Loro Verde, Peru

Coffee arrived in Peru in the mid-1700s, first introduced to central regions before spreading north to areas like Cajamarca. Coffee cultivation in Cajamarca expanded much later and only really reached a turning point in the 1990s, particularly around the Jaén area, largely as a result of the cooperative movement. The favourable terroir and Andean–Amazonian transition climate created the conditions to produce clean, sweet, and expressive coffees, but it wasn’t easy to organise or access markets due to inadequate infrastructure and challenging, remote terrain. Most farms are smallholders with less than 5 hectares of land and are widely dispersed.

Today, local cooperatives are able to aggregate production from hundreds to thousands of farmers, providing technical training and quality control, while facilitating direct export relationships.

Loro Verde comes from smallholders in the high-altitude areas around Jaén, surrounded by pristine natural conditions. However, this potential isn’t always realised when producers don’t have the necessary infrastructure and technical support during key stages, from picking to drying, that maintain quality. The challenges in post-harvest processing stem from farmers receiving little to no training in the understanding and precision required to maximise the quality of their coffee.

In 2018, international traders and sourcing partners at Falcon Coffee established an export company in Peru with the mission of being closer to producers. As part of their Peru operation, they set up a quality control lab and warehouse where producers can deliver their dried coffee, which is immediately assessed for score and price. Just after 1 – 2 years of operation, Falcon Coffee paid, on average, double the commercial market price for coffee in the region.

Being close to the ground and actively monitoring the supply chain ensures that multiple layers of standards are met, supporting transparency and development within local communities. Most smallholders harvest and process their own coffee using manual machines, simple fermentation tanks, and drying beds, before delivering it to the Falcon Coffee warehouse for grading. As part of their initiatives, they aim to provide training that can help improve quality while offering financial incentives to encourage better practices. 

Despite being a relatively late development in Peru’s coffee production industry, the coffees of Cajamarca are particularly interesting to follow because of their low-to-no industrialisation, strong cooperative structure that seeks to develop communities, and incredible terroir and biodiversity, which together offer a wide range of cup potential.