Ndaroini - Kenya (2020)

We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this coffee, and it is with great pleasure that we are now able to share it with you all. Not only is it absolutely delicious, it is representative of a more sustainable sourcing model in Kenya.

The FOB price paid for Kenyan coffee is amongst the highest in the world, but in many instances this money doesn't trickle down to sufficiently compensate the farmers. The result of this has been a gradual decline in the quality of Kenyan coffee, and numerous growers giving up on coffee production. Menno Simons, the founder of Trabocca (our importing partner), travelled to Kenya to meet the Ndaroini group of growers with the aim of finding a solution to this problem.

In 2019 Trabocca signed a contract with the Ndaroini to buy their entire crop for Ksh 100 per kilo as opposed to the average rate of Ksh 60 per kilo before deductions, sparking what the farmers started to call, the Kenyan Coffee Revolution!

Today the Ndaroini are the best paid growers in Kenya. Members of the group benefit from the expertise of Dr Bernard Gimichu, a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Embu, who holds a PhD in Plant Breeding and is a freelance agronomist. Dr Gimichu and his team are able to advise the growers on best agricultural practices, and the 2019/2020 harvest has seen production increase from 600,000 to 950,000 kilos of cherry, with coffee berry disease kept largely at bay. The prospect of a brighter future in coffee has seen the Ndaroini group of farmers grow by 200 members this year.

With such incentives in place, the hope is that year on year the washing station, and the coffee supplied to it, will grow from strength to strength. Our hope is to return to Ndaroini each year to put this to the test.