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Keep up to date with all our articles here. Includes information and our opinions on all things coffee related.

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Honest Conversations & Real Consequences

Ian walking in dorothys farm in kenya

Table of Contents

It’s early January, the excitement of the festive period left behind, resigned to negative temperatures and the UK’s miserable weather… we’re thankful we can escape it, for a week at least. 

🇰🇪 New Adventures - Kenya 🇰🇪

Stepping out of Nairobi airport at 6am local time, somewhat tired and disorientated, the mid-twenty degree temperature was a very welcome change, and as loyal devotees to the caffeine life we gravitate to a cafe for a much needed coffee. Its not a long wait before we are met by Peter, our contact and one half of Two Rocks Coffee.

After a quick breakfast with Peter and Peterson (the second half of Two Rocks Coffee), we make our way to the smallholders in the villages outside of Thika. From the get-go we are introduced to some of the issues facing the smallholders; some have been so disheartened by yield and the prices they subsequently get, that they are ready to dig up the trees and start farming other produce. However, through the day, as we visit the various farms, the group of farmers join in with us to see what the their peers are doing and in seeing what others in their community are doing they are encouraged by the possibilities that could be available to them. Even things as simple as mixing manure into the soil and growing other crops to diversify their income, all the way up to one of the farmers called Simon, an engineer by trade, he has introduced a biogas system using the manure from his cows and chickens as a source of fuel. On top of this, he has pumps that push the left over silage around his trees returning the much needed nutrients to the soil.

The following day, Peterson takes us to Abedare Mill, where a collective of over 200 farmers have come together to mill their dried coffee. Joining us is James, a commercial Q grader, who joined as a consultant to help Two Rocks Coffee in making sure the coffee is up to the speciality standard that we need.

At the mill, we cup some of their coffee along with James and are pleasantly surprised at the quality they have been able to produce. It’s not perfect but it gives us a lot of optimism in the potential partnership we could have and the quality that could potentially be produced. The visit is rounded off by again going to a few of the farms and again seeing how they are having to diversify in what they grow and sell given the current volatile nature of the coffee market.

Our day finishes with a meal out with Peterson, his wife, Grace and their son Kim, which provides us with an opportunity to get to know the family better. A big part of being able to source the coffee directly depends on having a good relationship with a central contact in country who shares our values and is someone we can trust and rely upon. 

So one of our goals going into this trip was to really get to know Peter and Peterson, and very early on in this relationship we already know that their hearts are very much aligned with ours, if not their choice of football teams.

🇹🇿 On the slopes of Kilimanjaro 🇹🇿

One 8 hour bus journey, a border crossing and many bumpy roads later we arrive at Machare Farm in Tanzania, Ian has been here many times over the years, but for me it’s a first. We are shown around the farm by Bente, who talks me through the process of washing and drying the coffee cherries . For the last two years I’ve seen photos, I’ve read previous origin reports, but it’s a whole new thing seeing it in person, to see the importance of things like shade-grown trees and allowing the natural ecosystem to continue to thrive.

We meet up with Thade who takes us up into the Mweka village, and after a brief swim in a waterfall, we walk through the village farms. As we go, Thade explains the difference in how the smallholders differ even to the farm just a short walk down the hill. He shows us how they prune the trees in ways that won’t inhibit their yield, of how they grow their crops in between the coffee trees and how having the shared soil benefits each of the plants. 

It seems obvious to say, but even after one day, there is a clear difference between the new relationship in Kenya to this well established relationship that Ian has built with the people like Bente at Machare and Thade at Mweka.

A classic day with EA

We start the next day with a breakfast with a clear view of the mountain, and honestly I can’t remember a better start to a day. We are picked up by Ralph and his assistant, Ishani, and go to cup some of their coffees, including a couple experimental processes we haven’t previously come across, and we get to share some of our own expertise in helping them set up their coffee machine and a bit of basic barista training. 

Our afternoon starts once again with walking up to the village with Thaddi, this time we make our way to Omi School, where last year we helped them to build a new toilet block for the students. This was quite emotional as the teachers shared their thanks and showed us the block we helped to build, and for me personally it can be easy to fall into an abstract and detached understanding that we invest into the communities, but this was a reality check of really knowing that the work we do does have a real impact to the communities we work with. We finish off our visit by returning to sit with the teachers and talk with them about what more we can do for them, so keep a look out for our post about that!

We move on to meet with the Orera Village CPU (Coffee Processing Unit) who have for many years supplied us with our ‘Mountain Top’ coffee. Sadly however, it is here that we really see the impact that the changing climate has on the crops here. Where we usually would get 30 sacks, this year they have one sack (for context, even the main Machare farm is down 80% from their average crop!), nowhere near what we would need to be able to ship it over to the UK. Whilst not having one of our favourite coffees is upsetting for us and our customers who love it, it’s nothing compared to the negative impact that not having coffee to sell has on this community. The village relies on selling their coffee to help with all the costs that come with sending their children to school, from their text books to the food they have at lunch. So not having coffee to sell means no funds to be able to send their children to school for a year, which will obviously have a major impact on their and their families future. It’s a real testament to Ian and the ethos he has built at the core of Ethical Addictions, that his immediate reaction was to ask how much they would need to be able to send the kids to school, that the children shouldn’t have to pay the price for circumstances far beyond their control. 

