Peru: History of Coffee

Located in the Western part of South America, the country of Peru has been growing coffee since the 1700’s. With temperatures ranging from the frosty Andean mountains to the steamy Northern Coastline, this along with other contributors, have hindered the country as a known coffee exporter around the world. According to Statista, in 2017, Peru was the 9^th largest coffee producing country in the world with exporting less than 5 million kilos of green bean. While this doesn’t sound hindered, front runner country Brazil, is exporting 10 times the amount.

Peru made its entry onto the coffee producer’s platform back in the late 1800’s due to the spread of the Hemileia vastatrix disease. Commonly known as “Coffee Rust”, its name speaks for itself, as fungus that causes the coffee leaf to appear with a yellowish, oily spot on the upper leaf surface and a rust colour displaying under leaf. This outbreak destroyed Asia’s coffee industry by hitting Indonesia and other neighbouring countries. Meaning the ever-growing the European coffee trend were forced to source other producers around the world.

Peru’s developing coffee industry rose to new heights, in terms of exporting beans, when European investment enabled growth in the very early 1900’s. This spiked the overall exportation rates in the country and increased coffee to make up 60% of the business, which in hand drove the nation’s economy. This was short lived at the conclusion of both World Wars, which resulted in England selling their land in Peru, which was passed over during the 1900 investment. This land was distributed to local farmers, whom never had marketable industry connections to provide growth and development.

In today’s market, the national coffee market and exportation rates are still in growth, which is assisted by the growth of coffee around the world. With funds received from various organisations and groups, this has allowed Peru to become one of the world’s front runners as a producer of certified organic coffee. 

 

Statista. 2018. Top Coffee Producers 2017. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/277137/world-coffee-production-by-leading-countries/. [Accessed 16 November 2018].

Equal Exchange - Fairly Traded. 2018. History of Coffee in Peru. [ONLINE] Available at: https://equalexchange.coop/history-of-coffee-in-peru. [Accessed 16 November 2018]

Mercanta. 2018. Peru. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.coffeehunter.com/coffee-country/peru/. [Accessed 16 November 2018].

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 2018. Coffee rust. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/coffee-rust. [Accessed 16 November 2018]

 

Photo from: www.mikocoffee.com