CENAPROC (Central Asociados de Productores de Café) stands as a testament to founder Pedro Patana’s vision of community. Out of necessity and hardship, Pedro and his wife put down roots in Bolivia’s remote Yungas region. They were the first in the area to plant coffee alongside other essential crops, steps they took to sustain their family. In 1992, they founded the CENAPROC cooperative with the goal of advancing coffee production among their neighbors.

For decades, Pedro’s dedication has been a driving force behind CENAPROC's success. His focus on quality, organic practices, and resource sharing have been pivotal in improving coffee production in his community. Today, CENAPROC has approximately 50 members and is one of the most recognized cooperatives in Bolivia. The group continues to navigate significant logistical challenges that present a real and present danger to their supply chain and livelihoods.

The Kazoza N’Ikawa cooperative, established in 2012 in the Kayanza region of Burundi, embodies the spirit of its name, which translates from Kirundi to “the future is coffee.” The cooperative consists of over 900 smallholder producers who deliver their coffee cherries for processing at the Mpemba washing station.

The coffees from Mpemba—both washed and natural processed—are among our favorites in all of East Africa and are reflective of the group’s dedication to quality. Kazoza N’Ikawa is part of a cooperative union called COCOCA that helps them prepare their coffee for export and connects the cooperative with international buyers.

ANEI is a cooperative in northern Colombia committed to sustainable, organic coffee farming. Established in 1995 by indigenous Arhuaco leader Aurelio Suárez, ANEI unites over 700 smallholder farmers from diverse indigenous and rural communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá regions. The cooperative is dedicated to producing high-quality, organic coffee while preserving the rich cultural heritage of its members. Their initiatives emphasize traditional farming practices that honor the environment and support the economic development and sustainability of their communities.

In 2012, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) launched a project to connect coffee growers in Nariño, Colombia, with the specialty coffee market. Counter Culture joined the advisory board, helping develop new value streams. Before this, most producers sold their coffee for minimal premiums to two large buyers. The project enabled them to form associations and sell directly to quality-focused buyers, creating a new business model in the region. Since then, the groups have grown and further differentiated their coffees through various processing methods and varieties. The Borderlands project stands as an example of international aid driving lasting economic change through community empowerment and the specialty coffee trade.

Montefrio is a coffee farm located in Huila, Colombia, near the Tolima border. Owned by third-generation coffee farmer Hector Rivas, the farm has grown from 4 to 200 hectares, with 70 dedicated to coffee. Hector and his wife are trained veterinarians specializing in cattle and the family manages part of the land as a potrero (cattle farm). Recently, Hector has focused on enhancing the quality and logistics of the farm's operations, which employs around 100 people during peak harvest. Additionally, he maintains 18 hectares of organic coffee production.

Orgánica is a cooperative of 150 smallholder farmers in Cauca dedicated to sustainable coffee production. Over the past two decades, they have become a model for Counter Culture’s sourcing goals. Despite immense pressure from a productivity-driven market and the challenges of smallholder farming, Orgánica has consistently prioritized quality over conventional productivity metrics. They champion organic farming, promote biodiversity, and innovate, creating their own fertilizers and implementing irrigation systems. Their dedication to improving soil health and coffee quality is reflected in the exceptional flavor of their coffee and makes them one of the most inspiring groups we work with.

Carlos Torres Burbano and Angela Patiño Findlay founded Toldopamba Coffee to help producers enhance coffee quality, adopt sustainable farming practices, and tap into premium markets that value both. We first connected with Carlos, a coffee producer's son, through his work on the Borderlands Project. Passionate about farm diversification and coffee processing, Carlos travels across Nariño, linking producers with roasters willing to pay for top-tier coffee. Angela, a licensed Q grader, manages Toldopamba’s quality control lab, tasting each delivery throughout the season. She assembles containers that meet their high standards, reserving the best lots for premium sales. Their lab closes a key feedback loop, helping growers improve quality over time.

Aquiares Estate, one of the oldest and largest coffee farms in Costa Rica, was established in 1890, shortly after the nearby railroad to Limón was completed. In the 1990s, employees were given the opportunity to purchase homes from the farm, leading to the creation of the Aquiares community, which now features its own school, government, and church. This unique relationship has fostered a passionate and committed workforce, whose talent is evident in the quality of Aquiares coffee. The farm also maintains high environmental standards, becoming the first Carbon Neutral certified farm in Costa Rica.

We first connected with Aquiares through our partnership with World Coffee Research. Aquiares operates one of 10 trial plots testing WCR’s F1 Hybrids across three countries. These trials, involving 10,000 hybrid plants propagated at CATIE, an esteemed agricultural research institute in Costa Rica, will help determine which F1 Hybrid varieties best improve productivity, disease tolerance, cup quality, and climate resilience. This research is vital for the future of coffee, and we are proud to support it.