 

We leave the CPU with much to think about, and make our way to Thade’s house, where we meet his wife and children, and they show us how they mill, roast and grind their coffee, and whilst it’s vastly different to how we would do it at the roastery, it’s fascinating to see the same principles applied in a very different way. 

We finish the day by having dinner with Ralph, Bente and Ishani, and again it’s just a nice time of conversations and food, and another instance where it’s easy to see the relationship between EA and the farm in Machare.

Looking back, Ian and I have reflected that this day just epitomises what EA is about, 

1. Enjoying good coffee, 

2. Helping set up machines and teaching basic barista skills

3. Investing in community projects

4. Supporting the farmers in more ways than just buying their coffee

5. Building good relationships.

Honest Conversations

There are so many other things I could say but ultimately my main thoughts coming away from Kenya and Tanzania is for me this is when things became real. I have been part of the EA team for just over two years, and in that time I’ve learnt how we trade and how it differs from other roasters, I’ve seen the photos and watched the videos, I’ve even met one of our Brazilian farmers when they came to the UK. However, it’s another thing entirely to see in reality the farms and the relationships Ian and EA has built with the people in Tanzania, and the relationships started in Kenya.

But part of those relationships is being able to have honest and real conversations with people. For example in Kenya, we had to be honest that if the coffee wasn’t at the quality needed, we can’t buy it. At the end of the day whilst we want to work with them, support them and help them in their business, ultimately we care about both sides in the chain, our suppliers and our customers so we need the quality of coffee to offer to our customers. We have been encouraged by the steps that Peter and Peterson have already taken to improve their personal knowledge of coffee, and in encouraging the farmers in the steps they can take in caring for their crop in ways that will improve quality and yield.

So while there is a long way to go in our relationship with Kenya, and there is challenges to be overcome in Tanzania, we left quite optimistic about our future partnerships and look with excitement as to what the future may bring.

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Brazil House build project

Brazil Project: Renovating La Casa de Idê

A key part of our ethos as a business is investing back into the communities that produce our coffee beans, sometimes this looks like helping with equipment that helps them in their coffee production, other times it involves partnering with them by helping people in their communities who are most in need.

One of our latest projects has been working with Athos, Luiz and their friends in the community we have helped play a small part in renovating a home for a family that was really suffering with poor health and financial difficulties.

Amanda says:

“This is Mrs Ide and her daughter Adriana who has additional needs. She has suffered a great deal in her life. Having lost her husband 3 years ago and having had a heart attack herself. If it had not been for the assistance from my mother she would not have been able to survive. She has become like family to us and we are helping to give her the decent home that she deserves.  

We have completely rebuilt her home from scratch as her existing house did not have any foundations. A group we formed from the city hall as well as friends were contributing everything to the project. My family started this project to help her as her house was sinking and there was a danger that she and her house may completely sink underground. But now that group that was helping has stopped.

Thank God we have very good people in this group helping! It’s a miracle from God! I just have to thank everyone who decided to help us with this action! This is a miracle for us, there are still very good people in this world! I only have gratitude!”
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Colombia – Ian & Elliott’s Excellent Adventure

Bogata at 6am is a bustling metropolis. Street vendors sell food to the swathes of commuters whilst bike repair stands line a buzzing cycle lane full of professionals making their way to work. Crossing the road at times feels like taking your life in your hands but in truth it adds to the adventure. As a city, Bogota is a strange mix of modern high rises and colourful murals that tower above traditional houses and churches nestled at street level; and to its east the city ends abruptly meeting a wall of green mountains. The cable car up to Monserrate gives you a vantage over the sprawling city, a city full of trendy coffee shops and university campuses alive with students heading to lectures giving an air of a country ready to innovate and push forward into a better future.

GACHETA

The DNA of Ethical Addictions has always been to support small coffee producers who have great coffee but limited access to market – it’s why we trade directly; it’s why we fly halfway around the globe to sit in a restaurant with its own trout farm several hours outside of Bogota. We are meeting with Victor and Lucio, two of the smallholder farmers in the village of Gacheta.

Ian was here last year visiting for the first time but even on our return a year later it is like meeting with old friends. It’s not long before the conversation turns to coffee and some of the challenges that they are facing. There are issues around labour with many of the young people leaving for the cities, Lucio’s son tells us he is hoping to pursue a career in computer science which is just a snapshot of the issue. There are also issues around climate change, all of the coffee farmers across Colombia are praying for rains that should have already arrived. Without the rain the coffee cherries won’t ripen. There are also some issues with the current crop of trees for these smallholder communities. The first is rust – a disease that damages the leaves and fruit of the coffee trees. The good news is that there are some coffee varietals resistant to rust. The second major problem is the age of some of the trees on the farm. 

