Category: Latin America

Rutas del Inca Agricultural Cooperative, was founded on November 14th, 2013, with 33 members located in the district of Querocoto, in the Cajamarca region, Peru.

In 2014, the cooperative achieved Organic certification and its first export of 60 qq to Sustainable Harvest. In 2015, the cooperative became Fairtrade certified.

A year later, in 2016, Rutas del Inca won the prize for best and youngest company of the year, an award given during Let’s Talk Coffee in Puerto Vallarta-Mexico. Currently, Rutas del Inca has 275 members, organized in 9 bases.

Rutas del Inca has started a project of development with Progreso since 2018, based on an organizational assessement to identify main points of improvement. Rutas del Inca has started with the implementation of a revolving fund to provide microloans to its members for the maintenance of coffee plantations (mainly inputs). In technical assistance, the organization has established an annual operational plan for the trainings in the field, for internal audits of the Organic and Fairtrade certification process and the harvesting plan.

In access to market, the organization with the support of Progreso participated in the SCAE fair – Europe and contacted new clients. The services to their members such as training of the members have increased, however with the establishment of the rotating fund, this will improve further.

Rutas del Inca does not have an up to date longterm plan, and have not set their next development steps within the organization. This activity is part of the project supported by Progreso.

Strategic planning that includes access to market and setting up alliances with other organizations such as the government and other coffee cooperatives, will be of importance for the further development of Rutas del Inca.