Just a few days ago, I walked into a coffee shop and bought a 250gr bag of Kenyan coffee for €20 approx. While I'm happy to pay that kind of money for a very good Kenya in a bag full of tasty promises, when I got home I found only disappointment.

It is an open secret within the specialty industry, that Kenyan coffees have been in a low the last couple of years, and probably it is one of the most controversial topics right now. As you may know, Kenya is one of the most prized origins within the specialty coffee world, it is sought by importers and roasters from all over the world as an origin of outstanding quality, intense sweetness, citrus/winey acidities and velvety bodies.

We would normally cup 500+ samples from Kenya each season, between origin and lab cuppings. Maybe the right number is something closer to 1,000 samples, between February and March each year since 2016. This year the quantity was lower for obvious reasons. And while it's common knowledge among coffee connoisseurs from around the world, that there has been a disruption in the quality of this great origin, we can discuss on the causes or how much it has been affected, but I don’t think anybody that understand well the Kenyan coffee industry, can deny there is a problem.

​This disruption in quality according to our understanding, can be explained by three main reasons: (1) Climate change; (2) Introduction new varieties and (3) Failure of the Nairobi coffee Exchange (NCE) to reach farmers with proper income and farming supplies.

If you are curious on how will the consequences of climate change hit us, here in Kenya you can get a small taste of it. In 2017, the Kenyan government declared a drought national state of disaster, where 2.7 million people were at risk of famine. Although, the most affected areas were the northern and coastal counties of Kenya, where there is no coffee production, still the coffee industry got affected, especially in the central coffee regions, where the best lots are produced, because the rains were much less than in normal years.
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Here is what happens to a coffee tree during a drought. When water demand of a coffee tree is higher than supply, drought stress occurs. Drought stress causes wilting, yellowing of the leaves, advanced leaf fall, and premature fruit ripening or fruit drop.
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Kenya gain its prestige as an outstanding origin around the coffee world for many factors, including: altitude, soil type, rainfall pattern, processing expertise, overall quality; but one of the main reasons of its success was their coffee varieties. In the 1930s, SL28 and SL34 were the two most famous varieties created by Scott Labs, hence the prefix SL. These varieties produce coffees of excellent cup quality and are medium/high yielding under the right circumstances of altitude and rainfall, but are susceptible to diseases such as CBD and CLR.

Aware of the disease problem, in 1985 the Kenyan Coffee Research Institute developed a new variety call Ruiru11. The name given by the town where the station where it's was developed was located. The variety is not only resistant to CBD and CLR but also, it's an extremely high yielding variety, allowing farmers with a small plot of land (which are getting smaller by generation after generation) to increase their production significantly. Although, the intention was to develop a variety with similar cup quality to those of SLs, but the truth is that quality wise, they are very distant.

Then, Batian was developed to solve the quality problem of Ruiru 11. By the year 2010 the Kenya Coffee Research introduced this variety which is much closer to SL28 (genetically speaking) than Ruiru 11. It's also resistant to CBD and CLR but it's cup quality is much better than Ruiru11 and similar to a medium quality SL28, according to some Kenyan cuppers. The best SL28 lots are still unmatchable. We believe that the future of the Kenyan coffee should focus in lot separation by variety.

In the producing world, coffee is political. Generally coffee exports are a major income earner, and in some countries such as Burundi, coffee represents as much as 80% of the total foreign currency revenue. In Ethiopia, it represents 50% of the total.

Coffee in Kenya has become a very good business for a few people, but a very bad one for most. In the 2013/14 year, a miller owed the society more than KSh74 million for cherry and mbuni (unwashed low quality coffee) while the cooperative owed farmers more than KSh85 million. However, instead of remitting the money to the society for payments, Kenya Cooperative Coffee Exporters (KCCE) paid creditors (Sasini) KSh48 million and Kenya Cooperative Coffee Mills (KCCM) KSh25 million, leaving the farmers with nothing.

Among big investors and marketing agents around the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) there is worry. Climate change is not helping to increase coffee production neither its quality, rather the very opposite; Introduction of new varieties haven't worked the way it was expected to; And farmers are very disappointed with the crop, to say the less.

The government is searching for new ways to revive the ailing coffee sector, among them the introduction of cheap loans for coffee farmers. This will be done through a KSh3 billion Coffee Cherry Fund, farmers will be able to access with an interest rate of 3%. This comes as a wake-up call, seeing that statistics show that Kenyan coffee production for the 2019-2020 year dropped to 650,000 bags, the lowest output in over 50 years.

