Origin Report: Peruvian Coffee from Sol y Cafe

Royal NY Traders

Trader Group

As Royal Coffee NY continued its Peruvian coffee tour, the next stop was the lively city of Jaen. Driving through the streets of Jaen, we noticed two things. Moto taxis, or three-wheeled motorcycle/carriage hybrids chaotically ruled the road, and copious amount of parchment coffee lay drying roadside.

By all means, it’s apparent that Jaen is a coffee producing hub of Peru. A plethora of agricultural shops selling fertilizers and coffee cherry de-pulping machines line the streets. Moreover, advertisements for co-operatives reading se compre café are scattered throughout the city. With all of the coffee-buying competition in Jaen, one cooperative, Sol y Café has emerged as a leader in the industry. They combine innovative technology, transparency between buyer and sellers, and a culture that intertwines best practices of producing high quality coffee. Meanwhile, they also focus on improving the lives of the families that do so.

Peruvian Coffee from Sol y Café

Sol y Café (Sun and Coffee) is a cooperative of 1200 small producers living across thirteen districts of Northern Peru. They source coffee from many of the growing regions surrounding Jaen. Founded in 2008, Sol y Café has experienced exponential growth in its brief decade of operation. Touring the cooperative’s facilities with RNY, it’s no secret how their production skyrocketed from just one container (275, 65kg bags) in 2008, to filling two hundred containers (approx. 55,000 bags) so rapidly. They’ve quickly built up a support structure for their members. Based out of Jaen, Sol y Café features a brand-new office building and a total of three warehouses. In fact, one of these is part of a larger facility that is located just outside of the city. This second location is home to their farm-development lab and many other interesting new features Sol y Café has underway.

All things considered, why would a producer sell their coffee to Sol y Café? Primarily, the transparency they provide in the price they’re willing to pay to producers is second to none. All premiums are posted and are based on two main factors: bean quality and certifications. Every coffee that the cooperative buys is certified Fair Trade and Small Producer (SPP; this is an original certification).

Sol y Café & QA

Sol y Café has a rigorous quality assurance procedure. Upon arrival, a producer’s coffee is immediately tagged with an internal reference number to ensure the coffee is accounted for at all times. The producer’s profile is pulled-up on their proprietary member-portal software so they can immediately apply the proper certification premiums (these are farm-specific). Next, a 400g sample is taken of the parchment coffee and is carried across the corridor to the quality lab. Here, the parchment is removed, the beans are screened (16 screen), and defects are removed and weighed against the 400g. Lastly, the moisture content is measured.

Each of these tests have strictly regulated parameters the coffee needs to abide by. If the coffee is of too low quality, it will be rejected. After the green sample is inspected and assessments have been completed, the coffee roasted and cupped by the Sol y Café quality assurance team. In the cupping department, there are five full-time certified Q-graders on the team that collectively cup 150-170 samples of coffee per day during the harvest season. An additional two Q graders also work on staff to ensure there is no shortage of personnel that are calibrated together and with importers across the globe.

The Royal NY team spent an entire evening with all seven of the Q graders cupping fourteen different coffees. It was remarkable how calibrated Royal’s Q-certified trader was with their team across all spectrum of the SCA evaluation components. Both macro and micro lots were cupped during the session and they all are were fantastic coffees. We are very excited to add these to our offerings
soon!

The Full SCA Evaluation

To continue, the graders will perform a full SCA evaluation and place the coffee into one of five denominations the co-op has designated based on flavor profile. These five denominations are at
the core of Sol y Café’s offerings and internal organization. The denominations are as follows in
descending order of both price and flavor complexity:

Café Dios Te Da- Floral notes of Jasmine and coffee flower, dark fruit aromas and flavors, spiced
anis. Intense fine acidity and creamy body.
UUN Coffee- Aroma and flavor notes of chocolate, vanilla, lemon verbena, and blackberry and malt
tones. Creamy body with a delicate after-taste.
Pakas Coffee- Notes of honey, sweet fruit, cocoa-liquor tones. Medium to high acidity with creamy body and lasting aftertaste.
Café Amoja- Sweet notes of honey, apple, and sugar cane. Light body with medium acidity that features a subtle aftertaste.
Café Tres Rios- Herbal aromas of cereal and sweet grass. Notes of dried fruit, cedar, spices. Medium acidity and strong body.

Every coffee that passes the evaluations will be placed into one of these
categories. Sol y Café can tailor an importer’s purchase order to fit a desired flavor profile. This entire QC process is done in less than 24 hours so that they can pay the producer for the coffee based on quality and certifications in a timely manner. The co-op has a comfortable waiting room with a television, a health clinic (free of charge for members), and a café if the producer wanted to stay and wait for his/her payment.

What this Peruvian coffee co-op does for its producers:

A large portion of the services Sol y Café provides comes in the form of aid for the producers. The medical facility in the waiting room of the co-op provides check-ups, monitors vitals (checking blood pressure and cholesterol), and in conjunction with Grounds for Health, can screen women for Ovarian cancer. Upon evaluation at the facility, if a medical condition is diagnosed beyond its capabilities, the medical staff will refer the member to a doctor in Jaen. The financial services office can also provide medical loans to take care of issues like these. The co-operative is pursuing initiatives to focus more on preventative care, distributing nutrition information and best-practices for personal hygiene, to better care for the farmers and their families.

The cooperative is much more than a place for the farmers to sell their coffee for a competitive price and get a doctor’s visit. In fact, it’s Sol y Café’s goal to constantly strive to improve the life of its members. They conduct extensive research in growing methods, organic fertilizers, and processing techniques in their own state of the art testing gardens and nurseries. Their team researches best practices to maintain farm health and yield, and subsequently disseminates this information and in some cases, seedlings, directly to its members.

This research helps the farmers harvest more fruitful yields and also prepares them to combat the harmful effects of coffee leaf rust and the dreaded “broca” coffee borer beetle. Sol y Café has a number of trainers dedicated to visiting the farms and teaching these methods to its members so they can be self-sufficient moving forward. As a member of the cooperative you are also entitled to soil testing every 3 years.

Additional Co-op Services

Yet another service the cooperative offers is an extensive financial services department that reviews loan requests for its members. As previously mentioned, medical loans can be provided in the event a producer needs a specialist. Other loans that can be taken out involve farm equipment and infrastructure. While drying coffee can be difficult in some regions due to stubborn micro climates at highly elevated areas, the coop can extend loans for farmers to build raised and enclosed drying patios to help expedite the drying process. The loan department can also extend credit for anything a member may need like tools, pre-harvest essentials, and coffee processing equipment. Additionally, children of members can also receive academic loans in order to pursue schooling in a coffee-related field. However, this comes with the stipulation that upon completion, they utilize their knowledge and efforts to better their family’s farm.

Final Thoughts on Sol y Café

Sol y Café’s motto is “We are Quality. We are Family.” Certainly, they are family. Every employee of the company is either a producer themselves or has direct familial ties to producers. This is why there is such a focus on their quality-first approach. Additionally, the more care the farmers put into their own process directly correlates to the price they will receive to support their family. Royal Coffee NY has a long-standing relationship with Sol y Café and values their process deeply. We are proud to offer Fair Trade-Organic Peruvian Coffee supplied by Sol y Café arriving at Royal NY later this August and into September. Please contact your trader for more information!