Coffee co-operatives in Peru have reported an increase in the value of their market share of coffee exports over the half year period from January to June 2019.
According to government figures, of the total US$118m (£97.3m) generated from coffee exports in the first half of the year, $37.5m (£31m) was generated by 78 small producer businesses. This equates to 32% of overall export value, which stood at 27% for co-ops in 2018.
“So far this year, our co-operatives have exported 26,400 tonnes of coffee with an average FOB (free on board) price of US$14.2 (£11.70) per tonne, while private companies exported 70,750 tonnes at US$11.37 (£9.38) per tonne. The price difference is due to the export of specialty coffees, both organic and fair trade,” said Tomás Córdova, president of the Junta Nacional del Café (JNC) – Peru’s national coffee board.
“Twenty years ago co-ops were barely participating, with 4% of exports,” he continued. “The JNC has promoted the development of co-operatives as part of its commitment to strengthen the country’s coffee industry.”
Mr Córdova, pointed out that, in addition to export growth, co-operatives have made significant investments in quality infrastructure, training and increased productivity, which have improved their position in the market, especially longer standing co-ops.
He estimates that this year, coffee exports could amount to $650m (£536m), if 530,000 tonnes of green coffee are shipped, which is 5% decrease compared to production in 2018.
