Introduction to Peruvian Organic Coffee Cultivation_Flavor Characteristics of Organic Coffee Beans_Is Organic Coffee Delicious

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Peru: Geography and Climate

Peru is located in western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador. Peru's climate is extremely diverse, ranging from tropical in the east to dry desert in the west, from temperate to the cold of the Andes Mountains. These different climates are closely linked to Peru's main geographical regions, including the western coastal plain, the central Andes Mountains, and the eastern lowland jungle of the Amazon Basin.

History of Peruvian Coffee

Although coffee reached Peru as early as the mid-1700s, it wasn't until the 20th century, with increased European demand and a significant decline in Indonesian coffee production, that Peruvian coffee began to be exported commercially. British presence and influence in the country were particularly helpful in increasing and promoting exports; in the early 20th century, the British government bought approximately 2 million hectares of land from the Peruvian government as payment for defaulted loans, and much of this land became British-owned coffee plantations.

Today, Peru has more than 110,000 coffee growers, and coffee exports account for 2% of the national economy and 2% of the global coffee supply. Peru is rapidly establishing a coffee industry chain with excellent cultivation techniques.

Peruvian Coffee Exports

80% of Peru's coffee is exported through the Port of Callao, which handles 3/4 of the country's imports and 1/4 of exports. Another 20% of coffee is exported through Iquitos and Matarani.

Most of the coffee produced domestically in Peru is exported. In 2012, 264,343 tons of coffee were exported to countries such as the United States, Germany, Belgium, Colombia, and Sweden, while domestic consumption was only about 10%. In 2014, coffee leaf rust (for specific information about leaf rust, see the El Salvador article) affected 130,000 hectares of land in the country's central highlands, leading to a 6% decline in 2013 production; compared to the highest production of 30,900 tons, this represented a 15% shortfall.

Peru's coffee industry is one of the country's most important agricultural sectors, accounting for 12% of all agricultural exports in 2004. Peru is also one of the world's largest coffee producing countries, exporting over 216 million kilograms in 2006. Additionally, Peru is one of the world's major producers of organic and fair trade coffee beans. These exports make Peru the world's ninth-largest coffee producer, but only the third-largest coffee exporter in South America.

Arabica coffee is grown on approximately 200,000 farms in Peru. Most of these farms are very small, with an average area of less than 2 hectares. Most coffee is processed through cooperatives and then distributed through several intermediaries before being exported.

Development of Peruvian Organic Coffee

Like many Central and South American countries, throughout the 20th century, farms became increasingly smaller and more fragmented as large European-owned lands were sold or redistributed, giving farmers independence while also limiting their access to resources and larger commercial markets. However, there was a lack of organizations or infrastructure to provide economic or technical support to farmers, which non-governmental organizations and certification agencies attempted to fill.

The country has a considerable number of organic coffee certifications, Fairtrade certifications, Rainforest Alliance certifications, and UTZ certifications (UTZ certification is also known as the International Quality Certification). About 30% of small farmers are members of democratic cooperatives, which has increased the local visibility of coffee but has not brought incredibly high-quality products to people.

Coffee Certifications

Rainforest Alliance certification ensures that coffee is grown following sustainable practices that protect biodiversity and promote worker well-being.

Fairtrade certification guarantees that farmers receive fair prices for their coffee and work under safe conditions, empowering communities to invest in their future.

UTZ certification (now part of the Rainforest Alliance) focuses on sustainable farming practices and better opportunities for farmers, their families, and our planet.

Peruvian Coffee Production Challenges

In the 2010s, Peru was one of the major producers of Arabica coffee, ranking fifth in the world's production and export of Arabica coffee. However, the remoteness of coffee farms and the incredibly small typical farm size have hindered the differentiation of many individual farms, which has enabled microbial development and marketing in other growing regions. The country's lush highlands and excellent heirloom varieties offer growers the potential to overcome limited infrastructure and market access barriers, and as production increases, we are more likely to see these types of advances.

Peruvian coffee farmers have small land areas, and the country's typical micro-wet-milling operations are even smaller. From May to September, farmers harvest ripe coffee cherries and transport them to manual depulpers and wooden fermentation tanks. (In Peru, coffee processing is mainly done by wet milling on the plantation land. During this process, the moisture content of coffee beans is reduced to about 20%, and then they are transported to drying facilities. However, this decentralized system is disadvantageous for coffee growing areas in northern Peru as it leads to inconsistent quality and promotes decay and fungal growth.)

After processing the coffee, most farmers walk or ride mules to the nearest town to sell their coffee—a journey that can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours. On Saturdays, the nearest town square becomes a trading post for surrounding remote coffee growers. Farmers sell their coffee and purchase goods needed for their daily lives before returning to the mountains.

Unfortunately, something very unfortunate yet extremely common happens at these trading posts—sometimes only one buyer arrives. This significantly reduces the price paid to farmers for their coffee. Due to lack of personal warehouse space and only unreliable, expensive collective warehouses, farmers often have no choice but to accept lower prices. The more remote the farm, the more the coffee is mixed and traded before reaching the coast. This disorganized trade system and isolation alienate farmers from the final beverage that comes from their farms. For years, growers have been focused on exchanging coffee with parchment for weight and dollars. This completely disconnects them from the idea of producing a beverage that can be enjoyed or abandoned based on its quality. Intermediate traders even add weight to each bag by sprinkling sand and water.

Peruvian Coffee Cultivation

Peru's coffee fields are mainly distributed in the northern Cajamarca region, southern Cusco, and the NOP area. Among these, 70% of coffee varieties are Typica, 20% are Caturra, and the remainder consists of other varieties such as Catimor. About 75% of coffee growing areas are located at altitudes between 1,000-1,800 meters, while plants grown in shady areas reach 2,000 plants per hectare. Agriculture is mainly carried out by small farmers, with organic coffee cultivation covering 90,000 hectares.

As the world's eighth-largest coffee producing country, Peru has discovered in the past decade that organic coffee has enormous business opportunities in Europe and America. The coffee fields in Peru's mountainous regions lack running water and electricity facilities, and impoverished indigenous farmers have been accustomed to organic cultivation since ancient times, still unable to purchase or use pesticides and fertilizers. The authorities have consequently developed the organic coffee industry, with government guidance and certification, issuing organic certificates to qualified products to facilitate export.

Peru's organic coffee production costs are low, making it the world's largest and cheapest exporter of organic coffee. The other two major organic coffee producing countries are Mexico and Ethiopia, but their prices are higher. The authorities intend to develop Peru into the world's leading organic coffee country, just as Vietnam is the world's largest Robusta producer, but the low-price strategy has caused dissatisfaction among many producing countries. Although Peru sells organic coffee at low prices, this does not mean that specialty coffee has disappeared. At the 2010 SCAA "Coffee of the Year" cupping competition, Typica produced by Cecovasa from the small town of Tunkimayo in the Puno production area of southeastern Peru scored 89.2 points, narrowly defeating the famous Geisha from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda to win fifth place.

About CENFROCAFE

CENFROCAFE was established in 1999 and is one of the largest and most organized cooperative organizations in Latin America, with bases in most regions of Peru. Despite the overall lack of a cohesive national coffee association or non-governmental organization, CENFROCAFE has been able to support nearly 2,000 coffee growers by providing agricultural and financial resources while encouraging producers to learn about roasting and access specialty coffee.

Approximately 92% of coffee sold through CENFROCAFE is organic; 100% is certified as Fairtrade. This has led to improved product quality and demand for Peruvian organic coffee in international markets at competitive prices.

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