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Profile of CEPICAFE in Peru |
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 CEPICAFE is an association of small-scale coffee producers in northern Peru. The 90 grassroots organizations with more than 6,600 producers, located on the western slopes of the Andes Mountains in Piura. This area is blessed with a unique climate and ideal soils for growing coffee.
After years of grassroots work by Arnaldo Neira, Segundo Guerrero and many others, CEPICAFE (Central Piurana de Cafetaleros) was founded on March 26, 1995, with 18 primary-level co-op organizations and 200 members. After seeing the success achieved by implementing ecological technical farming systems and marketing quality coffee, more and more producers began to organize. "Together with our grassroots organizations we work permanently to promote sustainable and fair human development by broadening the capacities and ensuring respect for the rights of small-scale farmers and producers in the highlands of Piura," said Arnaldo Neira Camizán, the president of CEPICAFE.
The region where CEPICAFE members grow coffee is in the highlands of northwest Peru. All of CEPICAFE’s coffee is grown by family units. The average area farmed by members is 1.5 hectares (about four acres). The structure of small property allows them to dedicate all their efforts on the cultivation of coffee without damaging the aside forest and fruit species which serve as shade trees to the coffee and supply an important part of the families’ diets.
Geographically, the area is located on the western flanks of the Andes Mountains, at altitudes ranging from 900 to 1,400 meters above sea level, and lying very close to Ecuadorian border. Politically, the region is part of the Department of Piura. CEPICAFE’s headquarters are in the department’s capital, which goes by the same name. Member grassroots organizations come from three highland provinces in Piura Department: Ayabaca, Morropón and Huancabamba.
 Equal Exchange and CEPICAFE share a very close relationship. Equal Exchange was CEPICAFE’s second international customer, but the the first to offer pre-shipment credit. In 2001, CEPICAFE’s export manager, Santiago Paz, spent three months working from Equal Exchange’s main office, studying English and marketing CEPICAFE’s coffee to other importers. One of the co-ops co-founders, Arnaldo Neira, has visited over 20 West Coast customers of Equal Exchange and has been featured in 10 media stories about those customers and the importance of Fair Trade for CEPICAFE’s members. In November 2006, Beth Ann Caspersen conducted a quality control training for CEPICAFE managers to prepare them for the opening of CEPICAFE’s own beneficio in 2007.
Many of the participants in the 2005 Equal Exchange customer tour to Peru already knew Mr. Neira. In April 2000, he visited our customers in northern California. He returned in September 2004 for a tour of the Pacific Northwest, which resulted in a front page photo (with Grace Cox) in The Olympian newspaper and a TV news spot featuring PC Markets of Choice.
Read about CEPICAFE member Juan Jesus Castillo's tour of the U.S. with Equal Exchange.
Watch a video interview with CEPICAFE's general manager at Equal Exchange's 20th anniversary party.
Read a blog post about CEPICAFE's protest of the Free Trade Agreement.
Download CEPICAFE's brochure: Fair Adventurers: Meet the Makers - A Different Form of Tourism: Alternative and Responsible (PDF)
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