Episode Details

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Episode Description

This is Part 3 of a five-part series of The Daily Coffee Pro Podcast by Map It Forward examining what happened between Benecke Coffee in Germany and coffee cooperatives in Peru pursuing claims for coffee they say remains unpaid.

In Part 1, we met the cooperatives and learned about the financial and commercial risks they carry on behalf of hundreds of smallholder coffee producers.

In Part 2, we followed the coffee from Peru to the export vessel and examined how the contracts, documentation and payment process were supposed to work.

Now the series reaches the point where delayed payments became something much more serious.

Podcast host Lee Safar is joined again by Emerson Carrasco, General Manager of Sanchirio Palomar Cooperative; Anabel Barrientos, General Manager of Ubiriki Valley Cooperative; and Óscar Inocente, a lawyer working with the affected Peruvian cooperatives. Ana Maria Donneys from Café Primitivo joins as translator.

This is Part 3 of our five-part series examining what happened between Benecke Coffee and coffee cooperatives in Peru.

In Part 2, we followed the coffee and examined how payment was expected to work. In this episode, delayed payments become an insolvency problem.

Emerson Carrasco says Sanchirio began recognising warning signs when Benecke’s payments during 2025 were taking more than 40 days, compared with the roughly 15–20 days he says was typical with other buyers.

He says the cooperative repeatedly sought information and received reassurances from Clemens von Storch that payment would be made and that existing contracts should continue to be shipped.

Then, on 24 October 2025, Emerson says Sanchirio received a letter stating that Benecke was entering insolvency under self-administration.

The episode follows the cooperatives into the creditor process: uploading contracts, invoices, bills of lading and other evidence, registering their claims, and travelling to Hamburg for a creditors’ meeting in April 2026.

Óscar also discusses concerns about how creditor information was communicated and why some other cooperatives may not have registered in time.

The final section introduces the retention-of-title issue. Emerson says the cooperatives raised contractual provisions they believe may affect how some of the unpaid coffee is treated inside the insolvency.

In Part 4, we l