Our company was founded in 2018, with a Peruvian name — cumpa stands for compañero, compadre, compatriota. In the jungle, the tradition of having a godfather is vivid. By being a cumpa, you are a friend, but also family. We liked the name, also because of other, more techanical reasons. We had ambitions, and we had trusted partners on both ends of the supply chain. In Germany, I stood with co-founder Daniel and five roasteries willing to sign a contract with our new company. In Peru, I stood at first with Jimmy — at the time a young CEO, leading the cooperative Aproeco together with his father Don Martin, who was president. I had met them two years earlier during an internship in Moyobamba.
I still remember a dinner in early 2018 at an esquina in Moyobamba. I was finishing my practical semester at the cooperative. Four of us had dinner: Me, Jimmy; Iván, a farmer and the cooperative’s own cupper; and Gover, another farmer and the coopeartive’s warehouse manager. We dreamed of a company that would help me return, stay in touch with who had become friends for me, maybe invite them one day to where I am from — and together build up a business, that would help us all to grow, to support the cooperative and its farmers to grow. A few months later, Iván passed away in a motorcycle accident, just a week before cumpa was officially registered. Gover still works at the cooperative today. We have calls sometimes. The trees we planted together in 2018 have grown so tall they need pruning to let in light.
Over the years, Jimmy and I have shared the most time from our dinner group together. With the help of many friends, we’ve realized origin visits and hosted roasters in Peru, traveling through Lima, Moyobamba, Tingo María, Villa Rica — and beyond, Berlin, Amsterdam, various cities throughout Germany, Copenhagen. When the Canephora project with Qoffee Qulture and the German SEZ launched in Aproeco in 2021, Jimmy had already passed leadership of Aproeco to Enrique, another farmer’s son. Jimmy went on to found Finca Cascadas, with cumpa as a main partner. Despite difficulties — the pandemic, the price shocks after Brazil’s frost, our own early-stage challenges — we stayed committed.
In 2023, Jimmy became my literal cumpa, the godfather of my first son. He traveled to Barranquilla, Colombia, for the baptism. Later that year, he led a successful origin trip in Moyobamba for ten roasters from Germany, alongside the cumpa team. After the group left, we celebrated at La Pirámide with Don Martin, then set off for Villa Rica to deepen our partnership with CEPRO Yanesha. There, we visited 45-year-old Canephora trees and explored plantations deep in the jungle.
In 2024, at World of Coffee in Copenhagen, Jimmy and I shared a sofa in our Airbnb while the rest of the German team had rooms. I had just found out I’d become a dad again. Around the same time, I was invited to serve as a Cup of Excellence international judge, thanks to Geni Fundes. I also began to understand the potential of Conilon Capixaba within the Canephora industry. The opportunities in Brazil were exciting, but I couldn’t leave my partner and child for long stretches. I didn’t want to.
Jimmy was the best person to send to Brazil. Our trust had grown beyond friendship — we are family. After Ficafé in November, we booked his flight from Tarapoto, Peru to Espírito Santo, Brazil. He signed a contract with cumpa, equipped with a camera and a mission: to meet new partners, learn, and represent us. We were already in touch with Luisa and Derio from BMP Farmers, and Lucas from Fazenda Venturim. When Gino from our Peruvian Canephora partners CEPRO Yanesha asked if he and his brother could join, our hosts said yes. Flights were booked. And so, in early December, three Peruvian partners, friends, and cumpas arrived in Espírito Santo — for a Canephora adventure, a producer-to-producer exchange, and a step forward in our shared journey.