Peruvian Coffee From Café Femenino

Female farmers cooperative offers up superb coffee
Ari Weinzweig, CEO & Co-Founder of Zingerman’s 

 

Back in 2004, Isabel Uriarte Latorre co-founded Café Femenino, an organization dedicated to empowering women on the front lines of the coffee industry. Very much like the folks at Ziba in Afghanistan that I wrote about earlier this year, she’s built the business to support women—financially, spiritually, and socially—in the work world. The folks at Café Femenino share that,

Women in remote and rural coffee communities face a host of challenges that keep them trapped in poverty. Many of these isolated women live in male-dominated societies and have very little financial control or decision-making power. Four-hundred-sixty-four women farmers in northern Peru decided to change this dynamic by separating their coffee production from the men’s. At that moment, for the first time, this group of women created their own product and income . . . to support social justice and empowerment for women coffee producers worldwide. 

Erlita’s farm is near the village of Nueva York, a small coffee community in the Amazonas region of northern Peru, east of the Andes Mountains. (Intriguingly, there’s also a town Peru, New York, in the far northeast corner of New York state.) The Amazonas is a high-elevation area, typically 5,700 to 6,500 feet above sea level—ideal for high-quality Arabica coffee trees.

Does the work of Café Femenino make a difference? Steve Mangigian, managing partner at the Coffee Company made the trip down to Peru last summer. He quickly offered that, “the dynamic is completely different than traditional male-run farms.” Every article I’ve read about them details outstanding results: increased local recognition of the work the women are doing, both in the fields and on the home front; a reduction in abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual); an increase in income; more men participating in child care and housework, and upswing in school attendance among local girls. It’s hard to argue against any of that! In addition, because the female coffee producers in the area now have the potential to get a better price for their coffee, many men are signing the deeds of their land over to their wives so their coffee will be eligible for Cafe Femenino designation.

Of course, the key question is, how does the coffee taste? Steve Mangigian is particularly high on Erlita’s beans: “This coffee has so many delicious layers! On first sip, it has a deep fruitiness that reminds us of plum. It also has a rich, toffee-like sweetness and a full, creamy body.” I say, it’s pretty darned tasty! Darker than last month’s Peruvian Peaberry. Smooth, a bit of dark chocolate, maybe even like a piece of toasted Country Miche bread from the Bakehouse. The coffee has a surprisingly clean finish and modestly full mouthfeel. All the brew methods have been good, but I’m stuck on the smoothest flavor of the bunch, which I found to be Chemex.

Sip some of this great new coffee and nibble on a Bakehouse cookie—as of this month all of them are even better than ever because they’re made with freshly milled whole grain from Ferris Organic Farms in Eaton Rapids at the Bakehouse. Erlita’s Lot is available at the Coffee Company, Next Door Café, and at the Roadhouse.

Excerpt from Ari’s weekly Top 5 E-Newsletter. To stay in-the-know about things that Ari is excited about in the Zingerman’s family, sign up here!