THE CIRCULAR AGRICULTURE ENTERPRISE
Known for the Andes mountain range, and for its incredible number of microclimates (28!), Peru is probably one of the best suited countries in the Americas to grow specialty coffee. For decades, the country focused on strengthening the sector and organising farmers in smallholder coffee cooperatives to increase production, with a major focus in fair trade and organic production. This effort led Peru to rise the ranks of leading export countries – and leader in organic production. However, it also posed limits to creating the adequate infrastructure to produce high end specialty coffees. In the 2000s, while neighbouring countries started to pay attention to the specialty coffee market in search of premium and added value, Peru struggled to strike its own balance between ‘volume’ and ‘quality’.
The Tocto family took it upon themselves to radically change the way they were growing coffee by establishing a new coffee farming model based on principles of sustainability and quality. Their farm, Finca Churupampa (a Quechua word, ch’uru means "snail" and pampa means "plains") quickly became a shiny example of how to integrate agronomic best practices, focused on healthy plants and soil nutrition, and enhancing quality, focused on planting the right varieties and investing in proper processing and drying infrastructure.
Quality control is also not new to them. Eber – one of the founders of Finca Churupampa – was one of the first Peruvian cuppers to become Q certified over ten years ago. Lot separation and quality evaluation is routine work at Finca Churupampa. Between 2018 and 2019, we doubled our order from Churupampa and added a basic organic blend that is aimed at the same segment as our Brazil Capricornio Signatures and Nicaragua Rojo blend.
We’re happy to say that roasters in Europe are starting to value the deep chocolate notes of Peruvian coffees as the basis of a blend in the same way the US has for years. At the same time, the La Lima lot has gained more following because it has the above qualities combined with a fruit kick that makes it very suitable for an elegant filter coffee.
Finca Churupampa provides agronomic training, a functioning quality-control lab, and incentives for quality improvement. Producers are encouraged to reinvest in their farms—upgrading infrastructure, diversifying with food crops and livestock, and adopting eco-standards. The result: a traceable, high-quality product with tasting notes ranging from plum and cacao to floral and citrus profiles. By 2024, Churupampa had grown to collaborate with 162–188 producer families, exporting over 100 containers per year. Its operations include a community training center, ongoing technical assistance, and a packaged blend offering a range of flavors for both specialty and broader markets .
Meet the farmers of our 2024-2025 import from Churupampa.
Finca Churupampa exports about 110 coffee containers yearly and works with 320 producers from Chirinos.
83+ BASIC BLEND
Three families
seasonal workers: 28
trees: 52,000
hectares: 22
bags bought: 195
CORDILLERA ANDINA
Neftali Santos
seasonal workers: 6
trees: 23,000
hectares: 10 (only 6 for coffee)
bags bought: 40
LA LIMA
Walter Corrales
seasonal workers: 8 to 12
trees: 9,000
hectares: 2
bags bought: 40
ESWIN TOCTO
trees: 1700
hectares: 8
bags bought: 50
NANOLOTS
(Photos coming soon!)
trees: 140
hectares: 4
bags bought: 10
A value chain like this is the pinnacle of independence for a smallholder coffee farm. Churupampa simply hires the services of a dry mill and is fully in charge of the export process, offering their coffee not from the farm gate, but from the port (FOB Paita), making our lives as importers very easy.
You can find all the signed contracts and shipping documents that we made with Churupampa since 2021 below (Google Drive).
2017: farmers who produced our two lots installed a small drying station (structure + raised beds) on their farm to dry their parchment and extend the drying from 6/7 days on the patio to about 25 days of slow drying, which considerably extends the shelf life of the coffee.
2018: exchanged knowledge of Churupampa’s superbly circular coffee system into the TSU network at the Producer Crossover in Amsterdam in June.
2019: imported the first 83+ coffee from Churupampa - but retaining a relatively similar premium, an experiment to appeal to roasters on a budget.
2020: through our partnership with the Tocto family, farmers from Churupampa can better understand their margins and re-invert into their estates. Many other farmers confirm the desired quality in their lots and micro-lots, making the previous years' efforts tangible. Thanks to circular agriculture practices, many producers were prepared for the pandemic. We significantly increased our Churupampa supply this year.
2021: thanks to the positive response from the European market, Churupampa continues to expand its circular agronomy practices. Their training scheme takes a new direction: they now work with entire technified plots from zero, adding 50 new plots every year, from the 280 families they work with, every year.
2022: an unpredictable challenge arises when we face quality issues on the entire shipment. After openly discussing this unfortunate mistake with our partner, Lenin flew to our Regenerative Crossover event in Milan during the summer, where he openly explained the quality control challenges in the factory. Several conversations occurred between Lenin and a few affected roasters in this gathering. Throughout this experience, Churupampa perfected its quality control standards: a bigger warehouse was built to have enough space to store and prevent unwanted mixtures from happening, and, what's more important: the coffee is now being processed in another mill: Café Selva Norte, located in Jaén. According to Eber Tocto, this processing plant is one of the best in the region. Besides this, an industrial engineer was hired to verify quality standards.
Lenin Tocto Minga
Lenin Tocto Minga is the manager of Finca Churupampa, shoot him an email to find out more about their coffee and impressive sustainability measures. Our communication is solely in Spanish.
Email: gerencia@fincachurupampa.com
Phone: +51 949 605 978
Chirinos, San Ignácio - Cajamarca, Perú
Photo Gallery:
You may use these images freely to promote Finca Churupampa.
