Peru Eduardo Llano Linares Pache

Eduardo Llanos is a coffee producer by both heritage and deep-seated conviction. He mastered the craft from his father, spending his childhood and youth amidst the coffee trees. Today, he carries that family tradition forward, cultivating coffee with profound dedication and pride. It is through this harvest that he sustains his family; for Eduardo, coffee represents not only his primary source of livelihood but also a multi generational legacy that remains vibrant in every bean he produces. His farm El Roble (name of a native tree of the area that can be easily found within the farm) is located in the district of Querocoto.

Querocoto is a remote and unique district located in the Cajamarca's Chota province. To reach Querocoto, you first fly into the city of Chiclayo, then drive five hours via paved road to the town center. Despite being only a few hours away from the renowned coffee-growing province of Jaén, the people, land, and climate of Querocoto are
remarkably different. Historically, Querocoto was not dedicated to coffee production. Its main economic activity was cattle ranching, supported by vast expanses of
pasture land and a cold climate typical of its average altitude of 2,300 meters above sea level.

In the 1990s, many locals began migrating seasonally to Jaén and San Ignacio to work as harvesters on coffee farms. In the early 2000s, some of them brought coffee seeds back to Chota to test whether the plants could grow at its high altitude with its soil composition. It was a success: coffee adapted perfectly to its new environment. Producers in the area have always shown deep respect for the land and its native flora, seeking to cultivate an ecosystem in which local plants coexist with coffee production. A notable example is the use of the native quina tree for shade. The quina tree may be the most important tree in Peru, so important that it appears on the National Coat of Arms. Native to the high Andean regions and known since Inca times, its bark was originally used to make alcoholic beverages (yonque). In the 17th century, French scientists discovered that quinine, then the only effective treatment for malaria, could be extracted from this tree. For centuries,
quina populated large areas of Peru; however, the massive introduction of foreign species, such as eucalyptus, and indiscriminate logging pushed it toward extinction. Today, Querocoto is one of the few places in Peru where quina trees still thrive, coexisting in perfect synergy with coffee plants by providing shade and organic matter.