Walking around Lucio’s smallholding both of these problems are clear for us to see. There are telltale signs of rust on some of the trees, while others are struggling with the drought and others are showing their age with low yields of cherries on the branches. We see an occasional red cherry though most of them are green, longing for rainfall. 

While we can do little about the lack of rain, it is clear that one of the ways EA can invest in farmers like Lucio and Victor in Gacheta is to invest in new trees and encourage collaboration amongst the community. By buying some new seedlings in rust resistant varietals this will help rejuvenate the small holdings and in the long run lead to better quality and better yields of coffee. It also gives them a safe way for them to experiment with some more exotic varietals.

gacheta bag on location 06-min
gacheta walking lucio farm 02-min
MEDELLÍN

We have a few days before we are scheduled to travel to La Primavera to visit Francisco on his farm, so we get to take a short trip to Colombia’s second city, Medellín. 

Colombia is still a new origin for us and as we spend more time on the farms we are also keen to explore the country to help improve relationships and understand Colombian culture and history more (also we both really wanted to go).

Medellín is a city with a history (not all of it good), but now is revived to be a creative city, full of potential and opportunity. Its public transport system, links the affluent suburbs with instagram-friendly malls and onto the winding narrow alleyways of the near-vertical neighbourhoods of the comunas.

Nowhere tells this story better than San Javier (Comuna 13). This Community is testament to the resilience and innovation of its residents. Once considered the most dangerous place on earth, these streets are now bustling with tourists. There are brightly coloured murals on almost every surface and surreal sculptures emerge from parapets of houses and bars. Small shops and restaurants run up and down the maze of streets, there is even a small coffee roastery tucked away. The main street is serviced by outdoor escalators that encourage tourists up to the higher levels. Youth groups perform breakdancing routines for groups of tourists as a means of making money away from the gangs. Taking the cable car over the rest of the community away from the tourists gives you a sense of the scale of challenge still facing the city, it is clear there is still more that needs to be done. But it is a city that is no longer fearful but rather hopeful. 

LA PRIMAVERA

This La Primavera Finca (farm) is constantly looking for ways to improve their practice and respond to the various challenges of modern farming, international economics and climate change. 

At the centre of this is Francisco. To call Francisco just a farmer is to understate what he does. In truth he is a botanist, biologist, ecologist, engineer, economist and entrepreneur! As we walk around the farm Francisco explains how he is using each of the lots. Some he has stumped (cutting the older trees back to the stumps to allow new growth), in others he has started to plant newer varietals such as Tabi, and inothers he is running agronomy experiments.  

The soil at La Primavera is a challenge and drought is only making it more difficult. The farm was once used for cattle grazing which has caused problems with retaining nutrients. The dry ground is now cranking, making this retention even harder. Francisco is monitoring the soil for its nitrogen content as well as other various minerals that he is hoping various composting methods will help return some of the lost nutrients to the soil. He uses compost created at the farm (which he also uses for biogas); a series of fences made from sustainably harvested bamboo; as well as biochar which he hopes will help prevent the nutrients running off during heavy rains.

He has diversified as well. There is a bamboo guesthouse taking shape that will allow them to run experiences and retreats. And his brother us raising pigs. 

Having brought the milling to the farm he is also able to ensure the quality through that process too. As well as being able to offer milling to other farmers, including the coffee that we will get from Gacheta.

This innovation isn’t at the expense of the environment though. La Primavera is a sanctuary for all kinds of wildlife – in fact it is certified bird friendly! The coffee is shade grown amongst indigenous trees. Huge Areas of the rainforest are preserved and a host of hummingbirds drink nectar from the array of flowers that grow everywhere.

It is a very, very special place, and a priveledge to have got to spend time there.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Colombia is a nation of innovators, and Francisco is a great example of this. He is constantly striving to do better for coffee, people and the environment. He is bringing others with him. His connection and expertise make the relationship between EA and the Gacheta community work. Lending his knowledge to help improve practices not only on his own farm but also amongst other farmers too.

It is also alarming to see the impact climate change is having on these communities. Seeing first hand the impact of changing rainfall patterns and periods of drought that farmers are increasingly experiencing and the effect that has on coffee production as a result of their source of income is a stark reminder of what is at stake. 

But all of this reminds us of why we chose to trade directly and the way that relationship, even only a couple of years in, can have big impact, like being able to invest back into the farmers in Gacheta. 

We are leaving Colombia with a renewed excitement about the coffee itself, and the impact we can have. We will continue to build and invest in this partnership. And not just because it gives us a chance to visit and drink more coconut lemonade (though that is definitely a perk).

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What’s happening to the price of coffee?

It’s all over the news and people are asking this question so here’s our best attempt to gather the news and answer you.

