Growing opportunity through local enterprise in Peru

At La Granja in northern Peru, we have been working with communities to understand local priorities and help people to take a greater role in the economic opportunities developing around them. This approach is helping local businesses take shape, creating employment and supporting producers to reach new markets.

While the initiatives respond to different needs, they share the same aim: to build local capabilities and establish lasting connections based on participation in the region’s development.

Preparing community businesses for new opportunities

Following land access agreements with three communities near La Granja, we supported initiatives designed to strengthen economic participation beyond subsistence agriculture.

A community development fund helped residents complete the legal process required to establish communal enterprises. The support also included technical guidance in business management and organisational development, giving the new businesses the foundations they need to operate effectively and compete for contracts.

Two communities have now established communal enterprises that are positioned to bid for exploration-related work and municipal contracting opportunities. This creates a route for more of the economic activity taking place in the region to be delivered by local people and businesses.

The La Granja drilling campaign has also provided near-term employment for 40 local workers. Together, these opportunities allow communities to benefit from current activity while developing businesses that can serve a wider range of customers in the future.

Building a coffee brand led by women

The Rutas del Inca Cooperative brings together 357 coffee producers from Querocoto and Querocotillo. Originally created with support from the La Granja project, the cooperative produces certified organic and Fairtrade coffee and exports specialty green beans to six markets across North America, Europe and Asia.

In 2025, 59 women from the cooperative launched Coya Café, a specialty coffee brand led and produced exclusively by women. Its name comes from Quechua and refers to the principal woman in Inca society. Coya Café has two product lines: green coffee for export and roasted and ground coffee for the Peruvian market. An industrial roaster installed in Querocoto allows more processing to take place locally, while new branding, packaging and an ecommerce platform are helping the women reach customers directly.

The 59 producers have also received training in cooperative management, coffee quality and markets. In 2025, they completed their first export of green coffee under the Coya Coffee brand to Hong Kong, through Sucafina and Sustainable Harvest. This led to an expanded purchase commitment for the 2026 harvest. The women now manage 60 hectares of organic coffee production. The next phase will focus on improving productivity and coffee quality, reducing post-harvest losses and strengthening traceability and formal market access.

Together, these developments are giving women a greater role across the coffee value chain and helping them retain more of the value generated by their production. They are also supporting a more resilient local business with stronger routes to both domestic and international markets.

Sharing value through stronger local economies

The communal enterprises and Coya Café are at different stages and serve different markets. Both show what can happen when community investment focuses on building the skills and structures that local businesses need. This reflects our wider approach to community development. By listening to local priorities and working alongside communities, we aim to build capacity in ways that reflect the circumstances of each region.

At La Granja, that means helping local people participate in the opportunities created by exploration while also supporting independent businesses that can grow beyond the project. Strengthening these enterprises can create employment, diversify household incomes and keep more economic value within local communities. These initiatives also help to build the long-term relationships needed for responsible project development. By supporting communities to shape and participate in economic opportunities, we are working to ensure that the value associated with La Granja is shared more widely across the region.