There is remote, and then there is really remote. Smallholder farmers that make up the Rutas Del Inca Cooperative are of the latter variety. This isolation works to their advantage in terms of coffee quality, however, since there is no mixing or blending with neighboring regions. Again, because of the remoteness, most members process their coffee on their individual farms before bringing them to be milled at Planta Frontera, a centralized milling plant in Chiclayo.

In addition to focusing on specialty coffee, Rutas Del Inca’s members also cultivate passion fruit, corn, and sugarcane, as shade sources for coffee, to increase biodiversity and soil health, and provide an extra source of food or income.