What we learned in Perú from the producers who own our cooperative
When our team traveled to Peru this fall, the harvest season in the Sacred Valley, just beyond Machu Picchu, was in full swing. The coffee trees were heavy with deep red cherries, and the mountain air carried a mix of cool mist and warm soil. For us at Pachamama Coffee, a visit like this is never a routine “origin trip.” We go to Peru as employees of a farmer-owned cooperative—meaning the growers who greet us on their farms are our bosses.
Thousands of smallholder farmers across five countries own our cooperative, and each year we visit to learn, to listen, and to understand how the season has unfolded for them. Together, we select the coffees that will shape Pachamama’s next year’s offerings in the United States, guided entirely by what the farmers choose to share with us as their best and most promising lots.
Farmers with extraordinary skill and artisan knowledge
Over several days, we visited farmers, including Samuel Camacho and Washington Saire Farfan, hiking with them up into the steep slopes where their farms blend seamlessly into the surrounding forest. The paths, coming right off winding dirt roads, are narrow and steep, and then suddenly one stands among rows of coffee trees so full of cherries they look like strands of red beads.
The farmers showed us how they harvest by hand only at peak ripeness, returning to each tree multiple times; how they select varieties that thrive based on the chemistry and structure of their soils; and how they handle processing with remarkable precision. Their expertise comes from years of experience, training through the cooperative, and a connection to their land that runs deep. They are both artisans and scientists, carrying forward generations of knowledge while refining their craft and adapting to ever-changing climate conditions.
Step into the highlands of Perú and hear directly from the farmer-owners who grow and share ownership in Pachamama Coffee. This video shares their stories, their connection to the land, and the care that goes into every harvest of organic arabica beans:
Cupping the season’s work at COCLA
Later, at the COCLA cooperative’s cupping lab in Quillabamba, we worked alongside two of their highly trained cuppers, including Ana Salazar, who has nearly two decades of experience despite being in her late-30s. The lab was lined with cups of freshly brewed samples - each one releasing aromas that hinted at the complexity inside: ripe fruit, florals, honey, and chocolate. With quiet concentration, Ana and our head roaster moved slowly down the line, smelling, sipping and evaluating each coffee with care.
Their shared focus helped us understand the season through flavor and structure: which coffees had exceptional sweetness, which displayed unique fruit character, which were the most balanced or expressive. These collaborative cuppings form the foundation of our purchasing decisions and ensure that what we bring home are the very best beans from our farmer-owners.
Regenerative organic farming practices honed for generations
One of the most striking parts of visiting these farms is how alive they feel. Coffee grows alongside citrus, avocados, plantains, guava, and countless other plants that create natural shade and feed the soil. Bees play an important role in the spring for pollination, carrying the sweetness of nectar from tree to tree. These organic farms use compost made from coffee cherry pulp and organic matter that enriches the soil year after year.
These regenerative organic practices are long-held traditions, formed by indigenous knowledge that has been passed down for generations. They support biodiversity, protect the health of the farm, and shape the flavors that ultimately make their way into the cup. Standing there, surrounded by layers of greenery and sound, it becomes very clear why these coffees taste the way they do.
Pachamama: a relationship of reciprocity with the earth
All of this comes together in the meaning of our name: Pachamama. In Quechua, the language of the Andes spoken from Ecuador to Peru, Pachamama means Mother Earth. When we asked the farmers what Pachamama meant to them, they looked at us with a kind of gentle surprise and warm certainty.
Pachamama is the source of all life, the one who gives and receives in reciprocity. The Incas held this truth, and their descendants still live by it. And our farmer-owners honor that relationship every day—thanking the Earth, caring for her, and trusting that she will return the favor in the form of healthy trees and beautifully ripe coffee cherries. This cultural understanding shapes every step of their work. And as a farmer-owned cooperative, it shapes us as well.
