Qori Labs Independent research on proving where Andean products come from

Where it came from. Proven.

Anyone can claim an origin. Backing it up is the hard part. Qori Labs researches how buyers can check where coffee, cacao, alpaca fibre and other Andean products came from, using records the producers own.

Take part in the research Para productores

Built into every record

  1. Right when it’s made

    Records are checked as they’re entered, for missing fields, impossible dates, duplicates and blurred photos, so mistakes are caught before they travel.

    entry checks: 4 run, 2 flagged, 2 resolved

  2. Visible if it changes

    Each record is sealed as it’s entered, and corrections are added, never erased. With a copy of the seals kept off the phone, any later change shows.

    seal now 1fa2362c = kept copy 1fa2362c

  3. Linked to the lot

    Each record carries the seal of the one before it, and the kilos each producer delivered add up to the kilos in the lot.

    kilos in 1,350.0 = kilos out 1,350.0

  4. Owned by the producers

    Producers keep their records, decide who sees them, and can take all of them with them in open formats.

    owner: co-op; shared with: 1 buyer; consent: revocable

A seal shows that a record hasn’t changed since it was sealed. It doesn’t show the record was right. That’s why we also check records when they’re made, and match the kilos that come in to the kilos that go out.

The question we’re asking

What would it take for a buyer to check, without travelling, that a lot came from the producers it claims, and for those producers to own the record?

How the research works

Built on published work

The method builds on the Sovereign Khipu Protocol (PKS), an open standard for records that can be checked offline. Where evidence is missing, the answer is “Not Proven”.

doi:10.5281/zenodo.18645310

Read the publications

What would you like to be able to prove?

Tell us about it. If you buy coffee, cacao, alpaca fibre or anything else from the Andes, we’d like to hear how you prove where it came from today.

Take part in the research research@q-ori.pe

No call needed to start. The first phase is free, and ‘no thanks’ is a perfectly good answer.

The research

We’re studying how buyers of coffee, cacao, alpaca fibre and other Andean products can check where a lot came from, using records the producers own.

What would it take for a buyer to check, without travelling, that a lot came from the producers it claims, and for those producers to own the record?

Four questions sit under it:

  • How do buyers prove origin today, and what does it cost them in time?
  • Which checks catch errors when records are made offline, at origin?
  • Does an offline evidence pack, built as PKS defines it, give buyers what their auditors ask for?
  • What would producers need in order to control their records and benefit from them?

Two phases

  1. Research, free (until the end of February 2027)Interviews with 10 to 15 buyers. One pilot: one co-op, one importer that already buys from it, and one real lot. A short published summary of what we learned, which participants receive first.
  2. Paid pilots, only if the research shows they’re worth itScope and price agreed in writing before anything starts.

How the method works, in short

Records are made on a phone, offline, at origin. Each one is checked when it’s entered, then sealed with a fingerprint. A copy of the seal is kept off the phone, so any later change shows. Deliveries are then matched to the lot, kilo for kilo. See it on a sample lot.

What taking part means

BuyersProducers
They giveAn hour’s interview. For the pilot: one lot and an introduction to the co-opTheir time, and records for one lot, with written consent
They getThe summary first. For the pilot: a checkable lot page and an evidence pack, freeTheir own record, kept by them, a copy of everything, and no cost
They canStop at any timeStop at any time, and have their records deleted

How we handle data

  • Interview notes stay private. Quotes are used only with permission, and no company is named in the summary without its agreement.
  • Producers own their records. We hold only what the pilot needs, and delete it on request. Nothing is sold.
  • No record reaches a buyer without the producers’ written consent, in Spanish.
  • Every participant gets a one-page information sheet and consent form, in English or Spanish.

What this research is not

It isn’t certification, it doesn’t sell data about farmers, it isn’t part of UNSAAC or LAAD, and it isn’t a finished product.

Worked example: one lot, from farm to bag

Sample data. The co-op, farms, buyer and numbers on this page are fictional.

This is a sample evidence pack, built the way the Sovereign Khipu Protocol (PKS) describes. Each claim reads Proven or Not Proven, and you can check the seal yourself, without trusting us.

The lot

Lot
QL-0001
Product
Coffee, parchment
Origin
A sample district in the Cusco region. No farm locations are shown.
Harvest
2026-07
Weight
1,350.0 kg

The claims

ClaimStatusWhy
Checking the seal…

Check it yourself

Below is the exact record this pack was sealed from. Your browser calculates its fingerprint and compares it with the seal. Change any character, even a space, and check again.

Seal
This record now
calculating…

Checking the seal…

The evidence behind the claims

Where it came from

Three deliveries, each recorded at entry and sealed. Farms are shown by code, not by name.

DeliveryFarmDateKilosPhoto check
D-101F-0142026-07-08412.5Clear
D-102F-0272026-07-10380.0Blurred, retaken
D-103F-0312026-07-14557.5Clear

Checks at entry

Checks flag problems rather than block a record. Each fix is a new entry, and the original stays.

