Peru — Amazonas / JUMARP El Palto

Coffee Profile

Origin Details

The Terroir

Sown in the Clouds

The Amazonas region of northern Peru sits at the dramatic intersection of two of the world’s most powerful ecosystems — the high Andes and the Amazon basin. The result is a growing environment unlike anywhere else on earth: steep mountain slopes perpetually wrapped in cloud cover, saturated with humidity from the primary tropical rainforest below.

Coffee growing beneath native Guaba and Cedro canopy in the Amazonian Andes — the shade-grown agroforestry model that preserves wildlife corridors, prevents soil erosion, and replaces chemical inputs with natural forest compost.

The Founding Story

35 Farmers. One Decision. A Movement.

In 2003, 35 smallholder farmers in the Amazonas region made a decision that would change their community forever. Rather than continuing to sell their coffee through exploitative middlemen who captured most of the value, they organized — forming the Asociación de Productores Cafetaleros Juan Marco El Palto, known simply as JUMARP or El Palto.

From 35 founding members, JUMARP has grown to 189 active members farming approximately 550 hectares of certified organic and Fair Trade coffee. The Amazonas region had historically suffered from destructive slash-and-burn agriculture. JUMARP’s agroforestry model — shade-grown coffee beneath native Guaba and Cedro jungle canopy — became a direct answer to that destruction, turning coffee farming into an act of environmental stewardship.

The Mujeres Program

Cupping Equality

Historically in rural Peru, women performed the most intense farm labor — weeding, harvesting, and sorting — but were largely excluded from financial decisions, land ownership, and cooperative management. JUMARP’s dedicated Mujeres (Women) Program was built to break this cycle entirely.

The Harvest

Minga — The Ancient Art of Collective Harvest

The Minga harvest in Amazonas — groups of 5 to 10 neighboring families gather to harvest each other’s steep mountain plots in turn, transforming the harvest season into a community-wide celebration.

In the Amazonas culture, farmers practice an ancient Andean tradition called Minga — a system of communal, reciprocal labor that transforms the harvest season into a community-wide celebration. Because these smallholder plots average under 3 hectares per family, hiring commercial harvest crews is too expensive and logistically impossible on steep mountain terrain.

After harvesting, cherries are hand-sorted and sometimes floated to remove underweights. Each family pulps their own cherries on-farm, then ferments in a tank for 18 to 40 hours — longer at higher altitudes where cooler air slows the process. After washing in clean water, parchment dries on parabolic beds for up to 15 days, turned regularly for even drying.

The Process

From Cherry to Parchment

Parabolic drying beds in the Amazonian Andes — parchment coffee dries for up to 15 days, turned regularly to ensure even moisture reduction in the humid mountain air.

The Varietals

Four Varieties. One Harmonious Cup.

The El Palto flavor profile is built on four distinct Arabica varieties — two heritage varieties that define the cup’s elegance, and two resilient modern varieties that protect the crop and anchor the body.

Certifications & Impact

Environmental Guardians of the Rainforest

JUMARP was founded with the explicit mission to prove that coffee could be grown in harmony with the rainforest — not at its expense. Every hectare under production reflects that commitment.