San Martín

San Martín is the newcomer that became Peru’s biggest coffee region. Around Moyobamba, Rioja and Lamas, tens of thousands of small farmers now grow more coffee than anywhere else in the country, by the agriculture ministry’s count, though the quality ranges from everyday lots to speciality coffee.

The short version

• Peru’s biggest region by the ministry’s count: 81,800 t of parchment coffee in 2024.
• About 64,000 hectares and 64,458 producers.
• Rioja, Tocache, Bellavista, Lamas and Moyobamba.
• Peru’s youngest big region, and its most varied in quality.
• Harvest about April–September.

What does San Martín coffee taste like?

It varies more than anywhere else in Peru. The importer Sustainable Harvest calls San Martín the youngest of Peru’s main regions, where coffee has been spreading for over a decade, and the one with the most variation in quality: “very traditional coffees”, all arabica, alongside speciality volumes. Its growth owes much to NGOs, the importer says, and its speciality segment has grown with it. Bad weather, input prices and social problems have made top quality harder to reach in some years.

Where is it grown?

Mainly in five provinces: Rioja, Tocache, Bellavista, Lamas and Moyobamba, according to the agriculture ministry, cited by Agraria.pe. The regional government’s coffee project has worked in Tocache, Lamas, El Dorado, Moyobamba and Rioja.

How much coffee does it grow?

The figures, in parchment coffee (still in its husk), are:

Year	Production	Source
2020	More than 89,800 t (25% of Peru)	Junta Nacional del Café, via Andina
2021	More than 77,800 t	Junta Nacional del Café, via Andina
2024	81,800 t	Agriculture ministry, via Revista Economía
A typical year	81,000–84,000 t (22–23% of Peru)	Agriculture ministry, via Agraria.pe, 2026

USDA, in green-coffee terms, puts San Martín at 20% of Peru’s coffee, second to Cajamarca. The region has about 64,000 hectares of coffee and 64,458 producers, the ministry says; the regional government estimates that more than 41,000 families depend on it.

When is it harvested?

Peru’s harvest runs from April to September, peaking in June and July, USDA says. In August 2026 San Martín held its first ExpoCafé, with a business round that brought 33 sellers and 12 buyers together and produced purchase intentions for about 399 tonnes of coffee, worth S/13.9 million.

San Martín and other Peruvian origins

• Coffee in Peru: the whole country, its harvest and its organic coffee.
• Cajamarca: the speciality-coffee leader, next door.
• Junín: the Selva Central, Peru’s old coffee heartland.