected to actively participate in the development of their cooperative and to contribute to its growth, by bringing in at least 51% of their estimated harvest. Producers who wish to join, first need the visto bueno of existing members within their community. Or, if the applicant comes from a community not yet associated to Sol & Café, he or she will be visited by the president of the board, to assure that the candidate comes with the intentions of becoming a contributing cooperative member and dedicated to producing high-quality, organic coffee.

Sol & Café's growth plan is working, with export levels around 80% of the total collective harvest, and members showing regularly as top finishers in quality competitions held nationally and abroad. In addition to award winning quality, Sol & Café manages a sophisticated system of quality triage, helping their technical team hone in on farmers who need more assistance in growing and processing. The organization has developed impressive digital systems to manage traceability, from farmer delivery at warehouse to container, which has facilitated an integrated system of quality incentives, where higher qualities and yields render higher prices to farmers.

Also, this coop has demonstrated an incredible capacity for innovation, regeneration and the implementation of clear and specific strategies for climate resiliency and adaptation by promoting field renovation and systematic pruning practices that have resulted in maintaining extraordinary vitality in their trees and greater climate resiliency in their fields.

Since partnering with Sol & Café in 2012, they have quickly become a solid and integral member of the Coop Coffees’ producer network, with excellent communication, coffee quality and services to members.