APANS
Equal Exchange staff with APANS co-op staff outside of their office
Co-op Name: APANS
Location: Peru
Number of Producers: 485
Average Farm Size: 3 hectares
Total Area Under Organic Production: 1386 hectares
Founded: 2002
Source For: Chocolate chips
Interesting Fact: APANS technical staff is working diligently to help farmers diversify their cacao varieties.
Full Profile: The Producer Association of Naylamp de Sonomoro (APANS) is located in the beautiful and scenic Sonomoro Valley. Due to the geography and higher altitudes, many members of the co-op also grow coffee. The co-operative was originally founded in 2002 for oranges, which many farmers continue to commercialize on the local level in addition to cacao. In 2008, with only 19 members, the co-op applied for Fair Trade certification. The certifier called the farmers “crazy” and told them that the certification would not be worth their money. Regardless, they held onto their dreams and persevered. Today, APANS has nearly 300 members and expects to grow.