Let’s start by letting the story tell itself – it’s been building all year. If you just read these headlines and you’ll start to get an understanding. The BBC article on smelly fruit is a particularly helpful one for further reading. 

In short, there’s been a perfect storm of events working against the coffee industry, particularly coffee farmers, mainly the robusta shortage in Vietnam and the drought in Brazil.

The Vietnam robusta shortage is pushing up demand for low grade arabica, which in turn is moving the whole market upwards. Coupled with this, the worst drought in Brazil for more than seventy years has yielded a lower harvest and that’s worrying the market as Brazil is by far the biggest producer in the world.

The problems in Colombia were evident to us when we visited in September where we saw the effects of no rainfall in two months, and the worry this is to small scale farmers.

Read our Brazil origin trip report
Read our Colombia origin trip report

Ian’s reflections on climate change sat on the La Primavera farm in Colombia.

A coffee tree struggling in the drought

The mass shortage of seasonal coffee pickers has hiked the cost of labour sometimes five-fold, and as the Brazilian economy develops there’s a movement of younger people into the cities, leaving behind family farms and creating a shortage of labour. This may well have huge consequences and cause a long-term problem for coffee production in many countries.

Sadly it doesn’t stop there. Higher demand for good coffee by consumers in India, China and other emerging economies are spreading a stretched supply even thinner. Higher global shipping prices add to the overall price pressure too.

And all this before it even gets to the UK where gas prices, higher wages and taxation play their part in the price mix.

Whether it’s Arabica or Robusta, coffee prices are at historical highs.

Check out any of the stories we linked or any news outlet of your choice to understand more on this.

BUT, it is not all bad news. What are EA doing about it? 
Our direct trade model means we are well-placed to manage this for our cusomers really well.  We secure our coffee each harvest for the year ahead, so less susceptible to monthly volatility in both the coffee and currency markets.  We buy in bulk, and we buy direct, ensuring the farmer is looked after, but avoiding the multiple additional margins along the supply chain. We also have great, long-term relationships which means we have good security of supply, getting first choice on premium, speciality crops and not being left short of what we will need for the year ahead. 

At one point we were expecting to have to pass on a huge increase per kilo!! But thankfully the market has relented a little and with shipping dropping a little along with the strength of UK currency we can manage it much better.

Whilst green beans (unroasted raw coffee) form the core price there are many other component costs for us as roasters which means the impact can be negated somewhat and whilst very real, is not as bad as it could be.

Especially the way we trade – as explained in brief above, we can secure coffee for the next season in one go by buying direct and offer our customer some price certainty in these volatile times.

Nonetheless it does mean prices will be going up soon whether it’s our daily flat white at our local coffee shop or a bag of beans from your favourite roaster (us!).

Not great news but manageable and a reminder to us all of the very real effects of climate change in our everyday lives. 

REFERENCES:

>BBC NEWS (Sept 2024): How the world’s smelliest fruit is making coffee more expensive
>Daily Mail (April 2024): Soaring cost of a cuppa is revealed
>Bloomberg (May 2024): Bad News for Coffee Addicts: Cheaper Beans Are Getting Pricier
>Reuters (July 2024): Robusta coffee prices hit record high due to supply shortage
>ABC News (Sep 2024): Climate woes contribute to slump in global coffee supply as surge in demand raises prices
>AP News (Sept 2024): Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
>Euro News (Sept 2024): Coffee prices on the boil as natural disasters decimate crops
>The INDEPENDENT (Sept 2024): Why the price of your cup of coffee is set to rise

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Brrrr! It’s getting chilly

Spare a thought for your outdoor coffee machine. As temperatures drop it’s important to
take extra care to make sure you protect your machine from the damage that ice can cause!
So here are our top tips for keeping your coffee machine toasty this winter!

wrap it up

The easiest way to help protect your coffee machine is to cover it up overnight and when you're not using it to trap some of that heat in! Blankets & boiler jackets are a great option!

give it some space

If all your insulation doesn't work the biggest problem will be the water in the boiler expanding as it begins to freeze. To minimise this, when you have turned off the machine for the night, let some steam off & once the pressure has dropped leave the steam arm and hot water taps open to stop the pressure building up in the pipes

remove your container

If you have a water container for your water supply either bring it inside or empty it out at the end of the day! Just make sure to turn your pump off first!

pumps, pipes and filters

These can be as susceptible to freezing as your machine, if not more so. Wrapping some insulation around your pipe pumps and filter can save a slow soggy start to the day! The sleeve of an old jacket can make great insulation for a filter!

pop the heating on

You don’t need to make it super warm, just keep the space above freezing! A small space heater or a reptile heat mat that can be slid under the machine can make sure that the water will never get below freezing.

don’t forget the staff

It's all well and good keeping all your equipment cozy but don’t forget about your Baristas! So make sure that they are wrapped up warm and snug (there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes!)

