Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2017

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

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K E N YA I'LL BE HONEST WITH YOU: For the fi rst fi ve years of visits and buying, I didn't feel all that great about doing business in Kenya. In sharp contrast to our buying in Ethiopia, our "direct trade" practices felt far from ideal. Our practices were merely on par with everyone else's—hardly direct. Acceptable, pretty good even, but not exemplary. Yes, we went to the cooperatives and farms; yes, we talked with them about farming practices, special processing, and even pricing, but we didn't have a real handle on the fi nancial side of things, at least as far as the individual farmer was concerned. It never seemed like the locals were the ones who ultimately benefi tted from the stellar quality coming out of their hard work. Even in the years that we were paying upwards of $7 a pound for green coffee, farmers would still bitterly tell me that they weren't receiving enough. It also seemed that locals were all-too-rarely in charge, and when they were, they often seemed to be regarded as corrupt. My visits always made me question why we were there and whether or not we were actually making a difference. A GOOD GAMBLE Three years ago, we decided to take a risk. We forfeited our status with some exporters in favor of working mostly with a Kenyan-run, cooperatively and farmer-owned exporter. Enter Kenya Cooperative Coffee Exporters Limited (KCCE), led by the venerable Lucy Murumba and Phyllis Nganga. Phyllis is the head of commercial sales and quality control. It took no time at all for them to understand and meet our strict milling and timing expecta- tions. More importantly, they already understood the type of integri- ty-based business we wanted to run. Working with Lucy, Phyllis, and KCCE means that we now have actual relationships (not just transient interactions) with farmers. Finally, I feel like our Kenya buying aligns with our ethics and practices everywhere else. ON THE FLY (CROP) Between that big change and the recent addition of our cold-coffee program, our need for Kenyan coffees has really jumped. Our cold sys- tem is so unforgiving that only the best coffees make it into our kegs, often Kenyan and Ethiopian coffees. Demand has increased so much that during Kenya's 2016–2017 main harvest, we actually couldn't fulfi ll our volume requirements with our existing relationships. That's why I returned during their mostly overlooked early crop (aka "fl y crop," or "bumper crop") in June. Buyers rarely visit during this time, so there I was in Kenya, the only buyer in sight, idealistic and full of hope like it was my fi rst trip to Africa. Opposite page, top: Githiru Chairman Peter Gitonga and his newly constructed shade over the skin drying tables. Below: The Othaya chairmen discussing the coming season with Phyllis. Or telling fi sh tales? Not sure. This page: Years and years of records live at most of the mills. If you're curious about ou urn amounts, milling numbers, or farmer payments, all you go a do is ask. 41 www.baristamagazine.com

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