LAS CANTUTAS WOMEN’S COFFEE
Empowering women Coffee farmers in Peru
It all started when…
Women have always been central to growing, harvesting and production of coffee. Yet deep-rooted social, economic and societal traditions in many countries where coffee grows often keeps these women trapped in a cycle of gender discrimination and poverty.
Working with our importer partner RGC Coffee in Quebec, we support the Las Cantutas Women's Coffee Project as they create a new narrative of inclusion and recognition in the coffee industry.
Las Cantutas Women’s Coffee Project is a gender equity program comprised of women farmers from three producer groups in Peru — La Flor del Café, Valle Verde and Lagunas de los Condores.
The program is creating meaningful change in the lives of women coffee farmers by creating and facilitating projects centered around economic empowerment, social recognition, and coffee quality improvements based on RGC's 3E supply chain project called Las Cantutas Women’s Coffee.
RGC's Las Cantutas Women’s Coffee has three main pillars of impact:
Economic empowerment: Direct payments, cash premiums and more than 44 individual lines of credit have allowed the women to purchase seeds, fertilizers and other farming necessities in 2021 alone.
Social recognition: The women of Cantutas are recognized for their entrepreneurial success and leadership in the coffee industry. With this recognition, women are able to receive an education, advocate for their rights and enjoy safer homes and communities.
Quality and productivity: Agronomy classes, wet mill systems, solar drying systems, fermentation tanks and financial literacy are a few of the quality and productivity improvement projects undertaken since 2021.
Our work with the women of Las Cantutas through partnership with RGC Coffee is the backbone of our mission of empowering women of coffee. By supporting programs like Las Cantutas, we are promoting gender equity, community prosperity and socioeconomic empowerment in coffee communities.
COFFEE INFORMATION
Region: Luya and Rodriguez de Mendoza, Amazonas, Peru
Varieties/Cultivars: Caturra, Bourbon, Pache, Catimore, Catuai
Altitude: 1,400 - 2,200 masl
Production: 13,151 bags a year
Flavor Notes: Balanced, juicy cocoa-forward coffee with intense sweetness