Something has to change in Kenya, this business model isn't working and the bubble might be about to explode.

The end.
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​There is a simple rule in the world of environmental sustainability, and this is: "If any waste or pollution of any kind is generated, someone further down the production chain will be affected and will have to pay for it."

In an industry such as Coffee, which generates revenues of more than USD100 billion a year, curiously, it is not the big corporations the ones called to lead the changes in the area of environmental sustainability; but is us! The small companies focusing on high quality coffee on the specialty niche. Although we do not contribute significantly in terms of pollution or waste and we take a very small percentage of the revenue mentioned above, we cannot wait for Nestle or Starbucks for example, to take the measures that will make a real difference in this regard. We could wait a lifetime and more for this to happen.

​Specialty coffee is not only about serving a quality cup, it also tells the story about how the lot was sourced, if an ethical price was paid to the producer, if the given traceability is relevant and honest, if the logistics are green and efficient, if the production of that lot did not include any forced or child labour, or if it generated abuse or poverty of any kind.

Undoubtedly, the cornerstone of this whole idea is quality, without it, all the subsequent philosophy falls apart. But when we get the quality coffee we want, it is essential to work on the conceptual aspects of specialty coffee and make them prevail.

In environmental matters, we have committed with two emblematic projects to which we contribute in a humble but consistent manner. We donate 2% of our annual sales to two foundations that work on the protection of Elephants in Kenya and Gorillas in Rwanda and their habitat.

We will never ask you to support us financially to give for these projects, but we want you to know that when you buy a Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffees bag, 2% of the price you pay goes directly to the protection of Elephants in various regions of Kenya and Gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

Enjoy your African coffee and protect the planet, because it is the only one we have.

​But as in all areas of life, nothing is perfect, and the Kenyan coffee industry is no exception. It is no mystery to anyone that agriculture is the cornerstone of the Kenyan economy, and the cooperative movement has a solid footprint that can be traced until just after independence in 1963.

Today, there are about 5,000 agricultural cooperatives throughout the country, and of these, 421 correspond to cooperatives of smallholders coffee farmers, with a total of 570,824 active members. The cooperative movement seeks to generate wealth, food security and employment, which ultimately results in poverty reduction; But the harsh reality is very different. With few exceptions, due to corruption and mismanagement of many boards of directors, these objectives are far from being met, and coffee farmers have been affected by decreasing their income in such a way that many have stopped growing coffee and the vast majority are very disappointed of the crop.

​The main reason for this phenomenon, is not the lack of customers who would pay good prices, because as importers or roasters, it is at this origin where those who go in search of exceptional coffees, pay on average the highest prices in the world. The problem lies in how that wealth is distributed within the productive chain in Kenya, and the inability of the farmers to question the expense of the cooperative, the miller, the marketing agent or the exporter.

On our recent trip we met cases, in which the manager of the coop at the end of the season pointed out that after selling all the coffee (at a reasonable price), expenses had been deducted and coffee growers owed money to the cooperative !!! Which also means that for the present campaign, there was no money for fertilizers, pesticides, training, etc. Generating a negative spiral of destruction which will be almost impossible to leave, unless these farmers leave coffee cultivation for other cash crops.

​This is just one example of the very many that can be found traveling through the coffee areas of Kenya. We believe that the solution to poverty, inequality and corruption in this sector is to empower coffee growers to be able to question, doubt, debate; and in this way no one will ever cheat them again. But how long will it take to make this happen? We don't know, but we're sure it won't be fast neither easy.

We can help to begin to make this change by highlighting traceability even more; "Shouting out loud" the name of those cooperatives that are doing a good job; Generating more direct relationships; And asking the key question, how much are coffee farmers receiving per Kg of cherry? An optimum in Kenya is KSH100/Kg of cherry, that is, USD1 per Kg of cherry.

​After crossing three oceans, the Suez and Panama Canal and also the Red and Mediterranean Sea, we finally have totally available in Barcelona and Santiago our new Tanzanian lots and microlots.

It took us three trips in the span of three years, to be able to find these extraordinary lots and microlots, with complete traceability to the farm or the washing station (as the case may be). Although, Tanzania has similar conditions and the potential of Kenya or Burundi to produce excellent coffees; for various historical, political, economic, cultural and environmental reasons, the local coffee industry has not managed to develop like its neighbors, and therefore, until very recently it was very difficult to find high quality coffees throughout the country.