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A Brazilliant Time

Ian & Jack in a ploughed coffee field Brazil

Brazil; the land of football, samba and coffee!  After the 11-hour flight to Sao Paulo, the 4-hour drive to the small coffee hotspot of Machado in Sud de Minas we were greeted by our good friend Demilson.  Within an hour we are laughing, eating birthday cake and drinking beer in his kitchen, sharing highs and lows of coffee, business and life. 

One unavoidable issue is clear on a visit to a larger fazenda (farm) after lunch – the effects of climate change causing inconsistent harvests. Ideally you would get a coffee tree full of cherries ripening at the same time so they can be picked all at once.  We are seeing more and more that you will get a huge range of ripeness with some green, some beautiful reds and some with a covering of mould!  On large fazendas with more machinery and less selective picking it results in a more inconsistent crop that you can taste in the cup.  Fuelled with a punchy espresso we press on and visit the cooperative mill.  The government has subsidised the coffee industry allowing newer and more sophisticated technology to help with processing the coffee.  It is good to see the whole process with its moving parts – there is a lot of care and attention that goes into our espressos and drip coffees. 
 
The next day is all about the Sitio’s – more small scale coffee farms.  We meet Angelo who shows us around his Sitio Paradiso.  Angelo is eager to show us his new coffee fermentation which he is hoping to get a good volume of and sell at a higher price than his normal Arabica coffee.  After coffee, cheese and pao de queijo (cheesy bread) at the farmhouse we are off to visit our friends from the Jacutinga Community.  Nelson takes us up in his Gaiola to proudly show us the best view of the surrounding area – and it is pretty spectacular.  Nelson is able to share some of the issues that the community is facing and we later reflect with Demilson that these are the communities we can really help by allowing them a route to market they would otherwise be without. 
 
The few days we have with Demilson are a real joy.  The relationship with him and his family has developed from a work relationship to one of true friendship.  We laugh lots, eat good food and talk about the future plans we all have.  Coffee is a great industry to work in, full of great people who are fun to work with; Demilison is one of those guys. 
The second half of the week we are based nearby at the Caixeta family farm – Vira Mao.  Athos meets us for breakfast and greets us like an old friend – Athos has been our ever consistent contact in Brazil and it is beautiful to see how the relationship has developed over the intervening years.  Athos takes us to the large Serra Negra farm which was where his Grandmother was born and raised.  The farmhouse needs some serious renovating but has a beautiful lake and there are ambitious plans to create a boutique base for coffee tours and trips in the future. We head to Vira Mao and it is a national holiday (still no idea what for…) so the whole Caixeta family are at the farmhouse where we join them for lunch. Less like a sit down meal together and more like an afternoon with various bbq boards, games of volleyball and lots of sharing of stories. 
 
We go for an early evening walk through the coffee trees with Athos and Isaltino.  They share some of the realities of managing the farm and navigating the volatility of the coffee market. We reach the prayer bench overlooking the farm and have the privilege of praying over the farm and Caixeta family.  It’s an opportunity to be grateful for all the work together over the last 15 years, for this next crop and future provision for their families.  It is very moving to have a close friendship like this and I know this was a real highlight for Athos and Isaltino. 
A large part of the trip was to shore up our supply of Brazilian coffee for the next few years.  Having a wider pool of farmers that we know and trust gives us more security and transparency if one farm has a particularly low yield and also means we can grow as a business with increased direct trade established.  The Manaaim Community is a collection of farmers who live close by to the Vira Mao farm.  We spent some time with father and son, Valdo and David, at their farm Montana de Boa Esparanza, ‘the mountain of good hope.’  They are extremely hospitable and eager to show us the farm and their coffee.  We meet Helinho and his son Lucas at Nascentes da Serra, ‘Spring Mountain.’  They are good friends of the Caixeta family and seem like great guys.  The farm is well maintained and they are particularly excited to show us a new varietal – Arara.  It is yellow in colour, sweet tasting and is of a high quality with a high yield – a great combo! We had the opportunity to meet around 20 of the Manaaim producers the next morning at their church gathering.  It was a chance for us to communicate who we are and how we would like to partner with producers in a transparent and direct way.  We are looking forward to the coffee being harvested in the next month or so and getting some samples – watch this space. 
 
The trip culminated with several goodbyes – we take the Caixeta family out for pizza and it’s a great way to end a memorable trip.  We laugh about small moments from our time together, from Ians dodgy footie skills, my dinner table mishap and our general incompetence at Portuguese.  For me it was my first time visiting the country and my overall reflection from the trip is the importance and weight we put on the relationships we have built as a company over the last 15 years.  We have experienced real highs together with both Athos and Demilson, with some issues as well. Through honest conversations and learning from experience we are seeing the fruit of working with these great people and the wonderful coffee they produce. 
Coffee Market Updates and Trends
The main conversation we had with farmers, producers and general coffee people is the huge increase in labour costs.  The main reason being a labour shortage caused most likely by urban migration amongst younger people.  A coffee picker can now earn up to 10 times the amount of minimum wage!  From working with other coffee producing countries it is hard to see how Brazilian coffee can be competitive with such high labour costs compared to other countries.  Coffee prices are heading back up.  Vietnam, the second largest producer of coffee, is seeing a 20% drop in this years harvest.  Although 95% of coffee in Vietnam is robusta this is pushing up the price of Robusta and in turn Arabica coffee.  Environmental factors are also affecting the harvest this year.  Continued effects of climate change are causing changes to weather patterns and harvest times.  This year crop has also been plagued by leaf rust and pests attacking the harvest.  We are committed to buying the higher grade coffee that our farmers produce.  This year we are expecting that this higher quality coffee (screen 16-18) will only account for around 5% of the harvest compared to around 30% from an average year. B

