Involving Young People in Coffee
Young people from most coffee-producing regions are leaving their communities, migrating to cities and even other countries in search of professional and economic opportunity. However, as farmer cooperatives develop their business acumen, 28-year-old Eber Tocto from the town of Chirinos in San Ignacio, Peru, discovered professional opportunity within the specialty coffee industry right in his hometown.
It was not always clear that Eber could earn a satisfying living in Chirinos. At the age of 18, he left his family's coffee farm to find a paying job. He eventually got a job working for a large coffee cooperative in a larger, more central city. One day, Eber was invited to participate in a coffee "cupping," or quality assessment.
Recognizing the need for local people with coffee quality management skills, Eber took the initiative to learn the art of cupping. He practiced and practiced, learning from those around him and from Sustainable Harvest’s staff. In 2007, his hometown Chirinos cooperative, where his father was a member, offered him the position of quality control manager and created their own cupping lab. The co-op lab was not well outfitted, but Eber worked diligently with the Sustainable Harvest staff in Peru—frequently traveling three hours to the town of San Ignacio as well as all the way to Lima to attend training courses—to hone his skills.
Today, Eber is one of the most influential cuppers in the San Ignacio area. Last year, he had the opportunity to travel to the United States, representing the Chirinos Cooperative in a visit to their largest roaster customer. In turn, visits from roasters to San Ignacio have provided Eber the chance to cup side by side with experts and develop a common language of taste with Chirinos’ buyers. In 2009, Eber earned the highest professional certification available to cuppers by becoming a Q Grader.
As he gains knowledge of coffee quality, Eber is able to continue training other young people in San Ignacio who also hope to stay involved in the coffee industry. Returning to his roots, he also owns a 1.5 hectare coffee farm near town.