About This Coffee
Prosperidad de Chirinos was founded in 1968. Today, they have 817 members, a full quarter of whom are women. In total, the cooperative cultivates about 2,200 hectares in San Ignacio, Cajamarca. The high altitudes of the mountainous San Ignacio region provide ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality coffees.
The cooperative has an extensive array of programs and opportunities for farming members. In addition to agronomic support and financing, farmers can learn sensory evaluation and how to diversify their incomes through other agricultural projects such as beekeeping and farming avocadoes. They also offer quality awards for outstanding coffees each year. Managers and farmer-leaders are given additional training in management skills, financial literacy and good governance.
Miguel Ramírez Agurto began cultivating coffee when he was 19, initially growing varieties such as Caturra, Pache, and Catimor. In 2004, he joined the "La Prosperidad" Chirinos Cooperative (CAC) as a member, aiming to secure better benefits for his product and receive fair compensation for his hard work. His decision was influenced by long-standing cooperative members.
Due to his leadership skills, he has held various positions within the cooperative:
- 2010: Secretary of the Board of Directors
- 2011-2012: President of the Board of Directors
- 2018-2020: President of the Board of Directors
In addition to coffee, Miguel cultivates plantains as an alternative crop, further diversifying his farm's production.
His primary goal is to become the best coffee producer in the northern region. Through coffee cultivation, he is improving his family's quality of life and making investments in various ventures. For him, the most important goal is to provide his older children with a university education.
Thanks to state-funded projects, client support, and his own efforts, Miguel has built three coffee drying facilities, each with a 20-quintal capacity. He also owns a modern wet processing module, acquired through Fair Trade premiums and quality-based rewards provided by the cooperative.
His coffee lot cupping scores range between 84 and 85 points according to the SCA, while his Geisha variety lots have achieved an impressive 88 points.
Cultivation
Currently, Miguel remains dedicated to coffee farming. He is the cooperative's second-largest producer and, in addition to cultivating Catimor and Catuai varieties, has ventured into growing Geisha coffee. He plans to continue planting new varieties with high potential in both cup quality and productivity.
Beyond coffee and plantain cultivation, Miguel raises free-range animals and grows staple crops with the support of his wife, Arcelia.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Miguel is highly passionate about post-harvest processing. He is one of the most well-trained members of the cooperative and shares his expertise with fellow farmers through on-farm learning experiences. He is an innovative member, constantly researching fermentation and drying techniques. To ensure the highest quality for his coffee, he possesses essential equipment such as a Brixometer, fermentation tanks, a selective pulping machine, a moisture meter, and more.
Miguel follows a meticulous post-harvest process to ensure the highest coffee quality. It begins with selective harvesting, where only the ripest cherries are picked using the floating method to remove any defective beans. After harvesting, the cherries go through pulping to separate the beans from the fruit. The beans then undergo a controlled fermentation process lasting 16 hours, which enhances the complexity of their flavor. Once fermented, they are carefully dried using a solar dryer, a prototype developed by Chirinos. The beans are then placed on diamond mesh drying trays for even airflow and optimal moisture control. Finally, the dried coffee is stored in GrainPro bags to preserve freshness and prevent contamination.
Sustainable Harvest
Sustainable Harvest® is a specialty coffee trader focusing primarily on bringing coffees to market that are sourced from smallholder farmer cooperatives in the supply chain such as indigenous communities, women groups and the next generation of coffee farmers.
Their sourcing model is built on transparency, traceability and direct relationships between quality-minded coffee roasters and best-in-class coffee producers. Sustainable Harvest® has an on-site presence at origin with staff in Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru. Each office coordinates their supply including quality management, supplier relationships, source development, logistics, training and capacity building.
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.