  • Missing fields: none.
  • Impossible dates: none.
  • Duplicates: one. D-102 was entered twice; the second entry was voided by correction E-009.
  • Blurred photos: one. The photo for D-102 was retaken.

Kilos in, kilos out

Calculating…

What this page does not prove

Besides every claim marked Not Proven above, two limits apply to any sealed record:

  • It can’t show that nobody entered a false record before it was sealed. Entry checks and field visits reduce that risk; they don’t remove it.
  • It can’t show when each record was made. Phones in the field don’t always keep reliable time, so the seal proves order and integrity, not the hour.

Who owns this record

The (fictional) co-op owns it. It has agreed in writing that one (fictional) importer may see it, under consent record C-2026-007, and it can withdraw that consent.

For one of your real lots

The free first phase builds this same page for one real lot, from a co-op you already buy from, with the co-op’s written consent.

Take part in the research

Take part in the research

We’re talking to importers, roasters, chocolate makers and textile brands who buy from producers in the Andes. There are two ways to take part.

An interview

About an hour, by video, or in person at BioFach in February. We ask how you prove origin today and what it costs you in time. You get the research summary before anyone else.

The free first phase

We build a checkable lot page and evidence pack for one real lot, from a co-op you already buy from, with the co-op’s written consent. It costs you nothing.

After the first phase

If it proves useful, we’ll offer a paid second phase, agreed in writing before it starts. If not, ‘no thanks’ is a perfectly good answer. Taking part never obliges you to buy anything.

The question we start with

When an auditor or a customer asks you to prove where a lot came from, what do you do, and how long does it take?

Get in touch

No call needed to start. This form doesn’t send anything by itself. It writes an email for you to send, so nothing is stored on this site. We don’t add anyone to a mailing list.

I’m interested in

Publications

Qori Labs builds on eight papers by David Bentley, published on Zenodo between December 2025 and August 2026.

They are written in Spanish; the English titles and summaries here are our own translations. They are reports, draft standards and a field report, published by Higher Self Forge Ltd, and they have not been peer-reviewed.

Written by David Bentley, with AI tools used for research, drafting and translation. All sources are public and cited, and the author is responsible for the content.

The method

Framework Protocol for Decentralised Infrastructure: a field method for sovereign governance in Indigenous territories

Protocolo Marco para Infraestructura Descentralizada: Metodología de Campo para Gobernanza Soberana en Territorios Indígenas

Report v1.0, 2025-12-09, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.17872783

The root of the series: a co-design method for bringing technology to places where connectivity is weak. It treats free, prior and informed consent as an ongoing process rather than a one-off signature, follows the CARE principles for Indigenous data governance, and sets a rule of “no false safety”: never promise protection a system can’t deliver.

The governance standard

Reciprocal Intelligence: proposed specification, v0.1

Inteligencia Recíproca — Especificación Propuesta (v0.1): Gobernanza Socio-Técnica para Sistemas de IA en Entornos de Conectividad Intermitente

Draft standard v0.1, 2026-01-06, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.18168191

A deliberately conservative draft standard for governing AI and decision-support systems where connectivity is fragile and power is unequal. Its central idea is that community authority must be an enforceable technical constraint, shown through controls and records, not a consultation. It certifies nothing and claims no safety results.

IR Standard v1.0: public overview

Estándar IR v1.0 - Panorama Público / Resumen Ejecutivo

Report v1.0, 2026-01-16, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.18274616

A non-technical summary of the IR standard for funders and policy readers: computing and decisions that stay in the territory, so services can work without the cloud in places with no signal.

IR Standard v1.0: normative technical specification

Estándar IR v1.0 — Especificación Técnica Normativa: Infraestructura Soberana e Inteligencia Distribuida

Report v1.0.0, 2026-01-16, restricted access, doi:10.5281/zenodo.18273083

The full technical specification: an offline-first reference architecture, conformance requirements, kill-switch protocols, and forensic audit using hash-chained records.

Why it’s restricted: data sovereignty (ILO Convention 169), dual-use concerns and operational security. The full text is available on request to institutional reviewers, technical evaluators and licensed partners. To ask, write to research@q-ori.pe.

The evidence layer

Sovereign Khipu Protocol (PKS) v1.0: offline decision integrity

(PKS v1.0) — Protocolo Khipu Soberano: Perfil de Implementación IR para Integridad Decisional Offline

Standard v1.0, 2026-01-27, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.18392516

Puts the IR standard into practice as an offline evidence standard. Each claim maps to a protocol that produces an evidence pack, which can be checked without a connection.

Sovereign Khipu Protocol (PKS) v1.1: decision integrity in the age of synthetic abundance

PKS v1.1 — Protocolo Khipu Soberano: Integridad Decisional en la Era de la Abundancia Sintética

Standard, 2026-02-16, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.18645310

The fuller specification, for evidence that holds up when images and documents can be faked at no cost. It defines the Digital Khipu, an append-only, hash-linked record; portable evidence packs; and the rule that any missing evidence means “Not Proven”. It is the basis of the worked example on this site.

