Origin Report: Peru’s Las Damas de San Ignacio

Royal NY Traders

Trader Group

First stop on the agenda for our Northern Peru origin trip was COOPAFSI. The coop is located in the province of San Ignacio, in the region of Cajamarca. COOPAFSI is a fair trade and organic certified cooperative which supplies RNY with washed coffee. This coffee is titled as “Las Damas de San Ignacio” or “The Ladies of San Ignacio.” We were greeted by Luzmila Feliu, who is the sales and logistics coordinator for COOPAFSI. She was eager to host us for the first half of our trip and introduce us to other members of the cooperative. Luzmila made sure we could learn about their history, coffee production, processing, education, and quality assurance.

Luzmila, Sales and Logistics Coordinator for COOPAFSI

Learning about COOPAFSI & Las Damas de San Ignacio

Since the inception of COOPAFSI on June 25th 1969, their main goal has been to improve the livelihood of the producers and their families. In order to achieve this goal, members knew they had to focus on improving the overall quality of their coffee. This would ensure receiving higher premiums for their work and dedication. In 1969, COOPAFSI started with just 10 producers and a priest named Francisco Cuentas. They have since grown to just over 360 producers, 80 of which are women. These women are not just producers. In fact, they serve the coop as board members, Q-graders, sales and logistics coordinators and more!

Cruz Maria, Herlinda Tocto and Maria Emita are just a few of the female producers we met throughout our visit. They were thrilled to hear that their coffee is reaching new audiences in the United States. Their coffee is exported under the name of “Las Damas de San Ignacio.” Moreover, this name identifies them as a women-run committee within the coop, allowing them to create a new brand name and distinct cup profiles for their lots. The women from the coop have joined together for various activities. These include communications classes at their computer lab, sewing clubs, and selling produce at farmers markets. Additionally, they have education programs aimed at improving the quality of the coffee production on their farms. During our first two farm visits, I kept hearing the word “chacra” used in place of “finca” for a coffee farm. After asking around, I was informed that the word “chacra” was a feminine noun, used to identify a small farm with fruits, vegetables, animals and coffee all together.

Herlinda Tocto and her family

Overcoming Crop & Cup Challenges

Since 2013, producers in Peru have been finding new ways to combat la roya. This is coffee leaf rust, a fungus that typically affects 30%-40% of the country’s total crop. As production has been up 7% this year, preventing la roya is a major concern. Thankfully, COOPAFSI and Las Damas de San Ignacio are proactive in fighting la roya! They’re setting forth preventative measures to avoid losing high quality lots to this fungus. La roya usually thrives in a warmer climate, affecting coffee production at lower altitudes. In order to prevent this from becoming an ongoing issue, the coop and its members starting planting roya. These are resistant varietals planted at lower altitudes (such as Catimor) and better-quality varietals planted at the higher altitude elevations throughout the farm.

In order to improve the cup quality of the lower altitude Catimor, producers are blending it with Typica or Mundo Novo. Additionally, improvements with fertilizers and compost have aided the fight against la roya. Undoubtedly, this allows producers to plant better varietals throughout their farms without risking their cup quality. Moreover, implementing a shade grown practice on the farms has also helped combat the leaf rust. Shade trees provide cooler temperatures, supply nutrients to the surrounding soil, and eliminate direct sunlight.

Additional Goals

Aside from learning about their coffee production and processing, technicians Nestor and Harry have other ideas. They spoke briefly about new education courses and projects for producers and family members at the coop. Overall, their mission is to educate producers on better practices to improve quality, biodiversity, safety and health. In turn, this would provide a better income and living standards for all. These new projects focus on quality assurance and innovations at the farms. These include covered drying patios to assist with drying during problematic weather conditions, distribution of new/higher scoring varietals such as bourbon, improved water purification system for the wastewater on farms using bamboo, and the promotion of biodiversity on individual farms.

A model of drying patios to be constructed on each COOPAFSI member’s farm

Final Thoughts on COOPAFSI & Las Damas de San Ignacio

COOPAFSI is just one cooperative among the many in Peru to offer fair trade/organic/RFA coffee, but what makes them standout is the importance of family, their respect for nature, and their motivation to excel in quality. Not only are they assisting producers in all aspects of coffee production, they are painting a picture for the future, showing these women and men that they can only get better at what they do if they preserve the environment around them. Global warming has caused a shift in climate patterns in major coffee producing origins and we certainly heard many speak of this issue while in Peru. Most of their production is delayed about 15-30 days on average due to heavy rains early in the harvest. Fortunately, COOPAFSI has guardiolas available at the mill, allowing them to quickly adapt to these
unfortunate climate changes.

Despite the delayed harvest schedule and difficult weather conditions for picking and drying, they were still able to provide us with samples representing a range of profiles for their washed macro lots such as “Las Damas de San Ignacio” and micro lots from all members of the cooperative. We are excited to receive these coffees starting in August, and we are even more excited to explore this micro lot project with them towards the end of their harvest in September/October, which is when all of the high-altitude coffees will be completing their harvest. Producers are experimenting with different fermentation practices, presenting us with a range of complex and unique lots utilizing varietals such as bourbon and yellow caturra. We look forward to receiving these coffees and sharing them with you all!