New Espresso: Peru - Floremilda Baca Ramirez
The Producer
It’s no secret that speciality coffee is a particularly male-dominated industry. From coffee farming all the way through to barista championships, men appear to take the lead. The reasons for this obviously differ when you look at farming compared to Barista opportunities, but what is encouraging is that despite the difference in obstacles, the coffee industry is making a concerted effort to level the playing field. That’s why we’re so excited about this new espresso.
Few women in Peru get to sell micro-lots under their own name. But Floremilda Baca Ramirez, with the help of the JUMARP cooperative, has overcome every barrier facing her and now farms 4 hectares of land in Utcubamba, Amazonas. Her farm is organic certified, and she harvests all of the cherry by hand, with the help of her family.
JUMARP is a cooperative that was founded out of a desire to develop a new model of growing and exporting coffee. Their Mujeres Programme seeks to improve social and economic standing for their female members. They take steps to involve women and develop their knowledge and skills of leadership, decision making and entrepreneur management. They also do sensory training and learn to roast.
The Coffee
The coffee is grown at 1,500 metres above sea level and is of the Bourbon variety. Ramirez takes care to only harvest ripe, red cherry, revisiting each tree several times throughout the harvest season. No pesticides or herbicides are used on her farm. After the cherry is picked, it is pulped using a low-water pulper and then the beans are dry-fermented for 20-30 hours. It’s then dried on raised beds for about 15 days, during which time the parchment is raked regularly. Once it reaches 12% moisture, it rests for 5 days on the farm and then another 10 days in the cooperative warehouse before being sold.
Peru is the largest exporter of organic Arabica coffee globally, but with extremely high altitudes and fertile soils, the country’s smallholder farms also produce some incredible specialty coffees. Peruvian coffee farmers are overwhelmingly small-scale, and farmers usually process coffee on their own farms.