We are really excited about this year's fresh harvest Peru!
Here's what it's all about:
PROFILE OF COFFEE: Fragrance: Chocolate, Floral Notes, Honey. Taste: Dried Fruits, Honey, Malt. Acidity: fine, sweet lemon. Body: Silky
ABOUT The cooperative:
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA FRONTERA SAN IGNACIO LTDA., situated in San Ignacio, Cajamarca Region – Peru, was officially founded on June 25, 1969 and at present has 330 partners small-growers organized in 14 committees, with production zones located in the districts of San Ignacio, Namballe and San Jose de Lourdes in Cajamarca Region at North Eastern Peru. The topography of the province is basically made by the buttresses of the western and eastern mountain ranges of the Andes and the valleys that descend from these buttresses to the Amazon basin. The coffee is grown at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 1800 meters above sea level. Our production is about 28,000 quintals of coffee and 25% is grown by women farmers. The coffee is certified as Organic (NOP, UE, JAS), Fairtrade, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance. Our shipments begin from June to December.
Our logo is the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), which is an endangered animal that lives in the forest called "The Chaupe", around which many of our growers have their organic farms. This appreciated bear acts as a pollinator carrying the pollen of several plants in his thick hair. Furthermore, when the bear finds a fruit tree often rises and rests in the branches, opening spaces in the upper levels of forest and providing the necessary light for germination and growth of species in the low forest. We think that protecting the fauna and flora of this region will support the ecological balance.
ABOUT OUR WORK: The parchment coffee is delivered by our growers into the warehouses of the cooperative (San Ignacio town), where each batch is evaluated in physical and then is tasted at the control quality laboratory, there the batches are separated according to quality and certification, to be transported to our dry processing plant in Chiclayo city. We have support of a sustainable technical work in the farms since many years ago. Our dry-processing facility is located at the industrial zone of Chiclayo city (four hours from Paita Port), it has 16,000m2. In this dry-processing plant we process our own coffee and also from several other organizations of small-scale growers (aprox. 27 co-ops). In this facility also operates the export department and other control quality laboratory with well-trained staff. This processing plant has certification: organic NOP, organic UE, organic JAS, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and C.A.F.E. Practices.
We have two control quality laboratories: one in San Ignacio and another into the processing plant in Chiclayo, both in charge of Q Graders cuppers.
Our wet-processing facility is located in “La Huamba”, just a few minutes from San Ignacio city, with an installed capacity to collect 15.000 quintals of cherry coffee.
Our cooperative has an experimental plot for our members of a total 25.7 hectares including 15 hectares of coffee, situated at La Huamba, San Ignacio. There is a nursery for the permanent production of 200,000 seedlings. In San Ignacio we have a processing plant for organic fertilizers, based on soil test results, for distribution to the growers.
Implementation of the project "Young Entrepreneurs", basically oriented to the training of the children of the grower members in agricultural and management practices.
Project "Empowerment of the cooperative women and Healthy House", aimed to training and installation of improved stoves in the houses of the growers. Also the Committee of Women at the Cooperative makes agreements with institutions to provide training to women partners and wives of partners.