About This Coffee
Don Salomon, a young producer, has an estimated coffee production of 70 QQ parchment. In addition to coffee farming, he also raises other small animals. He has two children, one young and the other currently in secondary school. Don Salomon lives with his wife, who takes care of the household duties and assists with post-harvest drying activities.
About Chirinos
Chirinos is a long-standing cooperative in Peru, having been established in 1968 by 36 coffee producers aspiring to sell high-quality coffee to international specialty markets. The group formed following enactments of pro-cooperative policies passed by the Peruvian government aimed at improving socio-economic conditions in Peru’s historically overlooked northwestern communities. This took a turn in the 1990s, with administrative changes and the implementation of “pro-big-business” laws which made it difficult for cooperatives like Chirinos to compete. Nevertheless, through solidarity and a firm belief in their collective vision, Chirinos has weathered change and uncertainty throughout the decades, speaking to both the quality of their coffee and their ability to adapt and innovate. But the group’s solidarity and collective vision motivated members to reorganize for strength. Under new leadership, the organization focused its efforts on sustainable agriculture as a way to improve coffee quality and secure better prices. Chirinos' coffee is hand-picked by co-op members and their families. Each producer group relies on an experienced agronomist who provides technical support in organic production and quality control.
Cultivation
Don Salomon, a young producer, has an estimated coffee production of 70 QQ parchment. In addition to coffee farming, he also raises small animals such as guinea pigs and chickens.
Chirinos uses strictly organic compost which they make themselves using a unique composting system called "gaicashi." The method produces potent, high-quality compost at a low cost and avoids the use of pesticides by controlling pests naturally; their development of this system is an example of the innovative thinking that has allowed Chirinos to thrive.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Don Salomón's coffee was processed with a prolonged, anaerobic fermentation lasting 40 hours.
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.