More challenges and trails in the years ahead with the constant reminder that we have a responsibility to look after our planet and reverse the effects of climate change.  However we are encouraged that from an environmental, ethical and relational standpoint our model of direct trade will help steer us through whilst supporting some wonderful people and the communities they serve. 

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Origin Report: Kilimanjaro

Table of Contents

Introduction

It’s late November 2022, Ian and I have travelled to Tanzania and the slopes of Kilimanjaro to visit the farmers, smallholders and friends that grow our coffee. For EA the relationships in Tanzania are the oldest we have and are a key part of our story. Regular trips and visits to the farm and the villages have been a critical part of not only securing contracts, but maintaining friendships and identifying where we can help with projects.

In the past few years, the global pandemic has put a rain check on any plans for travel and as such there is much that we need to catch up on. Personally, this is my first trip to origin, so there is a great deal for me to learn.

Machare Farm

A few days into our visit and much of that time has been spent learning about coffee, not in a classroom or from a book, much of what I have learned were things that I thought I had understood from what I had read or been told. It wasn’t until I saw them in practice that I gained a true understanding of the magnitude, means or care given in each stage of the process.

At the farm I have seen the cherry be sorted in the syphon, pulped, washed, fermented and sorted during a second wash; I have watched and helped with the tireless process of hand sorting the beans on the drying tables. Although the magnitude and the means are impressive, it is the care that is given at every stage of the process that is truly astounding. That process begins in the nursery with the care given to the coffee trees themselves right up to the beans being milled and packed ready to be sent to Ethical Addictions for roasting.

This care also extends beyond the farm and the small holdings to the environment that they rely on. Reusing the pulped cherry as compost,growing coffee amongst the indigenous trees (shade grown), and building beehives.

Picking coffee with the Orera Villagers

Walking up to the Orera Village, that borders the top of the farm, we have had the privilege of picking alongside the owner of the small holding Laurent. Laurent is the chairman of the Orera CPU (Coffee Processing Unit) who’s sun stained EA cap is a testament to the long standing relationship between the village and us.

The same care is present on this small holding as it was at the farm. We manoeuvre around and through the trees selecting only the ripe cherries, placing them in the buckets, as we weave in and out of the maize and banana trees growing amongst the coffee.

By the end we are put to shame and our haul looks measly next to the experienced pickers. In spite of our meagre haul, the villagers are insistent that they honour our efforts. I’m told that since Ian already has a Chaga (the tribe indigenous to the mountain) name and since I picked on this small holding then I should take their name as my Chaga name so am christened Eliud Mrema (Eliud was given to me on a trip I made to Kenya where they struggled to pronounce my name).

It is a small thing but it feels like a genuine honour (even if, as I write this I still have no idea of the correct pronunciation of it). Following my naming, we take the coffee to the CPU to be pulped and washed (again with the same care as at the farm, even if the scales and methods vary.

The weather has turned, we have not long left the CPU but fat, soaking raindrops are beating down, soaking us and turning the narrow pathways though the lots of maize, coffee and banana trees into a greasy red mud. Thade our guide is ahead of us, leading the charge for shelter. When we finally arrive at his house we are drenched but smiling.

Thade’s house is further testament to the importance of the relationship EA has with the Orera Village. As I mentioned earlier, while this is my first trip to origin, this is not my first trip to East Africa, nor even its agricultural parts. When travelling in Africa, the majority of villages I have seen have consisted of almost entirely mud huts, or shacks of wood and corrugated sheet metal.

Like many in the Orera village, Thade’s house is made of brick and concrete, meaning that his family house will be safer and have greater longevity, lasting down his family’s generations. To us in the west this may seem like a strange thing to note, but it is truly a testament to what can be achieved when value is put back into farmers and smallholders, rather than the value of the crop being chipped away at by the various buyers and traders taking a cut of the profits in the markets. Sharing lunch at his house with his family is also a reminder that people and lasting, meaningful relationships are why we do what we do.

Gallery

Gallery

New Project With Omi School

It is our last stop of the day and we have made our way to the local school. We are standing outside a disused toilet block that is roped off and with good reason. The ground moves, bounces almost as though the floor is sprung. They were built on the caves in the mountain, the school’s principal explains but as the cave has eroded above and without the proper drainage, they are concerned that the floor could collapse at any moment. She taps her foot for emphasis and the floor shifts again. To the side of one of the toilets the floor has already given way and an unpleasant odour rises out of the pit.

