Gaturiri Nyeri ML 30kbg Box

The story behind Gaturiri Nyeri ML 30kbg Box

The vast majority of the coffee bought and sold in Kenya is traded through the national auction system, where marketing agents enter cooperatives' and estates’ coffee and traders come to bid. The main buyers from this auction system are large multinationals, who then offer the lots to importers and roasters. Unfortunately, this has been the only way to purchase Kenyan coffee for a long time and we’ve become frustrated with the lack of transparency, poor service and price volatility. In the last couple of years we have started buying directly from the auction using a local Kenyan company, who bids on the coffee on our behalf, after we have cupped through auction samples filtered by a local cupper. This was not only a conscious decision to support local, Kenyan businesses, but also to make the supply chain more efficient and save money, in order to pass on those savings to roasters. We hope that these savings help increase the presence of Kenyan coffees on roasters’ menus. This is intended to be the first part of a plan to work on the transparency limitations in Kenya.

Gaturiri is a Kikuyu word for “the shrubs” and refers a place where people collect medicinal herbs for humans and livestock. The Gaturiri factory is located in the Nyeri region on the Southern slopes of Mt. Kenya. It is affiliated with Barichu Cooperative Society. Gaturiri serves about 1,500 small scale producers and produces approximately 600 tons of cherry. Fresh river water from the Kirigu Riveris is used during processing. The Barichu Farmers Cooperative Society is located in the Mathira East Sub-County in Nyeri county. It is currently composed of four factories, Karatina, Karindundu, Gaturiri and Gatomboya. It was registered in October 1996 with the Cooperative Development and Coffee Board of Kenya.