Pedro Garcia Diaz owns 2 hectares of land in the San Francisco village in the district of San Jose del Alto. Pedro grows bourbon,catuai and pache varieties and produces are 30 exportable bags of coffee per year. Since Pedro lives in the city, his family manage his farm, but he spends time there during the harvest season and when they prune and apply fertiliser. Coffee is picked selectively before being fermented for around 36 hours, washed and then placed to dry on tarpaulin mats on the ground, where it dries for two weeks.

San Jose del Alto is an area of Jaen with huge potential for quality coffee. Some of the coffees from this area have a very distinct cup profile, full of complexity and bursting with floral notes. Since the area is slightly isolated, with rather poor roads and being far from the city of Jaen, it has received very little investment both in general and in terms of coffee production. As a result of the lack of investment, many farmers remain un-associated and there isn’t much of a presence from coops or associations, which means the coffee quality, has remained low and intermediaries rule the roost. Whilst this makes it very challenging to work in San Jose del Alto, the quality potential and impact that can be made on producers make it worthwhile and one of the most exciting areas of Peru and Latin America.