Together We Thrive: AIV invests in Sanchirio Palomar with a new loan to improve Peruvian coffee offer

Thursday, 30th of April 2026

By Paula Perrelli dos Anjos

In the new Together We Thrive piece, we look at how AIV’s latest loan to the coffee cooperative strengthens a trusted commercial relationship while advancing agroforestry, women’s leadership and environmental performance 

Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV) has closed a new loan with Sanchirio Palomar Cooperative, strengthening a long-standing partnership that blends commercial performance with environmental impact. Based in Pichanaki in Peru’s Junín region, on the eastern slopes of the Andes, the cooperative produces high‑quality organic agroforestry coffee for international markets, with the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe among the main buyers.

Signed in recent weeks, the new credit agreement will support the production, processing and export of coffee grown by Sanchirio’s 630 members, a third of whom are women. All producers have georeferenced plots or polygons in line with EUDR requirements. 

Following the impact-linked loans proposed by AIV, which promote financial incentives tied to environmental and social performance, the cooperative has developed a reforestation programme and will expand it under the new contract. The targets will be that each member:

• For the farmers who have forests inside their productive land, they will sign a conservation agreement to keep these areas free from deforestation.

• Our technical assistance will support them to design a better agroforestry system that will improve carbon capture and promote the use of native tree species. 

  
  

Sanchirio has a track record of promoting agroforestry systems across members’ farms, working with technical partners to ensure sustainable practices and higher productivity. 

The cooperative has also invested in programmes for women. As Verónica López de La Lama, AIV’s Impact and ESG Lead, explains, a dedicated initiative supports 201 women producers who own their land. These farmers receive a premium of eight to ten dollars per quintal (46kg of coffee) as part of a European market programme that rewards women’s ownership and leadership.

The cooperative exports between 35 and 40 containers of green coffee per year, including the varieties Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, and Catimor. One of these is a specialty coffee marketed under the women-led brand Femenino, which is supplied to German supermarket chains such as Lidl and REWE. 

Sanchirio has 179 women members, and they play a central role in decision-making: 70% of the board of directors are women, reflecting a commitment to inclusive rural development.

Commercially, the cooperative has continued to strengthen its market position. Direct export sales have risen from 21% in 2024 to 43% in 2025. Professional management, supported by external specialists, has helped consolidate the organisation’s value proposition, while disciplined cost control and investment in infrastructure are reinforcing competitiveness.

Last month, the AIV team visited the processing plant.

“Sanchirio continues to advance an agroforestry‑based model of coffee production, supporting women producers and promoting gender equality by increasing women’s membership in the cooperative and ownership of their lands ,” said Aldo Soto, Co-Founder and Managing Director of AIV. 

Pajani Singah, Co-Founder and Investment Director of AIV, also attended during his trip to Peru. He added that the new impact‑linked loan will provide essential liquidity for the cooperative to scale up the coffee procurement from local producers, with a dedicated focus on sourcing from women and further championing the Cafe Femenino initiative.

“We work well together, and with three loans already completed, this is clearly a successful partnership.”

---

#ImpactInvestment #Agroforestry #SustainableFinance #PeruCoffee #WomenInAgriculture #ClimateFinance #ImpactLinkedFinance