After visiting the Ndumberi cooperative during the harvest in November 2010 we were utterly impressed by their visions and facilities. Their focus on quality in all aspects of the coffee production was not only something they preached but also practiced. This is the first cooperative we have visited that have their own cupping lab installed at the Ndumberi factory (wet mill) where they execute quality control of all the coffees being processed at their 3 factories. Therefore they have a much better opportunity to understand what they are doing right and wrong during the processing of the coffees they produce. Most other cooperatives rely on feedback from exporters or customers and to be honest that is rarely done systematically.

Ndumberi is regarded as one of the most well run coffee cooperatives in Kenya.
Their vision is to increase the quality of life of their 2600 members by increasing their coffee production and quality through training and which will lead to better prices for their coffees. The Ndumberi cooperative is therefore both Fair Trade Certified and UTZ certified. This has helped on the organizing and of the cooperative making it more transparent for their members and also helped the farmers improve the sustainability and quality of their production through systemized training.

They have also developed a credit system to help the farmers with pre-financing of farm input, school fees for their children, etc.

We have bought the coffee directly from the cooperative instead of buying it through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange. This means the farmers will get more money as they do not have to pay the auction fees. The cooperative charge 20% of the total amount for the coffee in order to cover production costs and investment costs for the wet mill where the coffee is being processed.

Although CMS (Ndumberi’s marketing agent and our service provider in Kenya) is providing the farmers with documentation on all prices obtained for their coffees, Ndumberi has invested in computers in order to make the transactions more transparent for their members. We see this as a huge benefit for the farmers as historically we know there has been a lot of corruption in the coffee business in Kenya.

Info:

Cooperative: Ndumberi FCS
Processing factory: Ngaita
Lot size: 1200 kg
Producer: Several smallholders
Harvest: December 2010
Origin: KTinganga, Kiambu, Kenya.
Growing conditions: 1700 msl. in red volcanic soil. Trees like
Gravellea, Macadamia and Eukalyptus are used to give shade for the coffee trees.
Botanical variety: SL 28 & SL 34
Process: The coffee is hand picked by the farmers and their families. After delivering the coffee to the factory / wet mill, the good coffee cherries are separated from the inferior ones. Then the cherries are depulped, the beans are fermented and washed before they get dried on african elevated drying tables. All water that is used during processing is recycled and then filtrated before it is released back to nature. The pulp is reused as fertilizer by the members of the cooperative. Defect beans are removed manually from the drying tables during drying in addition to the normal sorting during dry milling.

Taste description:
Aromas of black currants and blackberries.
Rich and juicy mouthfeel. Winey acidity.
Intense flavours of black currant, prunes and sweet tomato.
Short and refreshing finish with some tannins.

You can buy this coffee in our  webshop.

Below is a slideshow from our Trips to kenya in 2010 and one from our 2009 trip on the bottom.
Click on full screen then on “show info” to get comments on the pictures.