About This Coffee
Magdalena Yaxahuanca is a coffee producer in Cajamarca, Peru, managing El Cacao Farm with her spouse, Duber Aguilera Yaguana. It is not common to find a female-led coffee farm in this region, making her story particularly inspiring.
Amid Peru’s rural-to-urban migration in the 1990s, many rural inhabitants moved to Lima, which grew to house nearly 60% of the nation’s population at the time. In northern Peru, this movement reshaped communities, with many residents identifying as newcomers to the area. What sets Magdalena apart is her unwavering connection to her land along with her dedication to sustainable coffee farming that contributes to a more sustainable future for her community.
Cultivation
Magdalena produces exceptional coffee at El Cacao that reflects the unique environmental conditions of the region combined with an exceptional commitment to coffee production. She cultivates Caturra, Catimor and Bourbon varieties, with harvests occurring from May to September. Certified as Organic, her farm integrates additional crops like plantains and cassava, using intercropping as a sustainable approach to farming. Seasonal work on the farm is vital, providing opportunities for six to ten temporary workers during peak times.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Harvesting at El Cacao is done with quality and care. Magdalena has selected Fully washed processing and fermented her pulped coffee in cement-lined tanks that ensure cleanliness and preserve the coffee's natural flavors. Drying is managed on raised beds and patios resulting in consistent and high-quality lots.
The coffee produced by Magdalena is highly regarded for its unique profile, influenced by the hotter, more arid region’s climate. This environment imparts vibrant acidity and complex flavors to her coffee, making them distinctive.
About Bourbon
Bourbon is a specialty coffee darling known for its excellent cup quality and good performance at high altitudes. The variety is susceptible to the major diseases, which can make it difficult to grow. Bourbon traces its heritage back to Yemen. French missionaries introduced Bourbon from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now known as La Reunion) in the early 1700s. Bourbon takes its name from the island where it prospered. Bourbon has had a huge effect on modern coffee varieties as one of the major ascensions for many varieties grown across the world. Today, Bourbon is available in both yellow and red varieties.
Coffee in Peru
Peru holds exceptional promise as a producer of high-quality coffees. The country is the largest exporter of organic Arabica coffee globally. With extremely high altitudes and fertile soils, the country’s smallholder farmers also produce some stunning specialty coffees.
Though coffee arrived in Peru in the 1700s, very little coffee was exported until the late 1800s. Until that point, most coffee produced in Peru was consumed locally. When coffee leaf rust hit Indonesia in the late 1800s, a country central to European coffee imports at the time, Europeans began searching elsewhere for their fix. Peru was a perfect option.
Between the late 1800s and the first World War, European interests invested significant resources into coffee production in Peru. However, with the advent of the two World Wars, England and other European powers became weakened and took a less colonialist perspective. When the British and other European land owners left, their land was purchased by the government and redistributed to locals. The Peruvian government repurchased the 2 million hectares previously granted to England and distributed the lands to thousands of local farmers. Many of these farmers later grew coffee on the lands they received.
Today, Peruvian coffee growers are overwhelmingly small scale. Farmers in Peru usually process their coffee on their own farms. Most coffee is Fully washed. Cherry is usually pulped, fermented and dried in the sun on raised beds or drying sheds. Drying greenhouses and parabolic beds are becoming more common as farmers pivot towards specialty markets.
After drying, coffee will then be sold in parchment to the cooperative. Producers who are not members of a cooperative will usually sell to a middleman.
The remoteness of farms combined with their small size means that producers need either middlemen or cooperatives to help get their coffee to market. Cooperative membership protects farmers greatly from exploitation and can make a huge difference to income from coffee. Nonetheless, currently only around 15-25% of smallholder farmers have joined a coop group.