Felipe Marin Mirez, La Palma, Peru | Natural MMY-0210

The Marin family—four brothers (Felipe, Joel, Aurelio, and Moises) and their father, Silvestre—grow coffee at 1,850 masl in La Palma, Jaén. Joel bought parcels there in 2021; the family lives locally and hires pickers during harvest. Plantings include Catuai, Marshel, and Geisha, with current holdings of Felipe 3 ha, Joel 3 ha, Aurelio 3 ha, and Silvestre 5 ha. Given the colder, wetter micro-region this season, they rest cherries for about 36 hours before depulping and ferment for a further ~36 hours. They monitor drying with moisture meters and thermometers and, in 2025, installed two mechanical dryers at home to finish parchment to ~11% moisture after an initial spell on raised beds. They fertilise three times per year—mostly organic—and run soil analyses through the Specialty Plus project. With seven years of cultivation, the family has modernised layout and varietal selection compared with previous generations and maintains minimal shade to maximise sun exposure. The family works with Falcon Coffees Peru (FCP) via its Specialty Plus project. FCP, established in 2019, buys parchment directly at the farm gate with quality-differentiated premiums and full financial traceability; since 2022 it has also enabled certified cooperative exports. FCP operates warehouses in Jaén and Moyobamba with a 20+ person team working alongside 500+ farmers and eight cooperatives. It identifies and supports specialty producers through digital baseline surveys (Copera app), training, and agronomy support, and pays premiums above the local price according to delivered cup quality. Specialty Plus has delivered an average +1.32-point score gain to date (peak 88), with 107 producers enrolled.