​Fortunately, since five years ago, several private companies have begun to invest in infrastructure and support cooperatives and small coffee farmers to encourage them to produce more and better coffees. Although, at the beginning of this year the government of Tanzania put the quota of uncertainty, announcing a series of changes in the regulations of the local coffee industry.

Basically, as of July 2018, all coffee will be sold through auctions administered by the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB). As of the same date, there will be no issuance of licenses to buy parchment or cherry. The TCB will develop a certified coffee catalog where exporters will compete to buy certified coffee through the auction system.

​At first glance, these and other changes point to the establishment of the same centralized auction system with which 90% of coffee is commercialized in Kenya. But it will also be necessary to see how this new system is introduced and adopted by the various actors in the local coffee industry, and whether these changes will have an impact on the quality and traceability of the future lots that we buy in Tanzania.

Everything remains to be seen, but as always, we will be alert to inform you of any news.

For now enjoy the moment, the trip and your cup of Tanzania!

​Each year we are receiving more and more samples from producers and cooperatives in many origins around the world. This is very exciting, but also represents a challenge in terms of time and resources we need to dedicate to analyze and evaluate each of them fairly and effectively.

​Finally, evaluation through blind cupping allows us to judge the potential, identify the defects and select the best samples. It is the most influential tool when deciding which coffees will be travelling to our warehouse and going into your roasters very soon.

Enjoy your Burundi coffee!

​Kenya is divided into 47 counties, and in only 18 coffee is produced.

Nyeri and Kirinyaga are definitely the most popular counties for traders and roasters in origin. As a consequence of the above, they are also the ones that obtain the highest prices in the auctions of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.

​So the million dollar question is: why Kiambu does not have the same relevance as its neighbors in the specialty coffee market?

And the answer is not as obvious as you might think.

​If we analyze the type of cultivars used in the three counties, we find that the most common cultivated varietes (between 90 and 95%) are SL28 and SL34, which are as we have said, the ones that produce the best quality in the cup.

Let's look at the altitude, the average range of altitude in the cultivated areas is higher in Kiambu with 1860masl, followed by Nyeri with 1760m and Kirinyaga with 1605m.

Rain patterns. In the three counties are also similar, there are bimodal rain patterns which brings two wet seasons a year (therefore 2 flowerings and two harvests a year), with annual rainfall averages of 953 mm for Nyeri, 1098 mm for Kiambu and 1518 mm for Kirinyaga .

The composition of the soils is similar in all three counties. They are all red volcanic soils, rich in nutrients and organic matter.

And the processing method, exactly the same, fully washed process with double fermentation and sundried on African beds.

​The only fundamental difference lies in the annual production of smallholders (who are the ones that produce the microlots we are all seeking for) and their respective cooperatives. Nyeri being the first of the country with 6630 Tons., which represents 21% of the total production, second is Kirinyaga with 5870 Tons., representing an 18.5% and sixth is Kiambu with 2560 Tons., representing a 8% of the total country. (Statistics provided by the Kenya Coffee Board for 2012)

From the above we can conclude that the success of the "trademark" Nyeri and Kirinyaga in detriment of Kiambu, is due exclusively to a matter of quantity and therefore overexposure in international markets, and not to the potential to produce quality. From a macro perspective, the various factors influencing high quality production are virtually identical in all three counties.

To finish, just say that it is undeniable that in Nyeri and Kirinyaga there are exceptional lots, but they are also in Kiambu; It's just a matter of seek, discover and blind cupping!

Enjoy your coffee ... from Kiambu

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​With young local professionals bringing new ideas and energy, the help of foreign experts, serious government projects and planning, and the always present example of the "elder coffee brother" (Kenya); the industry in Tanzania is rising from the ashes and paving a great future.

​Today, the best lots are being produced in the area of Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Karatu in the north of the country, and Mbeya in the south. Unlike Kenya (with two harvests), in Tanzania there is only one very long harvest a year. It extends from June and can last until December, in the highest areas. Soils are volcanic and very rich in essential nutrients, perfect for the cultivation of high quality Arabicas.

​From our perspective, we are convinced that working towards strict lots separation, direct trade and building coffee-relationships with farmers and co-op's committed to quality, are the key to open the gateway of this origin, which has a potential as big as the Kilimanjaro, to produce high quality coffees.