Ecotribal has been importing tons of green Ashaninka coffee beans from Peru to Tilbury docks for four years. 

In May last year we formed a new company, Ecotribal Coffee Limited, to take over trading in green coffee beans from the Ashaninka in Peru. The 2009 harvest was selected by Carlos Montenegro (Peruvian Anthropologist and Manager of Ecotribal Peru) in July this year. This is our fourth year working directly with SANCORE, a new Association of Ashaninka Coffee Producers with around thirty small-producer members. The coffee plants grow in the shade of forest canopy on the upper slopes (800-1200m above sea level) of the Perene Valley in the central Peruivian Amazon region.

In 2009, we also bought some sacks of coffee from the Cutivireni Ashaninka community, deeper into the rainforest, on the lower slopes of the Vilcabamba mountains, a foothill of the Andes which stretches from Machu Picchu deep into Ashaninka territory and rising up to around 10,000ft above sea level. The higher parts of these mountains form the Otishi National Park, created in 2002 to protect its unique and highly biodiverse flora and fauna. An Ashaninka Communla Reserve and the titled Ashaninka communities, like Cutivireni, form a buffer for the National Park against loggers and agri-development.

The beans have been grown to organic standards but the scale of import (2 tons this year) is still too small to cover the costs of the organic certification process. We are, however, working closely on this and Fair Trade certification with SANCORE.

The purchase price paid directly to the coffee producers by Ecotribal was above market and Fair Trade prices.  We have a long term working relationship and continue to arrange technical workshops in the field and assist with study visits to best practice examples in Peru.

Prices per kilo start at £15 (or £125 for a box of 10 x 1kg vacuum sealed bags).