Peru's Coffee a Relative Newcomer to Coffee Scene

Several weeks ago I brought home some freshly-roasted and ground Peruvian coffee from Destination Cafe, the coffee-shop that sponsors this blog. I have been enjoying the coffee off and on for some time now, finding that it seems to reveal new characteristics with every new cup. Finding it so rewarding, I have decided to delve a little deeper into Peru's coffee industry to perhaps discover what makes this particular coffee variety so special.

According to coffee.wikia.com, the coffee industry is one of Peru's most important agricultural exports. In 2004, coffee represented approximately 12 per cent of the total agricultural export revenue for Peru, making the country one of the largest producers of coffee. In 2006, for example, Peru exported 216 million kilograms of coffee to other countries. Currently, Peru is the ninth largest producer of coffee in the world, and the third largest producer of of coffee in South America, after Brazil and Columbia.

Around 200,000 farms grow what are (apparently) exclusively Arabica coffee beans in Peru. These farms are mainly small in size, averaging less than five acres each. Once harvested, the coffee is processed by way of cooperatives and then distributed by way of a few intermediaries before being sold for export.

The coffee industry in Peru did not really take off until the twentieth century. As late as 1922, coffee commentator William Ukers noted in his book All About Coffee the fact that Peru lacked a substantial coffee industry in spite of its possessing the perfect climate and soil for it. By the 1990s, Peru's coffee industry had become an important source for coffee to the world, replacing cocoa farming in that country as a principal export. During the recent fall in coffee prices, cocoa staged a return in Peru as a money-making crop, bringing in as much as 10 times what coffee did on the world market. Coffee growing in Peru takes place throughout the country, in both the north and south. The well-known Andes Gold Fair Trade coffee is grown on the northwestern slopes of the Andes Mountains, while coffee grown in the central region (Chanchamayo) is highly valued as well.

According to expressocoffeeguide.com, a good Peruvian coffee is "gentle, aromatic and flavorful with a mild acidity."

Note: For additional information on Peru and the coffee industry, see some of my earlier posts, written several years ago. Happy coffee drinking!