Peru Fair Trade Organic

This latest arrival (May 2025) is from CECANOR a cooperative more formally named Central de Cafetaleros del Nororiente which works with dedicated coffee producers located in more than 70 communities across Northern Peru including Cajamarca, Amazonas, and Lambayeque. These producers follow organic farm management practice attuned to their cultural connection with the land. They typically cultivate coffee on just a few acres of land intercropped with shade trees, bananas, corn, and beans.

For processing, during the harvest, each producer practices selective picking with focus on picking only fully ripened cherries, which are then processed with the farms micro-mill. At the mill, the cherries are washed and floated to remove damaged and less dense coffee.  The selected cherries are then depulped, fermented, washed and gently dried and stored until it is time to prepare the coffee for export.

CECANOR invests in critical infrastructure encompassing road enhancements and the establishment of local warehouses.  CECANOR also provides comprehensive technical support to farmers. This encompasses guidance starting with seed selection and extends to valuable assistance in navigating the certification process. CECANOR partners with an export company called PROASSA, which meticulously prepares coffee for export. This coordinated effort ensures traceability and maintains quality control during the post-harvest phase.

This past year has been a very difficult one for coffee from Peru. Due to poor weather, crop yields were greatly reduced and numerous farms and cooperatives were unable to supply their typical demand. In addition, one of the major obstacles confronted by the coffee supply chain in Peru is the ability to transport the product easily. There are constant delays due to problematic infrastructure or lack there of. This has been especially true this crop season, as much of the committed specialty coffee from Peru failed to meet its commitments. While in past years we have been able to secure our needs from this origin more readily, we found it very hard to find suitable supply. The next new crop will not reach the US until late August or September and available coffees are exceedingly in short supply. Prices have escalated due to this year's scarsity and near record coffee market pricing.

Varieties represented are Bourbon, Caturra, Catimor, Pachis, San Antonio, and Typica. Farm elevations begin at 1300 meters with the highest at 2250 meters.

Peru is the world's leading producer of organic coffee. This lot is USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified.