Mishagro
Mishagro: Coffee Producer based in Peru
Tucked away within the “green cloak” of Peru’s central jungle, encompassing the Chanchamayo, Satipo and Oxapampa provinces, members of the Cooperativa Agraria Agroindustrial Mishagro (Mishagro) co-operative work responsibly and respectfully towards the common goal of leading the production of special and certified coffee in the region.
Founded in 2018 with the purpose of improving the livelihoods of local smallholder farmers, Mishagro has since expanded substantially after obtaining Fairtrade and organic certification. This has enabled them to increase sales and export volumes and begin paying higher prices to farmers for their crop.
Today, Mishagro comprises 188 producers, with women accounting for 57% of their workforce. On average, members farm 551 hectares of land situated within the protected forests of San Matías, San Carlos and Pui Pui, each of which create the unique microclimates that benefit the production of Arabica coffee in the area.
Image: Customer Representative Santiago Ramos and Flor Jines Saquicoray, Founder and Board President of Mishagro.
The Impact of your Ethical Investment
Mishagro takes its name from a local. legend. As the story goes, a celebrated indigenous man in the area had a pet that loved to eat coffee grains. The animal "expelled" these grains around the fire one night, and the subsequent aroma enchanted this individual in such a way that he was encouraged to cultivate coffee and became a dedicated coffee drinker. The pet's name was “Mishagro”.
This high quality coffee, passed through generations, has now captured the interests of buyers throughout international markets, resulting in an expanding sales volume and a growing opportunity for farmer members to improve their livelihoods. Mishagro became a Shared Interest customer in 2023, when they received finance to provide pre-harvest payments to members, enabling the farmers to receive payment for their crops all year round.
Flor Jines Saquicoray is a founding member and Board President of Mishagro. After completing a degree in Food Industries Engineering at a local university, Flor has acquired over a decade of experience in the coffee sector. She told us:
“With the financing line, which is a considerable amount, it helps us to buy coffee from our producers for several contracts. It is enough for five or six contracts and gives you a good support to be able to stockpile, if we didn't have it we wouldn't be able to buy the coffee as has happened in previous years.
"The impact on the campaign is important, it has helped us to generate profits and at the end of the year to be able to give them their fertiliser so that they can continue to fertilise their farms. I think it has had a strong impact. Before, not all the members used to fertilise their farms. For example, if they used to deliver 15 bags of coffee, now they will be able to deliver 22 bags of higher quality coffee.
"We are still a young co-operative that has been growing thanks to the commitment we all have wherever we are. We as directors have managed with transparency, sincerity, explaining to the member about the contract, the commercialisation of the coffee, the time in which it arrives at its destination so that they commit to our role as directors. There has to be a union as a family, we have to fight for our product to have a better value, a better price and this has been demonstrated."
A Legendary Heritage and Bright Future
In late 2020, Mishagro obtained approval for a government grant. Led by the Ministry of Agriculture, this grant aims to improve the yields and quality of coffee through the implementation of specialised technical assistance, infrastructure and equipment, as well as the development of efficient production, collection and marketing systems for pre-harvest processing.
This initiative supports the co-operative’s overarching interests to promote training and technical support to their producers as a means of increasing yields-per-hectare, resulting in the growth of production and additional income, many of whom rely on coffee as their sole source of income.
Coffee farmer Arnold Leon, said:
"My mother and I have chosen to belong to Mishagro because it is a calm, honest organisation and you can feel the support for the farmer. There is technical support, they see what the coffee plant needs. We like it very much because they not only see for the organisation but also for all the members and so the organisation also grows.
Mishagro has helped us to have better machinery and good fertilisation. I feel that we are improving and that encourages us to continue producing and to renew the plants that are already reaching the end of their life span. This makes the farmer feel motivated to excel."
Ultimately, empowering co-operatives like Mishagro means championing long-term, ethical trade relationships and principles of sustainability and equality that directly supports the well-being of smallholder coffee producers and their communities in Peru.
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