Starting in 2018, the majority of coffee produced by the Incahuasi Valley Cooperative is dried on African-style raised beds. Many individual farms, in addition to the central community processing stations, transitioned their drying from patios or tarps on the ground to the improved practice of drying on the raised beds. This took a major investment—in materials and labor—on behalf of the cooperative and individual producers but the investment has resulted in better quality and access to higher prices.
Founded in early 2005, the Incahuasi Valley Cooperative brings together nearly a dozen communities in an effort to promote specialty coffee production. Through heavy investments in centralized wet mills, drying facilities, organized warehousing, farming education, and marketing, the cooperative has made great improvements to the economic stability of this region. Initial tasting, inspections, and analysis of coffee occurs at a central warehouse and quality control lab in Andahuaylas, about four hours away from the nearest producers. Quality separation and grading begins in this lab, regardless of whether the coffee is a small, single-farmer lot or a large community lot.
Although there are some farmers who process coffee on their own land, most of the group’s coffee cherries are centrally collected and processed to form larger community lots. Some of the communities represented include Apaylla, Amaybamba, Pacaybamba, and Pacaypata.
We first tasted and purchased a small amount of coffee from this group in 2015. In 2018, we tasted more than 60 samples from Incahuasi, about a third of which came from single farmers. Showcasing farmers doing excellent work reflects the group's devotion to pursuing quality. While a majority of coffee we purchase from the group ends up in products like Big Trouble, we work closely with the group and our exporting partners at Red Fox Coffee Merchants to bring the highest quality coffees to you in this single-origin release of Incahuasi.
We're excited to build upon our progress with this cooperative as we work toward a robust supply chain of great coffee that directly supports these remote Peruvian communities. While challenging shipping logistics and an increased demand for these coffees resulted in many delays, we are delighted to bring this coffee back to our customers this year.
