Lecture Description
This panel, presented in Spanish and English, features Pachamama Coffee CEO Thaleon Tremain, Central de Cooperativas (COCLA) General Manager Vladimir Vivanco, and Cooperativa Agraria Orígenes del Valle de Lacco (CAOVL) General Manager Luke Agness. They will discuss how farmer ownership throughout the value chain allows them to innovate in traceability and maintain clear and impactful messaging. They will present and discuss the new traceability tool developed in Calca by the CAOVL team and adopted by COCLA and Pachamama Coffee.
Based in California, Pachamama Coffee Cooperative was co-founded by the producer cooperative COCLA from Cusco, Peru in 2006 and has since expanded to include in its ownership structure 4 other cooperatives globally. Their model has illuminated a path for other farmer groups like the CAOVL of Calca, Peru, to pursue profits downstream in order to ensure a future supply of specialty coffee and sustained benefits for the communities that grow it.
The panel will field questions from a moderator and from the crowd on how farmer ownership and participation in the consumer markets of the global north can promote innovative solutions to coffee’s uncertain future, amplify farmer voices, and promote transparency throughout the specialty coffee value chain.
Date: Sunday April 27, 2025
Time: 11:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Room 350DEF
Category: Business
Access: This lecture is free to attend with a Specialty Coffee Expo entry badge. Register to attend Specialty Coffee Expo here.
Please note that lecture sessions are open on a first-come, first-served basis. Early arrival is highly recommended to secure your seat.
Speakers
Thaleon Tremain
CEO, Pachamama Coffee
Co-founder and CEO of Pachamama Coffee, a leader in farmer-led vertical integration for nearly 20 years.
Pachamama maintained its farmer-ownership model since its inception, overcoming challenges like lack of access to traditional funding methods through sale of equity.
Thaleon can speak to how this model sets Pachamama apart in U.S. markets and to its potential for replication.
Vladimir Vivanco
General Manager, Central de Cooperativas COCLA
Board member of Pachamama and general manager of COCLA, Pachamama’s founding cooperative.
Based in Quillabamba, Cusco, Vladimir provides a unique on-the-ground perspective on the difference between vertical integration and selling to external clients.
He represents over 1,000 farmers and can speak to the difficulties of innovating at scale
Luke Agness
General Manager, Cooperativa Agraria Orígenes del Valle de Lacco (CAOVL)
Co-founder of CAOVL in 2022 with 40 farming families in Calca, Cusco.
Worked with farmers and an NGO to develop the traceability tool which COCLA and Pachamama have adopted
Launched a roasted coffee brand in 2024 in the mold of Pachamama
A former data scientist and systems engineer, Luke represents 90+ families in the specialty coffee industry with an eye to how tech-enabled innovation can impact farmer livelihoods.