Kenya Kikai Cooperative Society Coffee

Wholebeans only. Our second release sourced through a new relationship with Vava Coffee. A totally juicy peaberry lot with everything you expect from a great Kenyan coffee. Red and black currants, pomegranate and raspberry.

• CULTIVAR: Batian, SL28, Ruiru 11, SL34, K7, K34
• PREPARATION: Washed
• LOCATION: Namwela Division, Western Kenya
• ALTITUDE: 1700 - 1850 masl

Kutere factory is one of two wet mills operated by Kikai Cooperative Society in Western Kenya. The factory is located in Namwela division on the southern slopes of Mount Elgon and lies at the Kenya-Uganda border. The Coop is managed by an elected board of 9 members and currently has 12 permanent members of staff who are headed by a Secretary Manager. The Secretary Manager oversees the day to day running of the Coop under the supervision of the board. Between the two wet mills, the Coop has a membership of 2,333 smallholder farmers. As well as growing coffee, the farmers have also diversified into dairy farming, setting up a milk cooling plant as well as biogas installations on some farms.

Red, ripe coffee cherries are selectively hand-picked and then delivered for wet milling the same day to avoid any unwanted fermentation. The coffee is then de-pulped, fermented and washed before the parchment is sun-dried.

We’ve been reluctant to buy Kenyan coffees due to the inequalities in the trading system there which enable the majority of profits to be funnelled away by multi-nationals. That is, until we heard of Vava Coffee. Vava Coffee is a Certified B-Corp with a social enterprise business model that has a network of coffee producers in different regions of East Africa. The company aims to contribute to better future prospects for coffee communities and the industry as a whole and are geared towards sustainable livelihoods for the people and communities they work with. Located in the picturesque Kajiado county inhabited by the calm yet courageous Maasai community, they work in this atypical coffee growing region to influence and transform communities by providing economic empowerment opportunities using coffee - through trade, education and capacity building with a sharp focus on elevating the opportunities for women and girls in these communities.