Peru - Selva Andina

Coffee is thought to have been introduced to Peru in the 18th century, most likely from the Caribbean. European investment in the 1900s transformed it into a commercial business with burgeoning exports. British owners took advantage by establishing large plantations, making the cultivation and harvest of coffee beans more efficient.

After the Second World War, however, most British interests were sold and the farms were redistributed among thousands of small growers. These days there are about 150,000 coffee farmers in Peru, most of them working a plot no bigger than 3 hectares (7.4 acres).

Many coffee farmers work on terraced hillsides and given the small scale of operations, the rugged and difficult terrain presents quite a challenge for getting the crop to a processing station or to market. A severe outbreak of leaf rust in 2014 didn't help. Nevertheless, Peru's coffee farmers are coping well, about a third of them working in co-operatives. Shade-grown plants make up most of the crop, which now counts for $600 million of the nation's exports annually.

Traditionally, a lot of Peruvian coffee beans, thanks to their light body and mildly acidic flavour, have been blended with other Latin American coffees. But now an increasing number of growers are concentrating on turning out well-reputed speciality coffees. Many of these are organic and shade-grown, high-quality Arabica beans.