Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Article Courtesy of
AmCham Peru


This time we analyze the consumption of coffee and global trends that are developing.

From August 2003 to date, Starbucks has opened more than 20 locations in Peru. They were the pioneers in Peru - and almost everywhere in the world - to give the coffee the most value-added potential, and placed the concept of special coffee in the mouth of all consumers around the world.

At the same time, our exported coffee was always seen as a commodity, which was exported in green beans without added value, competing with the rest of the world mainly through the price. Today, the growth of coffee exports was led by Peruvian special coffees, which range from organic coffee, and coffee with special certifications, among others.

But, what does special coffee mean?

Special coffee is characterized by its exceptional quality in cup, with zero defects. The coffee is distinguished by its origin, which has unique characteristics by country, region and cooperatives or ranch where it is cultivated. The flavour of special coffee in cup represents a specific place in the world. Also, the production process for the special coffee is very exhaustive: only the red ripe fruits are extracted by hand, these fruits are processed the same day they were collected, then the grain is extracted using fresh and clean water, the grains are dried carefully and selected manually or automatically. Each stage is checked to the most minimal detail.

How to sell special coffee in the United States

One way to promote special coffee is from the profile that is built based on its origin, brand and flavour. In special coffee it is required that this one is only of a specie and not of a mixture. Every kind of coffee is influenced by a given geographical area. Thus, consumers can select a Peruvian coffee, from the Urubamba Valley in Cuzco or a specific ranch, in a cafeteria or toaster (special place where coffee is roasted and green beans from which is distributed to coffee shops or sold directly to final consumers, only the grain but not roasted ground). The customer knows and can distinguish, for example, taste and aroma of a specific coffee with regard to a coffee that comes from one region of Brazil and Costa Rica.

Another form of promotion is through the various licenses that are available: Certified Organic, Fair Trade, Bird Friendly, Forests Alliance, Cup of Excellence, among others. These certificates, apart from the Cup of Excellence, by themselves do not guarantee a purchase of coffee, the taste, aroma and quality have to be the best.

Opportunity for Peru

Peruvian consumers are just beginning to appreciate daily coffee consumption. The recent rise of new cafes is a sign of that. Therefore, it is the best time to promote domestic consumption of Peruvian coffee excellence. It is necessary to adequately promote this product and to make our coffee a symbol of national pride, the same way that our Pisco is. Promoting domestic consumption we can become better global competitors and be recognized not only by having extensive crops of coffee, but also for having the best.

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3 Comments

# Michael Lukich says :
6 May, 2009 [ 11:24 ]

We used to buy specialty Peruvian coffee at Worldmarket but they (WM) stopped buying it because the price went way up.

So they told me.

# Fernando says :
7 May, 2009 [ 03:45 ]

Dear Michael:
Coffee prices go up and down in markets, but you always can get a good cup of coffee for a reasonable price. Try our coffe lovers program or simply visit our web at www.cafebritt.com. Sure you will find what you are looking for. We deliver.
Regards

# The Truth says :
7 May, 2009 [ 08:34 ]

Fernando:
your wrong. coffee prices do not just go up and down.

What happened is either the Producer, the Importer, or the Distributor jacked the price up to try and get rich today instead of tomorrow. The price became so high that the Retailer does not even want it now because IT WILL NOT SELL at the new price.
 
This has cost them a good market. I wonder if they are moving more coffee now??
Doubt it.

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