We are stoked to be releasing our eighth harvest of Rutas del Inca — an organic coffee that has a special parallel to our growth as a company. In January 2015, a sample from this tiny cooperative happened to be the first we ever tried as a coffee roasting business, and then the first that we ever purchased. Every year since we’ve anticipated the Rutas arrival like it’s Christmas morning. The coffee is great, but this is about so much more — it’s about two businesses, worlds apart, being inextricably connected by gratitude for one another, an appreciation of a craft that bookends this supply chain. Rutas del Inca is headquartered in the Querocoto District of the Chota Province in Cajamarca, Peru. Rutas del Inca was founded on October 26, 2013, with just 33 members. The cooperative exported its first crop in 2014, cementing itself as a quality-focused, organic-certified producer. Currently the cooperative has 258 members—30 women and 228 men—throughout 27 communities in the Querocoto, Huambos and Querocotillo Districts. The cooperative is working on improving coffee plantations, increasing production, quality control, application of good agricultural practices, and environmental conservation to better its overall quality. Additionally, cooperative members manage Typica, Caturra, Paches, and Bourbon varietals, with the goal of generating sustainable development for associated smallholder farmers and their communities. The cooperative supports members with fertilizers, drying tents, fermentation tanks, depulping machines, and small irrigation systems as a part of a rotating seed fund. This is an accessible way for members to make investments at the farm level!