Elmer Tineo Mendoza owns 3 hectares of coffee farm in the El Diamante area of Jaén. Elmer and his son, Elvis, manage their farms together and between them have around 10 hectares dedicated to coffee production, which is a mix of caturra, catuai, castillo and some small areas of geisha and maragogype, although these varieties are not yet prodcuing much fruit. Elmer’s family pick ripe cherries which they deliver to the family home, where they share a small pulper and fermentation tank.

El Diamante

El Diamante is one of the closest coffee producing areas to the city of Jaen and therefore has a huge cooperative presence, at least in the lower elevations. We work with a couple of coffee producing families in El Diamante, who have farms from 1600 to 2000masl. The main varieties grown in the medium altitudes is catuai and castillo, and at higher altitudes it is all bourbon, caturra and typica. El Diamante is one of the few areas in Jaen to have protected forests, which are home to a variety of flora and fauna native to the region. Not only that, there are also many water sources that supply much of the water to the city. This thriving natural environment creates a beautiful setting to grow coffee, but also contributes to the richness and stability of the soils in the area. The cup profile of the coffees in this area is very distinct, with a heavily fruited cup and a pronounced acidity.

Alongside Honduras, Peru has historically been regarded as the discount Latin American origin of unremarkable and often unreliable quality. This reputation and its accompanying price discount are the results of supply chains focused on large volumes based on aggregated quality, built to serve roasters seeking value over remarkable coffee. This happens at the expense of Peruvian farmers who don’t reap the rewards of higher income through improved quality.

We believe that Peru has the potential to match up on quality to any of its origin counterparts in Latin America. We set out to prove this.

The altitude of the Andes combined with rich volcanic soils and tropical rainfall means that Peru

has the ideal topography and climate for producing high quality Arabica coffee. We identified the problem as post-harvest processing. Farmers had received little to no training on the chemistry and precision required to maximise the quality of their coffees. We realised that if we provided training that demanded attention to detail, we would need to offer the financial incentive to reward those farmers who made the effort.

In 2018 Falcon Peru SARL was registered as an export company and we opened a small warehouse with QC lab in the northern coffee town of Jaen, Cajamarca. Farmers bring their dry parchment to the warehouse for quality analysis, some tasting their own coffees for the first time. They receive a cup score and an offer price immediately, which they can accept or refuse. In 2019 and 2020, on average Falcon paid double the commercial rate for parchment in Jaen.

In 2018 we established Falcon Coffees Peru with an initial intake of partnerships with 35 farmers. These farmers were selected based on their potential and willingness to produce outstanding qualities, and most were based in an area called Huabal.