Bolivia’s coffees, always limited in volume due to the country’s relatively small total production, are more precious than ever. As 50% tariffs and recent frosts in Brazil cause buyers to scramble for comparable coffee in neighboring countries, the C market surges, and competition for coffee across South America is hot. We have a phenomenal curated slate with first shipments expected to begin landing in October. We expect these lots to go very fast due to surrounding conditions as well as their quality.
We have more to come this season but the current slate features clean, eloquent washed lots including varietal-separated Java and Catuai from Taypiplaya, Illimani, and Copacabana in Caranavi region. The lots with Rosita in the name come from the farm of the family coordinating cherry buying between these different subregions—not just providing superb coffee of their own but also fostering beneficial competition in the local market.
Utilizing the proximity we have through our Peru lab, we’ve personally overseen 2025’s offerings at the mill (our standard protocol in Peru and Mexico) and will continue to do so for the rest of the season’s acquisitions. That means ensuring traceability and quality by being actively present—pulling samples, green grading, and cupping them every 15-20 minutes as well as tracking lots from the moment they entered the mill until they were loaded onto containers for export, after which we’ll track them carefully through arrival.
Year 3: Growing Stability Over Time
This is our third year bringing in Bolivia coffees, after years of keeping it on our radar and waiting for the right opportunity. We’ve always known Bolivia’s quality potential was through the roof, with Caranavi just across the border from Putina Punco in Puno—a region that produces some of the most spectacular coffees in all of Peru. Like those in Bolivia, they’re rare, incredibly coveted, and immensely difficult to source. Both regions are over a mile high and feature similar but unique microclimates with hot summer days and long, cool nights.
We’ve been working from the beginning to bring in premium Bolivia coffee, but 2023 was the first time the pieces were all in place. We had some early exploratory ventures, but at the time the market was cornered by one buying group and we struggled to find the quality we needed. Back then, buying from Bolivia meant paying high prices for coffee that wasn’t representative of the profiles that make Bolivia so special.
In 2023, we met a family of farmers who were not only growing delicious coffee, but also setting up cherry-buying stations to create a competitive marketplace for growers in the surrounding regions of Illimani, Copacabana, and Taypiplaya, among others. Creating competitive markets where producers have varied options to sell their coffee is one of our top priorities, so we knew we wanted to be a part of growing this venture.
Creating more competition and opportunity for indigenous smallholder producers in the area is at the center of our vision here, and the quality and rarity of these coffees—how singular they are—makes the work that much more rewarding.
Interested in sourcing coffee with us? Reach out at info@redfoxcoffeemerchants.com. To learn more about our work, check out our journal and follow us on Instagram @redfoxcoffeemerchants.