These had been the boys toilets but since the threat of the toilets collapsing into the cave below, they have been using a new block of toilets that had originally been built for the girls. While the shell of that new block of toilets had been built by the government, the school had been left to find the funds to properly finish them. It seemed like this was something that we as EA should help with, especially since eighty percent of the children from the Orera village attended Omi School.

Climate Crisis - Kilimanjaro

Waking up we walk onto our veranda, looking up at the garden of our guest house at the Machare Farm. Our gaze is fixed far beyond the garden’s end.

It’s still cool, though in the short rains it won’t reach above the mid twenties. A veritable orchestra of different birdsong have already begun the dawn chorus that will continue throughout the day, such is the quantity and variety of life that teems in the trees that bathe the coffee farm in shade.

Beyond the rainforest, further up the slopes, who’s evaporating dew snakes lazily through the canopy. Our gaze is firmly fixed on the bank of cloud that is rolling away like a theatre curtain being drawn back, as though nature itself were taking joy in the theatrical, revealing of its own majesty. Kilimanjaro!

It stands dominating the landscape. The recent rain on the farm has translated as snowfall on the mountain. Its white cap is seemingly at odds with its tropical surroundings. It is hard not to be overwhelmed by its beauty. And yet, while we revel in this view and this moment it is also tinged with sadness.

The mountain’s summit slides out of view, once again obscured by a bank of cloud. The summit will reappear from time to time throughout the days, though its sudden disappearance of the snow swept slopes seems apt. The timing of the visit rides on the coattails of COP27. The conference being held on the African continent places a great deal of emphasis on the impact the climate crisis is already having on developing nations.

Much of the climate science published in the build up to and during the conference shared the same lens. Not a month earlier we had read a report that by 2050 a third of the world’s glaciers would be gone, including the Kilimanjaro glacier, the one we had just watched slip behind a bank of clouds.

The loss of the Kilimanjaro glacier is more than a matter of aesthetics. With the current rainfall the rivers that border the Machare Farm and through the Mweka villages, flow freely. The water bowsers for storing water and distributing it among homes are full. However when the rains stop, these rivers that feed all the life on these slopes, providing water to farms and farmers, rely on the glacial melt waters to flow year round. Without the glacier in the dry season there is a good chance the rivers will just vanish.

Conclusion

Leaving Tanzania it felt like we had packed a lot into just a few days. I had seen how the farm and the small holders worked, I had been astounded by the care that went into producing the coffee and had witnessed the impact of direct trade on the small hold farmers. We had spent time refreshing relationships and we had the possible beginning of a new project.

I’m returning to the roastery with a new sense of why the DNA of EA and what we do matter, both in the impact on the coffee and those who care for it at every part of its journey from farm to cup.

Elliott has been with EA since 2020. He is a big fan of hats, fixing stuff, skiing and alternative milk! He enjoys a pourover or cheeky flat white.
Elliott profile image
Elliott
Bean Machine!
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Prices changes – December 2022

I’m sure you have been expecting this, and so I will not give a long explanation about all the global crises and cost pressures we are all facing, particularly fuel, energy, wages and the weak pound given all coffee comes from overseas.

I do however want to say you should have noticed we have held our prices all year despite growing costs everywhere – this is because of the unique way we buy our coffee and secure it annually from the harvest, hence not price sensitive month-by-month. So even whilst other costs were rising we had a solid base price for coffee for our customers. That said, there has been pressure on us from other suppliers, particularly energy, and we have had price rises  ourselves throughout the year. We have held off as long as we can and with gas particularly, let alone all the other costs we are unable to avoid this any longer.

With shipping costs, gas costs and many other increases it is inevitable that now coffee  prices are going up. Other items are simply price increases passed on from our suppliers of cups, hot chocolate, tea, etc. and will be item specific. Where we have been able to hold prices we have.

We are committed to being  effective and sustainable as a business, but also remain deeply supportive of both our customers and producers. We value not only your business but your friendship too. As such this is always a reluctant move by us, but please note these price increases represent only about 2p per cup of coffee, something we hope you can easily offset by modest menu price changes yourselves.

We also believe we continue to offer exceptional value, not  only in the quality of our speciality coffee, but with added value through the provenance of the coffee itself, and the support services we offer in-house with servicing, advice and training.  Delivery remains free for most orders, and we are removing the temporary fuel surcharge. And as I hope you know we do not operate on greedy large margins, so as we have in the past, when energy or  production costs fall we will maintain fairness and reduce prices in line where possible.

I trust you understand.  Please know how much we value each and every one of our producers and customers, and we remain firmly committed to supporting these relationships from farm to cup.

