The Guerrero Family

Jeane, her mother Salomé, her father Gabriel, and her brothers Cododac, Zein, and Miguel live just a short drive from the city of Jaén, Peru.

Every day, the Guerrero family works hard together to improve their lot in life, the quality of life on the farm, and the lives of those around them and in their community.

Sipping a fresh roast of "farmer style" coffee is an amazing way to start the day— especially while overlooking the valley below from up on the ridge where the Guerrero home sits. Walk behind the Guerrero home and you’ll find their homemade DIY-constructed solar dryer, which helps them more precisely control the drying process for their coffee.

A short yet steep path down the mountain slope then leads to their coffee germination station, plant nursery, and vermiculture or “worm” composter. This composter is where they source most of their organic fertilizer for the coffee plants on the farm throughout the year.

The Guerreros enrich their land and coffee organically, using only Peruvian seabird guano along with their own on-site vermiculture compost multiple times a year. This ensures that the plants and soil are only benefitting from inputs that are guaranteed 100% organic. We can attest for the tasty results from these organic practices: everything thriving in the soil on the Guerrero’s farm, including the coffee, grows with an intense vigor and bursts forth with wonderful force and flavor.

To get to the exact place where this delicious coffee grows, one must take a short 30- to 45-minute hike from the house to the farm portion of the property, which the family calls “Guayaquil.” Guayaquil spans over 7 acres of rough and dense terrain, split into two halves by the nearby creek "El Manantial".

During our visit with the Guerreros, we hiked with Jeane, Cododac and Gabriel over the entire farm, learning all about the land’s history. We were also introduced to Jeane's favorite spot on the whole property: the bamboo forest and future location for the family's "model farm". Throughout the acreage, intermingled with both bamboo and coffee alike, one can find a scattered variety of fruiting plants and trees. These help give shade for the coffee as well as food for the Guererro family, while also providing for wildlife that can be found on their farm, too.

The Guerreros are only one farming family we partner with to bring specialty coffee from Peru all the way to coffee lovers all over the US in turn. All the Guerreros are passionate about their farm and the organic specialty coffee they produce. Each of them work very closely together as a family, putting in enormous efforts to support their bountiful, high quality production while focusing solely on organic and sustainable practices.

The Guerreros especially love to learn and innovate on how they can best manage each individual coffee varietal. Together, they are always pursuing the best and highest quality beans they can possibly produce.

We’ve truly enjoyed our visits to the farm and spending time with Jeane and family. Jeane is a wonderful host every time, and between her, Cododac, Gabriel, and the ever so sweet Salomé, we leave feeling like we’re part of the family (and, as always, full of food!)

We love where our relationship with the Guerreros is taking us. Like we do with all our beloved coffee producers, we can't wait to return there again.

30% of the profits made from the Guerrero's coffee goes directly into their pockets and their community.

Shop now to see what the Guerreros and Peru have to offer.

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The finca

Location

San Ignacio, Cajamarca, Peru

Elevation

5741 ft. (1750 meters)

Size

7.4 acres (3 hectares)

Certifications

Organic, Fairtrade

Varietals

Bourbon, Catimor, Caturra, Pache, Typica

Processes

Washed, natural

An interview with Jeane

What generation coffee farmers are you?

Family: Second and third generation.

How many years have you been producing coffee?

Jeane: Since 2015 professionally, but all my life.

How did you acquire your farm?

Jeane: I purchased it.

How does it feel being a female producer?

Jeane, Cododac: I feel proud. It makes us independent, equal and empowered. It shows that we have no restrictions on what we can do and we put our mark on the world.

What plans do you have for your farm?

Jeane: In the back of our farm we want to build our "model farm" with better quality plants and management.

What is the hardest part about growing coffee?

Cododac: Raising and planting new coffee plants and harvesting.

What challenges do you face?

Jeane: It is easy to go backwards if you don't have a good economic situation. If the plants become sick and we don't have money available in that moment to fix them we lose our harvest.

What challenges does your community face?

Jeane: Many producers do not know what their farms need, like nutrients. We invest in things that may not have a return.

Do you hire workers to help with the harvest?

Jeane: Sometimes, but mostly it is our family. It takes us around 15 days to pick the coffee cherries each harvest.

Do you produce anything else on your farm?

Family: We have other produce on our farm but we grow it for us or leave it for the animals. We grow cacao, bananas, yucca, noni, avocado, oranges, mandarines, guava, soursop, pajuro (beans), narangjias, mangos, granadilla, and others.

If you had the chance to invest or improve something for your farm or family what would it be?

Cododac: We want to learn how to manage the different varietals of coffee better. We have many varietals, but want to understand the needs of each one to produce better coffee.

What makes you feel the most proud about being a producer of coffee?

Family: The quality of coffee we produce. The conservation of the environment and adhering to organic processes.

What would you like to say to the people drinking your coffee?

Jeane, Cododac: I want to say that we have coffee that is organic, it is of quality. That for us, coffee unites people and makes friends. Coffee keeps our family very close, we all work hard together to support all aspects of the farm.

Sustainable organic practices are important to the Guerreros. Their worm composter makes short work of organic materials which they use to supplement their coffee plants.

A mixture of purchased high grade seeds and specially selected seeds from the coffee plants on the Guerrero farm grow under the shade of banana leaves picked from nearby.

Gabriel and Cododac stopping for a photo-op on the trail up to the farm. Anything too heavy to haul by hand such as hundreds of pounds of bird guano fertilizer or their worm compost is carried by donkey.

Jeane showed us the bamboo forest "Guayaquil" which the farm is named after. A beautiful section of her farm filled with hundreds of giant bamboo shoots. Nearby is the area designated for the new "model farm" project.

We brought back a few cherries from our hike to compare sugar levels. After a little calibration we were ready to go. With this little device the family can collect more data to determine the best time to harvest.

Action shot! Harvesting the ripe cherries takes days for the family and will be done two or three times in a short period. Tall coffee plants such as the typica require special tools to harvest (or jumping and grabbing!) the cherries.

Jeane and her family were incredibly open and welcoming. Their farm brings their family together and gives them a common goal to work towards. They are a model family and we're so happy they are a part of our lives now.

30% of the profits made from the Guerrero's coffee goes directly into their pockets and their community.

Shop the Guerrero's coffee