Peru’s APAVAM in Alto Mayo Wins National Business Award
Posted by Winston on 19 May 2008 at 11:25 am | Tagged as: Fair Trade
The Association of Farmers from the Alto Mayo Valley (APAVAM) – won a 2007 Peruvian Business of the Year award. The prizes are awarded by the Business of the Year organization, a non-profit that strives to stimulate healthy competition among Peruvian businesses. APAVAM won the award for best coffee producer in the Alto Mayo region of San Martin, Peru (Map). The prize recognized APAVAM’s efforts to improve the quality and reputation of coffees from the region, as well as its solid business management. We buy their coffee to use sometimes as the base for the Fair Trade Seasonals line.
Winning the award was a milestone in APAVAM’s history. Two years ago, the co-op separated from a government administered project for coffee cooperatives in Alto Mayo, and ever since, government officials have criticized the cooperative for its autonomy. This prize is the first time since the co-op left the government project that APAVAM has been recognized in the national sphere for its organizational strengths and quality coffee.
Located in the Valle Alto Mayo, in the northwestern province of San Martín, the farmers of APAVAM live in a region of political and environmental turmoil. Following the construction of a local highway in 1985, the area was wrought with narcotics trafficking, guerrillas and indiscriminate destruction of virgin rain forest. Many local farmers replaced their coffee fields with coca crops. APAVAM was established as a USAID project in 1996 and was turned over to the farmer members in 2000.
Although the coop has shrunk a little since then, it has a solid base of 250 farmers and great leadership from their manager Heine Davila. (Pictured accepting the award on behalf of the coop). Last year, they produced 6 containers, which is about 225,000 pounds of green coffee, which makes them about the size of our good friends the La Trinidad Coop in Southern Oaxaca, Mexico. (Map)
Some of APAVAM’s coffee can be found in our Fair Trade Organic Peruvian Select.
Some or all of this copy comes to us courtesy of our good friends at Sustainable Harvest whose mission is to improve farmers’ lives by creating a transparent and sustainable coffee supply chain, ensuring that quality coffees are sourced from the finest producers and that coffee arrives reliably in its highest quality state to preeminent coffee roasters.