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Reflecting: coffee prices, environment & relationships…

Reflecting: coffee prices, environment and relationships

Coming back from South America I have been reflecting a little on what we do, how we do it and why out direct trade approach is so important to us. I have also returned with a lot of new information running around my head with regards to how climate change is dramatically affecting coffee, and how the current perfect storm of global crises is forcing unprecedented upward pressure on coffee prices. I alluded to this in the previous origin reports but here is a little more depth to what is going on.

Just search ‘coffee supply problems’ online and you will get plenty of results from the past year explaining the myriad of reasons from climate change and low yields, to logistics and the fuel crisis. Let alone the war in Ukraine and massive inflation globally affecting everything from packaging, gas for roasting, delivery costs and of course wages.

The start of the issue at origin is summed up by the BBC News article published 25/07/2022:

The problem for Brazil, and world coffee supplies in general, is that last year the country’s annual crop plummeted by almost a quarter due to a drought across its main coffee growing region . . .

The knock-on affect has been a global reduction in coffee beans supplies, and a subsequent doubling in wholesale prices since this time last year.

Coffee demand, supply and prices

Obviously here in the UK we hear the news from our perspective and how it will affect us – whether we will be able to get a cup of coffee and how much will it cost – but seeing and hearing first-hand what is happening from the other end of the supply chain, from the farmers perspective, has left us pondering the next 18 months.

Harvest is down, there is potential of more frost (or other issues brought about by climate change), the coffee market is up, fertilizer comes from Russia and has jumped in price, pickers wages are up, and all that before you get the challenges we face overseas since container freight prices have skyrocketed, and fuel prices here are affecting roasting and delivery costs.

Conversely, will global demand be down because of the war in Europe, or because of the inflationary pressures on our disposable income? As with most of the cost and price challenges coming about in our lives right now, it is all somewhat unknown.

Oh the complexities of our globally connected world, and the precariousness of our environment right now!

How are EA dealing with this?

As in all things we promise to be transparent and honest with what we know; and the reasons for any changes we make.

Thankfully, given the way we buy coffee, we’ve secured most of our coffee for the next six months or more, which gives us some protection from the current instability in the market and inflated prices, but it’ll be interesting to see how things develop.

We expect prices to remain high for all the reasons discussed here, and so our prices are inevitably going to have to go up too. If coffee remains high, logistics remain complicated and expensive, fuel for roasting is insane, then add packaging, delivery costs and wages – there’s only one realistic outcome.

We are always reluctant to do so, and we will resist until we have to, but we won’t compromise on coffee quality, looking after our farmers, or ensuring we provide excellent customer service.

Reflecting . . .

Business in itself can be done by email, but relationships just need to be in-person, so it was so good to be with our friends in Colombia and Brazil.

Certain facts and knowledge can’t be gained without seeing it for ourselves, and there are conversations and learning that simply can’t happen by phone or email.

As we discovered meeting Angela in Bogota, some opportunities just come in the moment. And again in Minas Gerais the new opportunities for working with small sitios just wouldn’t happen without us walking the land and talking with different farmers.

It reminded us and reinforced our passion for people, for doing business well and that high value that we place on true and honest relationships, from farmers in coffee origins through to great customers in the UK.

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What the chaff!

Coffee chaff is a natural waste product from roasting coffee beans, but we don’t like the word ‘waste’, so wherever possible we get creative around the mantra of reducing,  repurposing and recycling.

It is natural, clean, dry and soft . . . and we have lots of it. But actually, chaff can be repurposed rather than being thrown away:

Compost. Chaff is organic, light and mixes well with other compostable contents. It’s best to layer it (as with most composting) with food waste, existing compost, a little cardboard. grass cuttings and more. Coffee chaff is rich in nitrogen and so not only enriches soil but helps vegetables like tomatoes grow well.

Even better, it also helps to ward off slugs and snails – they can’t stand the smell of coffee.  So make sure you put your used coffee grinds on your garden too!

Animal Bedding. Chaff makes great animal bedding for pets like chickens and rabbits. It’s easy to handle, clean and soft. 

We currently give it away for FREE, so if you want some pop in to the roastery and just ask!

Whilst you’re here you might like to know we’re also keen to see other items repurposed or recycled. We’re working hard to do the best we can across our whole business, and you can read a bit more on the link below.    

Coffee Sacks. Those beautiful jute or hessien sacks we buy our coffee in – we get 100s a year so if you want some for upholstering, a craft project, your allotment carpet or anything else we have plenty available. 

Coffee sack liners.  Similarly, the coffee (60Kg) comes lined with very strong sacks that have dozens of uses and plenty of life left in them. 

Pallets. We get a lot of pallet deliveries and only send some of them back out, so we encourage upcycling them into garden projects.

Polystyrene. This is a nightmare product but sadly still used for packaging expensive coffee machines (and we sort of understand but wish there as a better option).  When we have any it’s available free for gardeners and model-makers, or to insulate your shed.  Come and ask, we’ll gladly give it away FREE. 

We’re also keen for suggestions where we can be even better so get in touch.

Read more in our environment section here
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