Sometimes a cup of coffee is more than a cup of coffee. Sometimes its effects can reach around the world and change lives. That’s the philosophy behind our Single Origin Program. Not only is our Peruvian Single Origin full-bodied, complex and ethically harvested, proceeds also go to funding the Hudsons Future Leaders Scholarship.
The 2019 recipient was Gerardo Egoavil of Peru’s Chanchamayo Province – one of the world’s great coffee producing regions.
Scholarship recipient Gerardo Egoavil.
Meet Gerardo
Gerardo has had a life-long connection with coffee beginning with working on his grandmother’s farm as a child. “I came from a very long tradition of coffee in my family, this business has always been a part of my life since I was little, when I just to help my family in our farm, doing everything I could do like planting, harvesting and taking good care of all our coffee,” says Gerardo.
“This is why I always felt that my destiny was in the coffee business.”
While it may have been his destiny, it wasn’t an easy path for Gerardo. He started his university studies but due to adversity, wasn’t able to finish them. That’s where the Future Leaders Scholarship comes in. The scholarship is currently allowing Gerardo to finish his degree in Agronomist Engineering from The National University of the Center of Peru. The degree will help Gerardo to evaluate and analyze the factors of coffee production to improve farming systems, generate increases in productivity and quality of crops, with an emphasis on environmental and socio-economic balance.
Gerardo instructing in the field in the Chanchamayo province.
What the scholarship means
“Watching every day of my childhood how my family struggled to obtain more and better quality coffee with the little knowledge we had, always made me think that if there was another way or a better way to achieve good coffee, that we all as producers should try to achieve that every day of our lives.” Gerardo’s degree, as well as his role as a project coordinator with Volcafe Peru will allow him to find a better way for his entire community.
Gerardo, a father of two, doesn’t just work with coffee. He loves it too. “My favourite coffee is the one with a strong body, the kind of coffee that stays in my memory the whole day,” says Gerardo. “I usually drink French press coffee only because I think that keeps a stronger flavour, but I also drink it with milk and other sweet varieties.”
Hudsons Single Origin series will continue to give back to the countries, the communities and the people who grow the robust, complex and ethically-grown coffee that our customers expect. It’s one of the ways we show our love.
