Anne&Max got to visit coffee farmers in Peru together with Keen coffee roasters, Martijn from Koffieleute at the invitation of Lisanne from Cultivar.

Lisanne founded Cultivar three years ago. After studying anthropology and working for years as a quality controller at Trabocca, her dream was to combine her two passions.
She is starting a project in Peru, where she wants to improve the quality of coffee so that farmers can charge more for their product and the buyer can build a better (working) relationship with the farmer. Her goal is to keep the "chain" from producer to buyer as short and transparent as possible.  

Day 1

Our first destination is Pichanaki, to get here we will fly to Lima - the capital of Peru, where we will take the night bus to La Merced(about 8 hours) and then continue by cab to Pichanaki. Pichanaki is our base during the coffee journey, from here we will visit three more coffee plantations.

Pichanaki is at an altitude of more than 500 meters and is one of the six districts of the province of Chanchamayo. At the time we arrive in Pichanaki, a coffee festival is underway, organized by the cooperative ACPC*. ACPC is an organic certified coffee cooperative consisting of over 260 farmers from the region. We are warmly welcomed by ACPC upon our arrival, they have organized a cupping and meeting with the coffee farmers for us, with the local press in full attendance. For many farmers this is the first time they meet the 'end users / buyers'. For us the opportunity to ask how they deal with their plantations, production processes and where the needs are.   

Day 2

Up early again the next day, we set off in two jeeps to the first plantation.
The journey begins quietly on a paved road, but after an hour we turn onto a dirt road. Here we then drive for about two hours in the middle of the wilderness to finally arrive at La Nueva Florida. La Nueva Floraida is at an altitude of over 1,800 meters and 17 families work together on this plantation. When we arrive, the farmers are just coming down the mountain from their first round of coffee berry picking. 

After lunch, we walk to the coffee plantation. We are going to pick our own lot! Tough with baskets around our hips we walk up. Each of us is assigned a buddy who shows us how to pick and which berries can be picked and which berries are best left hanging. The plantations are super slanted against the mountain. It's harder than we expected. After half an hour we find that we have picked quite a few berries and we all go back down with a satisfied feeling where we put our berries together to see how many there are picked in total. The six of us picked half a can. The average farmer picks up 1 can per hour per person. So with six of us in half an hour, this is quite a waste.

Then we start washing our coffee berries, we take out the ones that float, because these are defective. Then we pulp the coffee berries so that only coffee beans remain. The pulp goes on the compost pile and we will ferment the beans. We opt for a 48-hour anaerobic fermentation*. We can't wait to receive our own picked and produced coffee beans in the Netherlands! 

Finally, we play one more game of soccer: Peru - Netherlands. After this second setback, we jump back on the back of the Jeep to be back in Pichanaki before dark. Bummer that we have to leave this beautiful place and sweet inspiring people.  

Day 3

After two hours of enjoying the beautiful scenery on the back of the jeep, we arrive at the Unión Progresso coffee plantation. Full of passion, Julio Blastovar shows us his plantation, telling us that the picking season has ended for him and that he is now pluming his trees in preparation for next year. Plumming involves cutting off the top part of the tree because it absorbs too much raw material, this creates a section where no more berries will grow. By cutting off the top part of the tree he will have another tree full of berries next year.  

After viewing the plantation, we are invited to lunch. As we walk past the kitchen we hear the squeaking of guinea pigs; we are somewhat relieved when it turns out that the menu includes rice with chicken and no guinea pig (the Peruvian specialty).  

After lunch we organize a cupping for the farmers. The farmers have never done cupping as we know it, so it takes some getting used to at first. For this cupping we have coffees from different countries and different fermentation methods. So they are very surprised at how a coffee from Kenya tastes, or an anaerobic fermentation method from Costa Rica.

After cupping, we drive on to Doña Victoria and Don Felicano's plantation. Doña Victoria and Don Felicano live in pairs on top of the mountain. We are offered an iced coffee in an enamel mug; the iced coffee trend has also reached the high mountains of Peru! The iced coffee is sweetened with lots of sugar, just the way most Peruvians prefer their coffee. After coffee, we walk around the plantation where they proudly talk about how they maintain the plantation and take on all the picking work with just the two of them. They also talk about the hard times they have had here, such as the Rojo* of 2013 and the risk of landslides the mountain brings.   

Day 4

Today we stay in Pitchanaki. We spend the day at ACPC cupping. We have 24 cups on the table and we are cupping blind so we don't let our emotions for the dear coffee farmers, their hospitality and beautiful plantations weigh in during the cupping process.
After cupping, we discuss the scores and come to the conclusion of which cups would suit Anne&Max home espresso and the Anne&Max home filter. We think the La Neuva Florida goes very well with the huiskamer espresso and the Doña Victoria and Don Felicano coffees with the living room filter coffee.
End of the day we drive to San Ramon, from here we leave tomorrow for the last plantation.  

Day 5

After breakfast, we leave for Aqua de Nieve. This plantation is located at over 1800 meters overlooking the Andes. This plantation is not affiliated with the ACPC. But has its own cooperative, here we meet Delvis and Moises. Delvis won a cash prize last year that allowed him to build a new patio and a building for the cooperative. This is where coffee is stored and samples are roasted. 

At the end of the day, we host an Aeropress competition for coffee farmers. Most have never seen an Aeropress before, so we have to explain how it works first. The coffee farmers get to choose the coffee program and brewing time. The coffee farmers choose the most elaborate recipes and each is convinced that her/his recipe is the best! The winner goes home with an original Anne&Max coffee mug!  
This was the visit to the last plantation. For the last time we jump on the back of the Jeep enjoying the mountains and the view of the coffee plantations we drive back to San Ramon.
In the evening, we have one more dinner together and then everyone goes their separate ways.... 

*ACPC: Agricultural Credit Policy Council's

*Anaerobic fermentation: In fermentation, bacteria convert substances in the product, changing its acidity, taste, smell or appearance. In Anaerobic fermentation, you do this in an airtight jar or tank.

*Rojo: : In 2013, there was the Rojo epidemic. Also known as coffee rust. Coffee rust affects the leaves of the coffee plant and causes coffee berries to fall before they are ripe.