In 2008, Rainer Bussmann, Director of the William L. Brown Center & Curator for Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden and Tim Drescher, owner of St. Louis small batch artisan roaster, Kuva Coffee Company, connected to bring an extraordinary and rare direct relationship coffee to the St. Louis market.
While on a trip for medicinal plants in northern Peru, Rainer Bussmann was introduced to a small village in the spectacular Huayabamba cloud forest in the Chilchos valley of Peru that produced the highest quality 100% pure Arabica Coffee. The Chilchos valley is an isolated region, accessible only by mule trail and a two day journey and is refuge for a large number of plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. The inhabitants of this valley have tremendous respect for their beautiful and fragile natural ecosystem and have lived in harmony with the ecosystem for hundreds of years. Conservation coffee farmers of the Chichos valley have worked meticulously to develop the highest quality Arabica coffee bean without the use of chemicals or artificial fertilizers, thus protecting flora and fauna.
Kuva Coffee Company and the William L. Brown Center at Missouri Botanical Garden, along with INBIA Peru, a Peruvian NGO, have collaborated to form the Chachapoya Biocommunity Network and set up the Huyabamba Conservation Corridor. Within this corridor, small producers grow high quality conservation coffee and cocoa. Tim Drescher pays a premium above world market rate for raw Peru Chilchos bean and gives 10% of his profits back to support these conservation efforts. Because small individual family farmers earn a rate above world market value, they are able to produce less which limits stress on the environment. The approach markedly improves the farmers’ economic situation as it helps to preserve the regions flora and fauna.
Cafe Peru Chilchos is an environmentally and economically sustainable coffee grown under shade, without artificial fertilizers or chemicals on small individual family farms, thus maintaining the cultural identity of farmers. Benefits are equally distributed to improve health, education and community relations while guaranteeing a responsible use of resources and conservation of the fragile and fascinating cloud forest environment. Join us in the enjoyment of this extraordinary coffee! Thank you for supporting Conservation Coffee and the community of Chilchos valley, Peru. Cafe Peru Chilchos is available at the following St. Louis locations – Missouri Botanical Garden Garden Gate Shop, Whole Foods Market Galleria, Whole Foods Market Town & Country, Local Harvest Grocery Morgan Ford, Local Harvest Grocery Kirkwood, Straubs Market Clayton, Straubs Market Webster Groves, Nutrition Stop – St. Peters, Tower Grove Farmer’s Market, State Street Market – Alton, IL, Gustine Market & Parker’s Table at Oakland & Yale.
Please visit us at www.kuvacoffee.com and www.facebook.com/kuvacoffee.