At the new Café Selva Norte (CSN) Mill in Jaen Peru, 8 complete export lots have already been processed for clients such as Origin Coffee Lab SAC, Falcon, Valle Verde, Coop Aroma Del Valle and Finca la Reserva. It’s with great excitement that we share the successful realization of this project. We are dedicating the content of this article to answer questions concerning the CSN Mill.
Q&A with Wilder Maluquiz - Café Selva Norte’s General Manager
When were the initial plans for the dry mill drafted and how long did it take to build it?
The initial plans for the mill were drafted in 2019 with the purchase of the land and its conditioning. The land had a lot of hard slopes we had to even out. The year following the launch of the project, we were hit by the global pandemic. The pandemic slowed down the operations, resulting in the completion of the mill spanning over the course of two and a half years.
How will the mill benefit small coffee producers?
This dry mill was built for coffee cooperatives that collect coffee from small producers. The mill allows small producers to have access to better processing equipment, resulting in higher quality and improved traceability. The location of the mill is also a great advantage as it is much closer to the producers than other available milling facilities that are located in the coastal areas of Peru, thus reducing transportation costs and GHG. Having a reliable plant close to the production zone will help producers’ coffee to arrive in the agreed-upon form and on time.
How much will the mill be able to process each month?
The mill runs 2 lines, one for high volume processing and one focused on microlots with the ability to handle special preparation such as honey and natural coffees which is quite new in the area. The mill has a capacity of 8 tons per hour with the mixed line. In the single line for microlots, we can go up to 2.5 tons per hour. In total, the mill will process 75 to 80 containers for the first few months of operation.
Is the mill open to process other coffees outside the alliance of cooperatives?
Yes. The purpose is to reinforce the value chain and have new beneficiaries. For that, we must attend to organizations outside of the alliance. The mill will operate as a service provider as the cooperatives themselves will remain the coffee exporters.
When will all of the contracted coffees through Elevafinca be processed through this mill? Is there going to be a way to certify or identify where the coffee was dry-milled, perhaps a notation on the contract?
All coffees contracted through ElevaFinca will be processed in the new mill with the exception of Rainforest and C.A.F.E. Practices certified coffees for now. We are in the certification process and we will let you know as soon as we better know when they will be available. If it is of interest to you, a clause could be added within the contract for the use of the new mill. All the proofs would be sent at the moment of processing the coffee in the mill.
How can someone make a request for the Mills’ services?
If you require our mill services either from an ElevaFinca contract or from any contract you have directly with a cooperative in Peru (Cajamarca, Amazonas), please contact ElevaFinca so that we can help you.
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