Together We Thrive: Rebuilding Trust and Market Access in Peru
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- 2 min read
Wednesday, 19th August 2026
By Paula Perrelli dos Anjos
In the central rainforest of Peru, above 1,500 metres, Tropical Products Cooperative grows organic coffee for years. The cooperative has 117 members (82 men and 35 women) who also produce small batches of honey and pineapple to diversify their income streams in Pichanaki, Junín.
In 2023, a middleman defrauded the cooperative, leaving it unpaid for exported coffee, draining liquidity and pushing the organisation into severe default. For a small cooperative with lean structure, members feared the worst - the collapse of their organisation and the loss of income.
Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV) intervened with a patient, problem‑solving approach. Rather than treating the debt as a dead end, AIV worked to understand the full context of the fraud case and identify a path forward. AIV’s Co-founders, Aldo Soto and Pajani Singah, travelled to the cooperative in person and arranged a visit from Scanomat, the Danish coffee-machine manufacturer that was the intended final buyer, to help negotiate a resolution.
Scanomat is a Danish company that is known for an initiative called “Impact Trade” in which they guarantee fair compensation and direct investment in farming communities. This connection changed everything.
“Tropical deserved to be paid fairly,” said Soto.
With AIV’s financial support, Tropical Products completed two direct shipments to Scanomat, one in late 2025 and another in early 2026. The proceeds allowed the cooperative to re-enter the coffee market, secure better margins and fully repay the outstanding debt.
AIV has since approved a further investment in the cooperative, and the cooperative has hired two additional field technicians who will strengthen internal technical capacity.
The cooperative is also developing Kiriway, a women-led coffee line named after the Asháninka word “kiri" associated with a palm tree, with profits directed towards women’s health campaigns and breast cancer prevention.
Verónica López de la Lama, AIV's impact and ESG lead, said many of the cooperative's women "cannot reach distant medical services due to long hours on agroforestry coffee plots," and that the initiative would help them "receive essential care closer to home."
Tropical Products’ recovery is more than a financial turnaround. It is a demonstration of what patient capital and direct market access can achieve. This is the essence of Together We Thrive: partnerships that unlock opportunities, allowing Amazonian producers to stand in global markets.
About Tropical Products
Founded in 2018 by twelve producers seeking better prices and quality of the coffee, the cooperative grows shade-grown coffee using agroforestry methods that conserves biodiversity, with quality monitored at each stage.
The Chanchamayo region’s high‑altitude conditions, fertile soils and stable temperatures give the cooperative’s coffee a distinctive profile, often marked by bright acidity, floral notes and citrus or stone‑fruit characteristics.
More information: https://cooptropicals.com/home
#ImpactInvesting #SustainableFinance #PatientCapital #EmergingMarkets #InclusiveGrowth #MarketAccess #AmazonBioeconomy #PartnershipsForGrowth #TogetherWeThrive
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