Applied

Tinkuy Node Pair (PNT): an early public note on architecture, custody and scope

PNT (Par Nodo Tinkuy) — Nota pública temprana sobre arquitectura, custodia y alcance

Working paper v1.0, 2026-03-26, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.19228636

A research architecture in which two separate custodians, working offline, jointly record a shared event. It starts from a 2026 rainfall emergency in which five days of inter-agency work still left the district recorded as “emergency not registered”. It is a research note, not an operational validation.

In the field

Between Specification and Deployment: a public field report

Entre la Especificación y el Despliegue — un informe público de campo

Field report v1.0.0, 2026-08-07, CC BY-ND 4.0, doi:10.5281/zenodo.21838725

The public report on the first stage of El Hilo que Persiste, an applied research programme of LAAD (UNSAAC) with Higher Self Forge Ltd: a field test of an offline communication prototype in a highland community in Cusco, at about 4,300 m. Two points could talk. It is plain about what it didn’t establish: no coverage figure, no proof that a full network would hold, and unreliable timestamps on the node.

About

David Bentley is a British systems engineer who lives in the Sacred Valley, Cusco. He has 17 years’ experience building systems, and builds offline tools for places without signal. He has published eight papers and draft standards on offline evidence and community data governance.

Qori means gold in Quechua. The mark is a seal with a point of gold beside it: a record, and the copy of its seal kept somewhere else, which is what lets any change show.

Who runs it

Qori Labs is run by Higher Self Forge Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no. 14045104). Research and field work are based in Cusco, Peru. Qori Labs is small: when you write, you reach David.

Qori Labs is not part of UNSAAC or LAAD. David collaborates with LAAD’s El Hilo que Persiste programme, whose field report is listed under Publications.

Principles

  • Producers own their records, decide who sees them, and can take all of them with them in open formats.
  • Consent is written, revisited and revocable. Nothing is shared without it.
  • Methods are open by default, and code written for producers is open source. Anything restricted says why, and how to ask for it.
  • No lock-in: records and their seals can be checked with free, standard tools, with or without us.
  • No false safety: every claim says what it cannot prove, and missing evidence means “Not Proven”.
  • Field first: claims rest on what is checked on the ground.

Several come from David’s published work: ongoing consent and the CARE principles from the Framework Protocol (2025), and “no false safety” and “Not Proven” from the IR and PKS standards.

How research and paid work stay apart

The first phase is free, and its findings are published. Paid work comes later, only if the research shows it’s useful, and it is agreed in writing before it starts. We don’t use a participant’s data or name without written permission.

Contact us

Sus registros son suyos.

Qori Labs investiga cómo los compradores pueden comprobar el origen de lo que compran, con registros que pertenecen a los productores.

Nuestros compromisos

  • Los registros son de ustedes: ustedes deciden quién los ve.
  • Nada se comparte sin su autorización por escrito, y pueden retirarla cuando quieran.
  • Para los productores no tiene costo.
  • Lo que no se puede probar, lo decimos: si falta evidencia, la respuesta es “No probado”.

Cómo empezaría

Primero conversamos con la cooperativa, en persona. Si les interesa, registramos un lote de prueba con su autorización por escrito, y ustedes reciben una copia de todo.

Quiénes somos

Qori Labs es una iniciativa de Higher Self Forge Ltd, empresa registrada en Inglaterra y Gales (n.º 14045104), con trabajo de investigación y de campo en Cusco. No forma parte de la UNSAAC ni del LAAD.

Contacto

Escríbanos a research@q-ori.pe.

Company details

Run by
Higher Self Forge Ltd, which uses Qori Labs as a trading name
Registered in
England and Wales
Company number
14045104
Registered office
110 Pilling Avenue, Lytham St Annes, FY8 3QR, United Kingdom
Research and field work
Cusco, Peru
Public record
Companies House
Email
research@q-ori.pe

Qori Labs is not part of UNSAAC or LAAD.

Privacy notice

Draft for review. Check this notice with a professional before launch.

Who we are

Higher Self Forge Ltd (company no. 14045104), trading as Qori Labs, is responsible for the personal data described here. Contact: research@q-ori.pe.

What this website collects

Nothing by itself. It sets no cookies, uses no analytics and loads nothing from other websites. The form on the Take part page writes an email in your own email app; we receive only what you choose to send.

What we do with what you send

  • We reply to you, and arrange interviews you ask for. We do this because it’s in our legitimate interest to answer enquiries.
  • If you take part in the research, we use what you share as your consent form describes. You can withdraw that consent at any time.

How long we keep it

Enquiries that lead nowhere are deleted after 12 months. Research records are kept as your consent form says, and deleted when you ask.

Where it’s held

On our email provider’s servers, and on David Bentley’s devices in Peru.

Producers’ records

Records made with producers belong to them. They are covered by separate written consent, in Spanish.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your data, object to how we use it, or withdraw consent. If you’re unhappy with how we handle it, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

Contact

Write to research@q-ori.pe. En español también.

To take part in the research, the Take part page writes the email for you.

Post
Higher Self Forge Ltd, 110 Pilling Avenue, Lytham St Annes, FY8 3QR, United Kingdom

To ask us not to contact you again, email research@q-ori.pe and we will.