Café Compadre

Café Compadre’s solution produces “green” roast coffee that is processed with renewable energy sources.

Winner 2016
Food Security Peru
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Key Facts

  • Café Compadre installed a production station in a coffee community to enable farmers to operate sustainably.
  • Compadre buys coffee from local farmers at a price 25-35% higher than they’d get a local market.
  • Compadre’s roasting machinery is solar powered since gas and electricity are not available in the area.
  • Based on their experience, coffee farmers receive less than 10% of the final value of a roasted coffee bag despite executing most of the production processes.
  • Compadre wants small agriculture to be sustainable, with rural communities having better access to opportunities.
This solar roaster reflects and concentrates sunlight in a single point - right where the coffee beans are.

Key Features

Café Compadre seeks to improve growth opportunities for coffee farmers through a business model that encourages decentralized production based on renewable energy sources. The social enterprise wants coffee communities to be sustainable thanks to their own production of “green” roasted coffee. Compadre installed a production station in the same community where the coffee is grown. In the harvest season, Compadre buys coffee from local farmers at a price that is over what the local market offers (between 25 to 35% more). Throughout the year, they go to the station to process the coffee (peel, select, and roast) and they send it to Lima. Thanks to this work, farmers have extra income that helps them with their day-to-day expenses. Compadre uses a Scheffler solar concentrator and a roasting drum developed by members of our team. This solar roaster works thanks to the reflection and concentration of sunlight in a single point (located where the roasting drum and coffee beans are). Without this technology, it would not only be expensive but impossible to roast coffee in the production station since gas and electricity are not available in the area.

Social Impact

The price coffee farmers get for their product hasn’t changed in many years, even though the cost of living has increased. Coffee farmers receive less than 10% of the final value of a roasted coffee bag despite executing most of the production processes. The initiatives that aim to improve this situation, like certifications, aren’t enough since the extra payment is very low and doesn’t add up to make any real impact for the farmers. In fact, all of these issues make coffee farming unsustainable for the farmers.

Café Compadre wants small agriculture to be sustainable and allow rural communities to have access to better opportunities without needing to leave their land and migrate to big cities.

Currently, there are no initiatives that involve the coffee farmer in processes inside the coffee value chain where renewable energy sources are used. Compadre has been able to create, in a short time, a strong brand in the local market with a clear differentiator due to its technological development and its business model. The involvement of farmers in more processes inside the value chain makes Café Compadre’s added value unique, and people are willing to pay a fair price for it.

Future Plans

In 2020, Compadre focused on sales, marketing and brand growth, and has also improved quality and consistency, so it can be prepared for a bigger operation. This year, the team couldn’t roast coffee with its technology but they are developing a new solar roaster for bigger production, so that next year they can work with more farming families. Compadre is planning to work with communities in Cusco and will continue the work with the ones in Satipo.

Main Target Group

Café Compadre sells roasted coffee to customers that want to make a social and environmental impact without making a big effort. Currently, they handle two sales channels: B2B and B2C. With B2B, their main clients are companies that offer coffee to their employees and collaborators, as well as coworking spaces, restaurants, coffee shops, and companies that use our coffee to add value to their products. Their B2C customers arrive through our website, social media, monthly subscription program, office, or retail selling points.

Main User

The direct beneficiaries are the farming families. These families will receive a fair payment for their “green” coffee and will also receive an extra payment for each kilogram of coffee they process. There are more than 220,000 families in Peru who are small coffee producers, and they could all be benefiting from our model.

Price (in USD)

n/a

© Café Compadre
© Café Compadre
© Café Compadre
© Café Compadre
© Café Compadre
© Café Compadre
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Café Compadre
Café Compadre

Café Compadre Jose Uechi, CEO compadre.pe
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Profile last edited on: May 25, 2021