Education | Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffees

1% for the Elephants: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

12/30/2025

This phrase, taken from Matthew 6:3, reminds us of the value of giving without seeking recognition. It calls for quiet generosity, rooted in conviction rather than applause, where the reward lies not in visibility, but in the common good.

At Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffees, we rarely speak about our commitment to social responsibility. Not because it is unimportant, but because we believe the quality of our green coffee should always come first. However, once a year, we feel it is appropriate to share how your coffee choices contribute to something beyond coffee itself.

Why do they have a Kalashnikov in a washing station in Ethiopia?

12/14/2025

It is a question that we have been asked many times. And the truth is that in many rural regions of Ethiopia, the presence of weapons like the Kalashnikov is understood from the economic fragility of the country and the enormous dependence that exists on coffee as the main community support and source of income for thousands of families who live solely from its harvest and processing. Therefore, when producers face the risk that trucks or organised groups try to take their coffee without paying, they are forced to protect their work with the means available.

The Ethiopian economy has seen progress in recent decades, but it remains highly exposed to volatile international prices for agricultural products and limited infrastructure, which makes access to stable markets difficult. The dependence on coffee makes each harvest vital, and any loss represents a direct blow to the survival of the community, which explains why armed protection becomes part of daily life in areas like Guji, where wealth is not measured in money but in bags of coffee ready to be exported.

Burundi: Corruption at the top, hits hard at the low.

6/5/2024

Before privatizing the coffee industry in Burundi in 2008, all coffee production was under the control of the state-owned company Sogestal, which is now virtually bankrupt. As a result of this privatization, the situation of small coffee producers has deteriorated. The government, under pressure from the World Bank, transferred most of the washing stations it used to control to foreign or multinational companies, leaving small coffee producers with very little to support themselves.

Coffee is very important to Burundi, accounting for 80% of the country's export earnings and supporting the livelihoods of 55% of the population, approximately 750,000 families, the majority of whom are smallholder farmers. In 2007, the president of Burundi at the time declared that coffee belonged to the producers until it was exported. This agreement allowed them to oversee the supply chain and gave them the right to receive 72% of the revenue from international coffee sales. But in reality, little or none of that has happened.

Kenya's coffee farmers' revolution

3/15/2024

We are in the presence of a revolution, a revolution of farmers! In case you hadn't noticed, revolutions are no longer about warfare. Today revolutions are spiritual, technological or ideological. Furthermore, the leaders no longer die for their cause, but instead, seek refuge in a neighbouring country until the danger passes or they simply change their beliefs. This is precisely what has happened in Kenya, a revolution. The coffee farmer's revolution!

Although, according to our records collected over the years, we had established that Kenya was the African country where the best price per kg of cherry was paid (about 1 USD per kg). But the coffee farmers were not happy with that, and who is? We all want more, it's part of our human nature. The problem here was not greed, but rather that many of them did not generate enough income to cover their production costs. This resulted in many of them giving up coffee, in favour of more profitable crops such as avocado or macadamia.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE ARRIVAL OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN SPECIALTY COFFEE?

10/19/2022

Coffee has been traded for commercial purposes for 400 years. From there, it has spread to approximately 70 countries where it is currently grown. The Dutch were the ones who began to establish economies of scale around the production and export of coffee. Later they grew coffee in Java and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The first exports from Java to the Netherlands occurred in 1711, and the Dutch East India Company was the first multinational corporation in history and the first to export coffee on a large scale.

During these four centuries, a pattern of neo-feudal behaviour has been generated, which has forced small coffee growers to chain themselves into ultra-dependent relationships with large landowners or multinationals, which have caused multimillion-dollar profits for large companies, in addition to the concentration of land, marginalization and slavery. This is how this business model has been perpetuated until today.

COOPERATIVES IN KENYA: The key question!

1/23/2020

We pride in being very good connoisseurs of the coffee industry in Kenya and the country in general. Since 2013 we are constantly going at least twice a year (during main harvest and then at cupping/selection time); We have visited a large number of cooperatives in various regions; We know the reality, dreams and problems of coffee farmers; And it is without doubts, our favorite origin!

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.

COFFEE PRICE IN CRISIS: when a problem macro, has a micro solution.

2/14/2019

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" - Albert Einstein

In August of the year 2018, the price of coffee reached levels considered alarming by the majority of those who work in the coffee industry. For the first time in 12 years, the "C" price in New York fell below 100cts/lb. While it is true, the average price of the last 12 years is not much higher than 120cts/lb, this decline generated unprecedented reactions in the specialty coffee world, which we think is positive.

THE GREEN REVOLUTION: the Kenya Kabunyeria case

8/9/2018

During the 1960s, to increase the food production around the world, and meet the demands of an extremely quick expanding population, it became imperative to change the methodologies of agriculture.

These initiatives were called "The Green Revolution" and involved the use of high yielding varieties, higher fertilizers dosages, intensive and mono cropping, the development of highly toxic and life damaging pesticides, among others.

WHERE IS THE SPECIALTY COFFEE INDUSTRY GOING?

6/21/2018

We live in a world of constant change, everything happens quickly and technological advances make us live in a permanent pursuit of new knowledge.

Certainly, the specialty coffee industry has grown exponentially in the last five years. The progress we have seen and experienced in farming, processing, logistics, roasting and brewing are undeniable and certainly admirable. But is this level of growth sustainable in the long term? Are we neglecting quality to privilege the quantity?

RESPONSIBLE LOGISTICS AND CONSCIOUS TRAVEL

5/23/2018

Since time immemorial, people have always travelled and the world has always traded their products. But it is also true that global temperature never rose so fast as in the last 35 years.

If climate change will be held in a temperature increase of 2ºC or less (Aim of the Paris Agreement 2015); By 2050 it is estimated that 40% of all Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions will be caused by ships and airplanes only, if not properly regulated.