Ndaroini Receives Counter Culture Direct Trade Certification

10-19-09

We’re excited to announce that our fresh Kenya Single Lot from Ndaroini in Nyeri, Kenya, has just qualified for Counter Culture Direct Trade Certification (CCDTC). The first of our Kenya Single Lots to meet all CCDTC criteria of communication, price, quality, and transparency, this lot of Ndaroini was purchased directly via the “second window” from the Gikanda grower cooperative.

For many years, Kenya’s small-scale, artisan farmers were required by law to tender their annual coffee harvests to a weekly auction in Nairobi, where coffees are sold to the highest bidder. Traditionally, most of these lots are bought by exporters, who then mix them into proprietary blends. Even so, we have for years gone directly to the bidders to secure pure, uncut auction lots that represent the most authentic, delicious expressions of Kenyan coffee. Recently, however, a “second window” opened in Kenya up to allow quality- and relationship-focused buyers like us to form direct partnerships with grower communities and collaborate on ground-level quality development and direct purchasing. As evidenced in the cup, our direct work with Ndaroini has yielded rich rewards.

Ndaroini, which resonates with classic Kenyan flavors of blackcurrant, tropical fruit, and dark chocolate, represents not only the astonishing skill and craft of Kenya’s coffee farmers, but also the tremendous quality made possible by direct, transparent relationships between coffee partners.

Best,
Mark