Peru Pitocuna Alejandro Huisa

Alejandro's 5 hectare coffee farm is in the Junín Province region, in a small village called Alto Pitocuna. This is the high part of the village, and his coffee farm "El Solitario" sits at 1500 meters above sea level. Half of his 10 hectare property is not developed, and the portion devoted to coffee is planted in Catuaí cultivar. He is processing his coffee at home, fermenting the depulped coffee for 20 hours, washing off the fruit mucilage, and then drying inside parabolic drying rooms for about 10 days. His coffee is one of several purchased from the Cooperativa Valle Uburiki, a coffee farmer's association that operates in Pichanaki and represents 550 small holder coffee farmers in the region. Alejandro is actually one of the founders of the coop, going back 20 years. They are buying directly from the producers and offer different services for the members like business loans, drying patios and other processing improvements, coffee storage bags, organic fertilizers, and so on. The small premium they receive for their Fair Trade certification helps to fund those endeavors. They also have a technical support staff who provide agronomical assistance, and in the past few years jump started an organic farming initiative that they are rolling out to their coop members.