This Peru lot is sourced in conjunction with our long-time importer friends from Swift Coffee. The coffee is from both independent small farmers and local Co-ops in the Cajamarca region of Northwestern Peru.

History of Coffee in Peru

Coffee has been part of Peruvian culture since the 1700’s but was initially kept for local consumption. In the late 1800’s, Peru began ramping up coffee production after coffee leaf rust decimated Arabica crops in Indonesia. Although coffee did not originate in Peru, Spanish sailors brought it there from the Ethiopian coast.

The 20th Century was a time of immense change for Peru, and its coffee industry was at the heart of it. The most significant event was the sweeping Agrarian Reform of 1969. This policy broke up the large, privately owned haciendas and redistributed the land to the workers, many of whom were indigenous people who had been farming the land for generations. Suddenly, the coffee landscape was no longer dominated by a few wealthy landowners but by thousands of smallholder farmers, each managing just a few hectares. In 2025, these Peruvian farmers exported an estimated 4 million bags of coffee, with 28% coming into the United States.