We source coffee directly from individual producers, families, small community projects in Peru and Bolivia. Our partners range from individual producers who are in the early years of producing speciality coffee to some of the most exceptional producers in both Peru and Bolivia.
We focus on building long-term relationship with each of our producing partners directly, and developing opportunities together, with the aim of building an equitable supply chain. This involves providing support tailored to the producer’s specific needs – including educational support to improve production quality and investing in their production processes. Another aspect is connecting our producer partners to an international marketplace in a way that both provides them with reliable income and showcases their talent and hard work.
We work with coffee roasters who want to be part of creating positive change through the coffee they purchase. We offer direct connections to every producer and community project, with opportunities to meet with them online or in person. If this is something you'd be interested in, just let us know.
This micro-lot comes from a father-son project (Ciro and Henry Castro) on their family farm. The cherries were fermented in plastic sacks for 24-48 hours then washed and laid on raised beds in tents to dry for 15-20 days. The result is a rich and balanced coffee with notes of plum, stone fruits and a dark chocolate finish.
Don Ciro and his family lived in the Andes Mountains, where they raised cattle and produced Aguardiente, a Peruvian spirit made from sugarcane. By the 1990s, however, Ciro could no longer compete with the large corporations producing the spirit so he, his wife and his oldest son, Henry moved north to the village of Jorge Chavez, to seek out a new opportunity. There they built a livestock farm and, as it became profitable, reinvested the proceeds into cultivating coffee using coffee seeds received from neighbouring farmers.
In the last few years, Ciro and Henry have led the creation of a community project with their neighbours to transition to speciality grade coffee production. They have been working with Collective Bean, who cup and score each farmer’s coffee and provide tailored feedback. For any coffee that is not at the required grade, Collective Bean help to sell it to other buyers in Jaen (so that the producers still receive a better return than selling it to local intermediaries). They have also begun training Henry on quality control, cupping the coffees together and sharing roasted samples with the producers (enabling them to taste the impact of their quality control methods and production practices).
This is our first year of working with Ciro and Henry. It is through partnerships like these that we hope to provide producers with sustainable incentives to improve coffee production and, in turn, the overall profitability of their hard work.
More information available on request.
A cost breakdown of this coffee is below. Find out more on our Transparency page
This micro-lot is a wonderful introduction to the coffee produced by Raul Flores. Raul grows only Yellow Caturra on his farm, Finca Productiva, allowing him to develop a deep understanding of cultivating this varietal. The cherries were fermented in plastic sacks for 72 hours then washed and laid on raised beds in tents to dry for 15-20 days. The talent and hard work of Raul and his family has resulted in a juicy coffee that reminds us of tropical fruit punch.
Throughout the harvest season, every two weeks, he takes a sample from each batch of coffee (after applying the post-harvest production processes), which is taken to a lab in Jaen for testing (both physical and sensorial). This rigorous process is for the purpose of quality control – if the results of any batch of coffee is slightly different to the rest (e.g., different moisture content/defect count/cupping score), it is separated from the lot, and sold to the local cooperative for a lower price. This process ensures a very consistent high standard of coffee.
Raul began working in coffee as a coffee picker. He and his wife were later gifted a small coffee farm from her father. Its isolated location presents some challenges – it is accessible only by foot and parts of the narrow path require Raul to transport the coffee sacks on his back. We have had productive conversations with Raul about how we can work together in the long-term, including how to support him to access a stable market for his coffee.
Raul’s family has a close history with the area. Raul’s father was one of the four founders of the town of El Diamante – during the agrarian reform in Peru in the 1970s (which dismantled the large estates with the aim of redistributing the land), they chose the plot of land and began building the town from scratch. Raul’s father was a key campaigner for the government to recognise El Diamante, supply it with electricity and build a school and medical facilities; 50 years later, it has become a hub for specialty coffee production.
More information available on request.
A cost breakdown of this coffee is below. Find out more on our Transparency page
This micro-lot comes from Finca San Francisco, a farm run by Consuelo Rubio and two of her daughters, Blanca Flor and Roxana. The vision of the Rubio family is to become the best family-run coffee-producing company led by women. Through their hard work, meticulous care and scientific approach to experimenting with new processing methods, they are approaching that vision in leaps and bounds.
After the coffee cherries were de-pulped, they were fermented in sealed airtight GrainPro bags for 40 hours. The microbiological activity caused by fermentation resulted in an exothermic reaction, causing the bean temperature to rise from 18°c to 26°C (and a corresponding reduction in the pH level from 5.56 to 4.22). The coffee was then dried in trays in the shade for 36 days. The result is a silky cup that reminds us of apple crumble and lemongrass.
The Rubio family has worked on the same land since the 1970s, when Blanca and Roxana’s grandfather managed the coffee fields for the landowner. Following the Peruvian agrarian reform (which split up the large estates), Consuelo and her husband purchased a parcel of that land, on which they began cultivating their own coffee plants in the 1990s.
Consuelo’s husband later discovered a Tabi plant in a nearby town (a variety rarely found in Peru). Tabi became his favourite varietal and he turned all of his efforts to its cultivation. Since her husband’s passing in 2016, Consuelo, Blanca and Roxana (with the support of their siblings Nancy, Richard, and Wilder), have continued his legacy on their farm.
More information available on request.
A cost breakdown of this coffee is below. Find out more on our Transparency page
This micro-lot comes from Finca San Francisco, a farm run by Consuelo Rubio and two of her daughters, Blanca Flor and Roxana. The vision of the Rubio family is to become the best family-run coffee-producing company led by women. Through their hard work, meticulous care and scientific approach to experimenting with new processing methods, they are approaching that vision in leaps and bounds.
After the coffee cherries were de-pulped, they were fermented in sealed airtight GrainPro bags for 40 hours. The microbiological activity caused by fermentation resulted in an exothermic reaction, causing the bean temperature to rise from 18°C to 31°C (and a corresponding reduction in the pH level from 5.52 to 4). The coffee was then dried in trays in the shade for 40 days. The result is a rich and complex cup profile, reminding us of buttery shortbread and toffee, with hints of baking spice, rounded out by juicy mandarin acidity.
The Rubio family has worked on the same land since the 1970s, when Blanca and Roxana’s grandfather managed the coffee fields for the landowner at the time. Following the Peruvian agrarian reform (which split up and redistributed the elite landowners' large estates), Consuelo and her husband purchased a parcel of that land, on which they began cultivating their own coffee plants in the 1990s.
A friend of Consuelo’s husband gifted five Sidra coffee plants, brought over from a trip to Ecuador, but these were overlooked at the time. It was not until years later that he rediscovered the plants while walking through the forest. Unlike the family’s other coffee plants – which were severely affected by leaf rust – the Sidra was in impeccable condition. Mystified, he sowed the seeds on their farm, and the profile and yield were remarkable. It was only after further research that the family connected the dots and recalled their friend’s gift from Ecuador!
A cost breakdown of this coffee is below. Find out more on our Transparency page
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