Quality, Traceability, and Sample Preparation Volunteer – Prospect Project, Peru

COFFEE CORPS

Coffee Quality Institute

ELIGIBILITY

This opportunity is intended for experienced specialty-coffee quality professionals with:

Current Q Grader certification.

Practical experience in green-coffee inspection, physical analysis, sample roasting, cupping, and quality control.

Experience preparing commercial or buyer samples.

Knowledge of traceability, producer information, and lot-level documentation.

Experience working with specialty-coffee buyers, importers, roasters, or origin-based quality programs strongly preferred.

Training experience and ability to collaborate with laboratory, technical, and commercial teams.

Fluent in Spanish.

OPPORTUNITY SUMMARY

Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) is seeking a Coffee Corps Volunteer to support the 2026 Quality and Commercial Articulation Pilot in Junín, Peru.

The project works with CAC Pangoa and CAC Satipo to identify, document, prepare, and promote traceable cooperative coffee lots based on verified sensory quality and technical parameters.

This project seeks to demonstrate that cooperative coffees in Peru can be differentiated and commercialized based on quality and traceability, with particular attention to early-harvest sampling, segregation before blending, calibrated cupping, producer feedback, and buyer engagement.

The project objective is to identify coffees in the 84–85 SCA-point range and above, with a commercial ambition of developing one export container per participating cooperative.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The volunteer will work alongside cooperative quality, technical, and commercial teams to:

Evaluate candidate coffee lots through green-coffee inspection, physical analysis, and calibrated cupping.

Identify lots that meet or show potential to meet the project quality objectives.

Develop clear technical and sensory profiles linked to producer, farm, parcel, process, and commercial-lot information.

Support the verification and organization of producer and farm information for selected lots.

Prepare accurate and representative green-coffee samples for prospective buyers.

In collaboration with cooperative leaders and members, support laboratory workflow, sample preparation, traceability, recordkeeping, and staff calibration.

Provide practical, hands-on training and feedback to cooperative staff.

A central principle of the assignment is that coffee should only be promoted as differentiated quality when its quality results, origin, process, and commercial lot are documented and traceable.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The volunteer will support the cooperatives in the preparation of:

Cupping and quality assessment records for prospect candidate coffees.

Technical and traceability profiles for candidate lots.

A prioritized list of lots ready for buyer samples or requiring further verification.

Guide the establishment of producer/farmer profiles for selected lots.

Properly prepared, labelled, and documented representative buyer samples.

A concise report with practical recommendations for laboratory workflow, calibration, traceability, and recordkeeping.

An organized handover of project records, forms, and sample information.

WORKING PRINCIPLES

The volunteer will work according to the following principles:

Ensure assignment focuses on transferring skills to cooperatives for future application.

Cooperative-centered commercialization: selected coffees remain commercialized through their respective cooperative.

Traceability before promotion: quality claims must be supported by documented producer- and lot-level information.

Measurement before commercial claims: preliminary results should not be presented as verified commercial claims.

Segregation before blending promising coffees should be identified and separated early in the harvest cycle.

Producer feedback: quality results should contribute to practical learning and quality improvement.

COMMUNICATIONS

The volunteer will coordinate day-to-day activities with designated contacts at CAC Pangoa, CAC Satipo, and Central de Café y Cacao, and will regularly communicate progress, candidate-lot status, quality findings, sample preparation, and information gaps to project coordination.

All final records and project materials must be handed over in an organized and usable format at the conclusion of the assignment.