Producer: Ismael Sarango
Farm: El Gavilan
Region: Cajamarca
Altitude: 1,908-1,930 masl
Varietal: Bourbon
Process: Washed
Roast: Light-Medium
Notes: Persimmon, Swiss Chocolate, Black Tea

This coffee is part of Crop to Cup's sourcing program in Peru via Origin Coffee Lab. By participating in the premium program, farmers invest in their production to improve the potential of their microlots or to create higher-quality regional blends. Exporters maintain close relationships with farmers to provide quality control, traceability, and premium payment support. On average, a typical farmer in this program manages slightly over 2 hectares of coffee cultivation.

Post-harvest processing involves pulping and fermenting the coffee in micro mills at the farms. Dry fermentation in bags or tanks lasts 15-48 hours before the coffee is washed down to the parchment. The drying period ranges from 12 to 25 days, targeting moisture levels between 9-11%. 

Crop to Cup's export partner in Peru was founded by José Rivera in 2016 to elevate economic opportunity for smallholders in his home country. To that end, OCL has built quality control and chain-of-custody systems that ensure a quality focus, paying progressively higher premiums above local prices to farmers as quality increases. Origin provides necessary support to members to improve farm practices and teach both financial and agricultural techniques to enable lasting change.

José’s background on the consumer end of the supply chain—he worked as a roaster and director of coffee for a small specialty roaster in Chicago—informs the way Origin operates. It’s structured to solve the problems that roasters commonly face in their sourcing, particularly from places like Peru that lack robust centralized infrastructure for facilitating aggregation of coffee, sampling, and export. The success of Origin has elevated coffees from Peru, which were previously overlooked by many specialty roasters outside of needs for certified coffees.