Good coffee ain’t cheap and cheap coffee ain’t good
As you lot know, when it comes to Bad Hand coffee beans, we’re all about the ethics, environment and trying to be all-round decent human beings.
So we are stoked that our brilliant suppliers at Falcon has been working alongside Northern Peruvian farmers and coffee producers to improve the coffee quality and increase their household incomes. The result is our new Planet-Saving Peruvian coffee from Pedro Garcia Diaz.
A little more about Peruvian coffee
San Jose del Alto is an area of Jaen, Northern Peru, with huge potential for quality coffee. Some of the coffees from this area have a very distinct cup profile, full of complexity and bursting with floral notes.
The not-so-nice stuff
However, since the area is slightly isolated with poor roads, it has received very little investment both in terms of coffee production and in general.
This, teamed with a lack of cooperatives or associates, means many farmers have been left unassociated. Around 75% of producers, in fact. As a result, the coffee quality has remained low and intermediaries ruled the roost.
Why it’s good to be associated
From a farmer’s perspective, not being linked with a cooperative or organisation can make producers more vulnerable to market fluctuations. This is because their income is totally dependent on the market price, limiting their access to training sessions, premiums for quality or certifications.
What happens when you’re not
Often, local aggregators (a buyer who lives in the same area) will come to the farm or house of a producer and buy their coffee for cash before selling it on. In some cases, this will be directly to an exporter but more often than not it will be to other traders and middlemen. This results in the producer being paid very little for their coffee and a lot of quality coffee is lost.
Back to the nice stuff
Our fantastic suppliers at Falcon have spent the last few years working in Northern Peru, building lasting relationships and buying specialty coffee from cooperatives and associations.
Falcon has since gone on to set up a warehouse in Jaen, buying in parchment directly from producers. This change in sourcing enables them to work directly with farmers, improving coffee quality and increasing producer household income as a result.
The price is right
Ensuring quality and traceability helps Falcon (and us) to pay higher prices for the coffees, making sure that producers received a fair price (above the market price) for the coffee. Everybody wins!