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August, 2002
By K.C. O'Keefe
Greetings from Seattle:
Since May we have been working with farmers in Peru, monitoring their harvest, cupping the final crops, and visiting them with some of our roasters. The harvest is presently in its final stages, and will be finished in September. I would like to give a short update on how things are going in Peru in general and specifically with the farmers we work with.
This year's Peruvian harvest has been a blessing and a tragedy for most of the 110,000 coffee farmers. The consistent rain and sun mixture during the growing season had given Peru great expectations for the quantity and quality of this year's crop. The crop in general was ahead of schedule by a month. In the northeastern Peru the harvest was over a month and a half early, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. They were finished with the harvest when surprisingly rainy weather c ame.
The first tragedy for farmers has been the declining prices of coffee. With the World C Market bobbling between 46-50 cents per pound, the average farmer in Peru is receiving between 20 to 30 cents per pound for their coffee. So while they have more coffee, it's worth less. Thousands of farmers continue to abandon their crops, sell their land, and look for alternative income sources. The second tragedy was 15-20 days of hard rains that hit the eastern slopes of the Andes the last week of June and the first two weeks of July. For Central and Southern Peru the estimates are as high as 30% of the crop was ruined due to the rains.
In June we were excited to participate in Café Selvanica's first-ever harvest festival with two of our clients. It was a joy to celebrate with the farmers that their quality coffee continues to demand a premium and has established clients. At the celebration we happily announced that their coffee is sold out for the next several years. The first purchasing of their coffee was completed in July, and the second will be completed in September.
Coffee purchasing in Cusco has been an intense hands-on process. The harvest was severely affected by the June/July rains. Much of the quality high-grown coffee was stored wet for several weeks, and resulted in corresponding fungus and mustiness. At the end of July we were rejecting about 40% of the coffees presented to us. Cupping every single coffee we receive from each individual farmer has proven to be the most effective screening process. Although we are glad that our operations allow us to screen out defective coffees, it is still sad to know that because of the rains these farmers will have to sell their coffees for the local market prices. On a positive note, we have found many these coffees to have the sweet acidity and floral notes we are searching for.
One of my most impressionable memories over the last couple months was traveling over a 14,000 foot snowy Andean pass. Every 15 minutes I had to keep coxing the driver with a few extra soles (Peruvian money) to continue ahead. In just a few hours we made it over the enormous pass and down into the coffee growing canyon. Amazing! From the snow covered peaks, to coffee buying in the high jungle all in the same day. Working in Peru continues to be an adventure and I'm excited to get back for the final purchasing and screening rounds in September.
Bendiciones
K.C. O'Keefe
Co-Owner, Jungle Tech
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