Ukuku

Ukuku is a character from the Andean mythology. The story says that the Ukuku was born from the union of a woman with a spectacled bear and the creature is half man half bear. The bear fell deeply in love with the lady and decided to hold her captive. The lady became pregnant and when the Ukuku was older she told him that his father, the bear, was keeping her from her liberty, so the Ukuku decided to kill his father to let his mother in liberty. The Ukuku inherited the wisdom from his mother and the strength from his father. This character is in charge of protecting the community and the environment as well as purify the lands with ice brought from the snowy peaks of the region to hope for great harvests.

The producers who currently contribute to Ukuku are from Jaen and Cutervo, of the northern area of Cajamarca in Perú. In 2019, Caravelas started working with 20 producers of Cutervo. It was a big challenge as many of the producers came from other crops such as sugar cane or had a traditional practice. The work of PECA has focused on educating the producers in practices towards the production of specialty coffee and thinking of coffee as a product that is going to be consumed by costumers. Later in 2020, the PECA and Quality Team started working with the producers on the higher elevations of Jaen who are also contributing to Ukuku now a days.