Our Specialty Estate release for September 2024 is an absolute stunner from Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This month’s release epitomises why we’re so passionate about sharing coffees from micro-lots around the world; they change people’s lives!
“After years of conflict and civil war, our Fairtrade-certified coffee promotes working together for a better future”
The SOPACDI co-op who produced this month’s beans is a collective of farmers from the Kivu region in the Eastern Congo. Formed with 19 founding members in 2001, turmoil in the area prevented production until 2008, however, since then peace and stability has allowed the co-op to blossom to over 5300 producers. Women make up 29% of this membership and their coffees have been Fairtrade certified since 2011with the co-op’s goal being to improve the lives of its members through coffee cultivation.
Despite being the 4th most populated country in Africa, however, amenities such as running water, electricity and even roads remain scarce in the area. Workers led incredibly humble lives, yet now feel “full of hope” as “for the first time, we have good buyers for our coffee who buy from us directly.” Leveraging their size has allowed growers to set fairer asking prices for the high-quality beans they grow whilst also ensuring producers can continue safely producing quality crops to revive the DRC’s specialty coffee industry.
Furthermore, SOPACDI allows local producers to unite and commercialise their beans for international export, instead of having to transport it abroad themselves or risk their lives smuggling coffee across Lake Kivu to barter for foods and goods. This means families have been able to stay together and communities are able to focus on rebuilding which remains the ultimate privilege to their people.
The climate and soil conditions of Kivu are ideal for producing exquisite coffee. With elevations of between 1600-1800 masl, rich volcanic soils and warm, tropical weather allowing coffee cherries to ripen slowly on the trees to develop greater flavour complexity. Cherries are hand-picked when ripe and will undergo a fully washed processing, having the fruit removed before seeds, before they are fermented in open air tanks for 12 – 18 hours. The fermented coffee is often soaked for a further 8-12 before washing and, when necessary, receiving another round of soaking. They are then dried in the sun for 20-30 days.
Reading this in September 2024? Grab a bag here.