Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491365
58 STiR tea & coffee industry international K Known more for its vine-covered Inca ruins than its green coffee, the extreme isolation of Peru's coffee farms coupled with a threat of terrorism for decades adversely impacted the quality and reputation in the export market. So how did this relatively unknown coffee producing country become the 2014 SCAA Portrait Coffee of the year? By Anne-Marie Hardie nown more for its vine-covered Inca ruins than its green coffee, the extreme isolation of Peru's coffee farms coupled with a threat of terrorism for decades adversely impacted coffee quality and its reputation in the export market. Most of Peru's coffee growers were disconnected from roasters, selling unpro- cessed untraceable beans to an intermediary. The high-grown Arabica trees of the An- des Mountains bore excellent fruit but most high-quality beans were lost in the shuffle. Gaylene Smith, Founder, Café-Femenino Foundation and Co-Founder of OPTCO (Organic Products Trading Co.), has worked with Peruvian farmers to overcome these obstacles since the late 90s. The most formidable of these challenges, said Smith, is isolation. It was not uncommon at that time for farms to have no external communica- tion. Farms are widely separated in this rugged land split by the 23,000 foot high Andes Mountains, the longest continental mountain range in the world. Towns perch precari- ously 8,000 feet above sea level. Paved roads are a rarity. So how did this relatively unknown coffee producing country become the 2014 SCAA Portrait Coffee of the year? In the past decade, Peruvian coffee and its growers have experienced a metamor- phosis largely due to their vigorous focus on quality and fostering key alliances. The country is now the third largest producer of coffee in South America and the seventh largest coffee producer in the world reaching a high of 5.3 million 60-kilo bags in 2012. Peru produced 4.1 million bags of Arabica and exported 3.9 million bags in 2013 according to the International Coffee Organization. The population of 29.4 million consumes an average half kilo per year. Peru is also the largest producer of Fair Trade certified coffee. "The coffee co- operatives have created alliances with each other and external companies," said Smith, "They have grown together through both good times and bad." These alliances helped Peru pull through challenging circumstances, like the appearance of coffee leaf rust at higher altitudes that impacted more than 40% of Peruvian farms last year. Awakening to Peruvian Coffee Peruvian coffee faces a long and difficult journey from the high Andes Mountains to sea level ports.