Coffee Story
This year, our limited summer blend Daydream pairs an incredible Burundi coffee, Turihamwe from the Ngozi, Burundi washing station, with a washed field blend from Honduras' Comayagua region.
Burundi, Turihamwe
Turihamwe (full name, Turihamwe Turashobora) is a washing station in Ngozi, Burundi — the first and still the only women-owned washing station in the country. The name means “together we can” in Kirundi, the language of Bantu, and its founding story reinforces it— the station was financed and founded by 7 women farmers who pooled ~$100,000 to invest in this venture after attending a financial training program lead by our export partners, JNP. Today, they purchase and process cherries with exceptional quality and precision from over 2000 farms in the region.
JNP Coffee, is led by Burundi-born Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, who has devoted her career to improving incomes and profitability for smallholder coffee farmers. Over 18,000 farmers work with JNP, and benefit from projects and programs such as financial literacy training, a groundbreaking cost of production research program, and access to working with us as one of their roasting partners.
Honduras Sueños de Buena Vista
This field blend of Parainema & IH90 is grown in Buena Vista in the beautiful Comayagua region of Honduras by three smallholder producers Lesli Inestroza, Elsie Livercita and Dyvin Arnaldo. Once picked at peak ripeness from the producers' farms, the cherries are floated to remove damaged or underripe seeds and are de-pulped on the same day. The de-pulped coffee undergoes dry fermentation for 30 hours in concrete tanks or plastic barrels placed in the shade. After fermentation, it is washed with clean water and then dried on raised beds inside solar dryers for an average of 25 days.
Our inspiring long-time importer, Semilla, operates in small villages along the Montecillos mountain range in La Paz and Comayagua, where coffee cultivation has long been the primary income for these smallholder communities of growers and producers. Unfortunately, as is the case in these regions, small-scale producers often sell their coffee cherries to intermediaries, receiving low prices that hinder reinvestment in their farms, families, and community. Many struggle to cover labour costs, forcing some to sell their land or migrate to cities or the U.S.
The rural farming community faces challenges like land loss due to foreign investments in livestock and agriculture, exacerbating economic inequality in Honduras. Semilla aims to change that and establish sustainable prices through open discussions with growers, ensuring they can invest in quality coffee to support their livelihoods. By prioritizing direct relationships with specialty roasters like us around the world, we send funds straight to smallholder communities, allowing them to utilize resources as they see fit.
