Who is the largest customer of coffee from Peru?

When I visited Peru (see my visit report) in July 2009, the Colombian Coffee crisis was just taking hold. With a massive reduction in the Colombian crop last year – which has been followed by a similar deficit this year – Colombian Coffee is in very short supply and consequently prices are continuing to rise. Faced with supply shortages, I heard stories of Colombians crossing the border to buy as much Peruvian coffee as they could find then shipping it to Colombia and rebagging it as Colombian, thus netting a large profit because Colombian coffee fetches a large premium compared with Peru.

After all, who can tell the difference between Colombian and Peruvian coffee?

We know the problem is getting worse and this was highlighted to me on Friday by a coffee trader acquaintance. He said, "the trade knows that this is happening but it has been going on for years". The inference being that most traders don’t seem to care - as long as they make a profit, they are happy.

The good news is that here at Grumpy Mule we CAN tell the difference and we do not accept substandard beans. Our excellent Fairtrade Organic Colombian Equidad has been out of stock for 2 months but it is ‘on the water’ and due in two weeks. We know where it comes from and it tastes great – every bit as good as last year. It is genuine Colombian.

Oh, I almost forgot… Colombia is Peru’s Largest customer…

Ian