Historically, Peru, alongside Honduras, has been regarded as a Latin American origin of unremarkable and often unreliable quality. This reputation and its accompanying price discount are the results of supply chains built to aggregate large volumes of average quality, to serve roasters seeking price value over higher quality coffee. This happens at the expense of Peruvian farmers who don’t reap the rewards of higher household income through improved quality. We believe that Peru has the potential to match up to any of its origin counterparts in Latin America for quality. We set up Falcon Coffees Peru to prove this to be true.
THE PLAN
The altitude of the Andes combined with rich volcanic soils and tropical rainfall means that Peru has the ideal topography and climate for producing high quality arabica coffee. We identified the key problem area as post-harvest processing. Farmers had received little to no training on the chemistry and precision required to maximise the quality of their coffees once harvested. Our intention was to provide training that focused on attention to detail, while providing financial incentives to farmers to motivate their adoption of better practices.
In 2018 Falcon Peru SARL was registered as an export company and we opened a small warehouse with a quality control laboratory in the northern coffee town of Jaen, Cajamarca. Farmers bring their dry parchment to the warehouse for quality analysis, some tasting their own coffees for the first time. They receive a cup score and an offer price immediately, which they may accept or refuse. In 2019 and 2020, on average, Falcon paid double the commercial market price for parchment coffee in Jaen.
THE RESULTS
In 2019, Falcon Peru established partnerships with 35 farmers. These farmers were selected based on their potential to produce outstanding qualities supported by their willingness to learn. As of 2021, Falcon works with 420 registered farmers across 13 districts in the province of Cajamarca. Our team has grown to include a quality control department, Q-Grader and an agronomist. In addition, we have an export office in Lima.
As Falcon controls the supply chain from farmer to roaster door, these coffees qualify for our Blueprint Project label, supported by credible economic transparency data from every farming household.
