Kiangundo | Kenya

Plump, ripe blackcurrant and redcurrant, with plenty of rich sweetness. There's stone fruit and red apple acidity and some nice black tea aromatics.

Kiangundo is a washing station – or factory, as they are called in Kenya – established in 1974 and located in Nyeri County in the Karatina Municipality. It is one of four active washing stations – along with its sisters Guchuiro, Ichuga and Kiangungo – owned by the Kiama Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society (FCS). Kiama is made up of over 2,100 producers who farm in Kenya’s central highlands.

Kiangundo receives coffee cherries from about 690 (520 male and 170 female) of the cooperative’s members who grow coffee trees on nearby farms, located between 1,700-1,900 meters above sea level. The factory manager is David Kamau, who has been overseeing the collection and careful processing of the coffee cherries for the last two years. Besides David, Kiangundo employs five permanent staff members and an additional eight workers during the season.

Kiama CS was formed in 2005 when two existing cooperatives merged into one. Most of their 2,100 farmer members inherited their farms from their parents who were members of those cooperatives. Kiama now owns five washing stations, one of which – Inwagi – functions solely as a collection point. Kiama FCS supports its farmer members by offering pre-harvest financing, allowing them to plan and invest in the upcoming crop. They also buy inputs in bulk and distribute them to members at a lower cost than otherwise possible.

Kiama has six members on its board, which is currently overseen by Chairman Charles Nolamburi Ngure and Senior Manager Iddah Rose Wangui Kigathi. Board members must be active farmers and are re-elected every three years, to avoid corruption. The cooperative employs 23 permanent staff members, who work out of their office in Nyeri town, some 150km north of Nairobi.

Responsibly sourced by the excellent team at Melbourne Coffee Merchants.