Though it was formed in 1977, the Pangoa Co-operative has seen a lot of different troubles. Originally producing coffee for the commodity market, the co-operative swelled quickly to nearly 1,700 members, though membership declined quickly through the 1980s as a guerrilla group known as the Shining Path started a socio-political movement through the countryside that began a civil war. Many families fled the countryside hoping to find safety in the larger cities, and coffee farmland was in decline. When the leader of the Shining Path was captured in 1991, their activity declined and coffee farming began to stabilize again. Pangoa achieved Fair-Trade and Organic certifications, and began new initiatives to achieve quality-focused and sustainable initiatives.

Pangoa is led by Esperanza Dionisio Castillo. For 20 years, Esperanza has represented Pangoa as a leading voice with the cooperative. After observing her father socializing with other farmers as a kid, Esperanza traveled to Peru to study agronomy. With her new degree, she began working as a technician on various farms, but quickly realized that farmers weren’t being respected for the work they did, or the quality they represented. She immediately started new programs to connect farmers in the co-operative to quality focused buyers.

This coffee comes from the San Juan Pueblo Nuevo community, where six small farms have collected their coffee together through Pangoa. These lots showcase sweetness, clarity, and complex flavors that represent all six different farmers’ processing.