The finest Kenya coffees are grown on the richly fertile slopes of Mount Kenya, around 120Km north-east of Nairobi in the districts of Muranga and Embu. As the ground is too rugged for large scale farming, coffee is mainly produced on family garden plots or smallholdings, the coffee cherries being sold to separate mills or factories, most of which are under co-operative ownership.

The traditional system for selecting coffee was through the Kenyan Coffee Board's national Tasting panel. As each farmer only produces small lots, the mill blends many smallholder lots to achieve a specific taste profile. Each week through the harvest season, samples of the production are submitted to the official Kenyan Coffee Board Tasting panel who assigns a grading to the coffee according to its quality.

Although this state of affairs has achieved good prices for the farmers in the past, traditional commodity channel prices have fallen which directly impacted on standards and thus the quality of Kenya coffee. Furthermore, we identified that the auction system was not providing farmers with sufficient means with which to improve production.

As such, we have chosen to identify and work directly with farmers which share our passion for quality and excellence - and to ensure they receive the right price for their labours and delicious coffee.

Our current Kenya AA selection comes from the Rianjagi Farmers’ Co-operative. This group is made up of 1,295 members spread over 11 villages, with its main administrative centre based in the town of Ngandori. The Rianjagi Co-operative has recently invested heavily in improving its facilities as it is applying for UTZ Kapeh certification*, a fact which attracted us. Better waste management – from the pulped cherry and waste water following coffee bean fermentation and washing stages – new drying tables, offices and documentation of labour codes mean the co-operative conforms to the UNION Code of Conduct.

Since the co-operative began trading in 1998 (after splitting from a larger, more centralised co-operative), the prices it has paid farmers has varied wildly as it is hit from fluctuations on the world markets. Happily, prices and working capital have increased, particularly as the quality of Rianjagi’s coffee has allowed its farmers to achieve a higher price by allowing it to target speciality coffee buyers. Now it is working directly with us, as an artisan roaster with a vested interest in improving this quality further, we will be investing further to help it sustain its advantage and ensure ever higher payments back to its farmer members.

Rianjagi provides a number of services to its farmers, including credit for expensive farm inputs such as fertilisers, cash advances on smallholder harvests and providing marketing and accounting services. Its chairman, Albert Mwaniki Kinyugo is committed to “producing the highest quality and quantity coffee with the highest payment through good management.” Through our sustainable premiums, that we pay direct to the farmers outside of the auction process, UNION is providing the necessary support to help make this a reality.

* UTZ Kapeh is one of the largest coffee certification programs in the world. It provides independent assurance of responsible production and sourcing. UTZ creates opportunities for farmers to improve business practices and meet market expectations.