The Muungano Cooperative, located in the South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, derives its name from the Swahili word for "togetherness." With over 4,000 members, the cooperative produces organic and fair trade coffee. The region’s rich volcanic soils, high altitude, and abundance of Bourbon varieties grown under shade create an ideal environment for high-quality coffee. 

Under the leadership of manager Daniel Habamungu and the elected board, Muungano is deeply committed to sustainability, with a strong focus on gender equity. We’ve witnessed their dedication firsthand during our visits, and they have applied for (and received) more Seeds grants than any other supplier we work with. The cooperative’s ability to thrive under challenging conditions caused by regional instability is a continual source of inspiration for Counter Culture. 

While serving as a professor of Economics, Roberto Jimenez was asked by a friend from an NGO to help improve a grant proposal for a project aimed at teaching coffee growers better processing techniques. When the project received funding, Roberto was invited to lead it. His work took him to Peru, where he learned about coffee processing techniques, which he later introduced to farmers around Loja.

In the years that followed, Roberto helped secure another grant to support exporting operations led by small farmers, a project that eventually evolved into the cooperative Fapecafes. He worked with Fapecafes from 2000 to 2010 before founding Capamaco Trading, a company focused on quality coffee exports. In the past decade, Ecuador has seen a surge of specialty exporters, many of whom offer high prices for premium microlots. What sets Capamaco apart in this competitive market is Roberto’s deep, personal connection with the farmers, rooted in years of collaborative work and shared experience.

Eladio Chamba and his family cultivate 3 hectares of coffee on their farm, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, in southern Ecuador. Planted with excellent varieties and situated at high elevation in a dry climate, the farm benefits from slow cherry maturation, enhancing the coffee’s sweetness. Though the farm has been in production for the past 20 years, it wasn’t until 2015 that Eladio Chamba started focusing on specialty coffee. He found success almost immediately, placing in the “Best of Loja” cupping competition in 2016, where we first encountered his coffee. Since then, we consistently purchase the majority of his harvest. The family also reserves a small lot annually to enter in quality competitions, where they continue to excel.

Alejandro Valiente is a 4th generation coffee farmer who grew up around the coffee business. As a young man, he took an interest in the then new specialty coffee movement. He was inspired by the challenge of improving the quality and sustainability of his family's farm. Alejandro spent several years working with a specialty exporter in Nicaragua to deepen his knowledge of the specialty coffee sector before returning to El Salvador to establish Cafenor. 

In 2020, Cafenor began construction on a wind and solar powered mill in Metapan, which processes his coffee alongside coffee from growers in the surrounding area. The region’s unique cool and breezy microclimate slows cherry maturation, improves coffee storage conditions, and harnesses wind power. This combination results in better quality and a lower environmental impact. 

One of Alejandro’s goals with Cafenor is to create a coffee business his daughters, Monica and Valeria, can be proud to carry into the next generation. They are currently actively involved in the business,  managing export operations and sustainability projects. Cafenor has recently achieved carbon-neutral certification, furthering its commitment to continuous improvement and ensuring its sustainability for future generations.

Founded in 1966, Cooperativa Cuzcachapa was established to enhance the social and economic conditions of its original 56 members through cooperative efforts. Today, the group counts over 1300 members and exports over 15 million pounds of coffee annually, making it one of the largest coops in El Salvador. 

We were introduced to Cuzcachapa through our partnership with Fernando Lima, a member of Cuzcachapa and the owner of Finca Santa Elena, who also serves as the president of the cooperative’s oversight committee. The cooperative supports its members, including Fernando, with competitive financing, technical assistance, and robust export infrastructure. 

In 2017, Ture Waji, Egata Alata, and Fedhesa Wedesa founded Dambi Uddo Agro Industry PLC, a coffee production, processing, and export company named after the coffee-growing town of Odo Shakiso. The business launched in 2018 with a natural-sundried processing site, complete with dry milling machinery, in Suke Quto village. Shortly after, they established an 80-hectare coffee farm in Dambi Uddo. The company later rebranded as Sookoo Coffee, meaning "Gold" in Amharic.

Sookoo Coffee processes their own coffee and uses their farm’s infrastructure to buy and process ripe cherries from local smallholder farmers. We collaborate with Sookoo to source and process coffee from a select group of quality-focused farmers in the village of Okolu. Sookoo adds significant value through pristine processing, excellent transparency, and communication.

Ato Wodessa Yachisi, a seasoned entrepreneur, launched Guji Highlands in 2012 after a decade of success in the coffee industry. He founded the company with family members. Their estate spans 150 hectares, cultivating coffee under a biodiverse, shade-grown canopy, mirroring the natural conditions where coffee first grew wild in Ethiopia. They also runs an outgrower program, processing cherries from nearby farmers. Recently, they established 13 additional washing stations across Guji that adhere to the strictest cherry selection and processing standards. With their own state-of-the-art dry mill near Addis Ababa, Guji Highlands’ vertical integration ensures rigorous quality control from farm to export and consistently delivers top-tier coffee at scale.

The Jabanto group was established in 2017, following changes in Ethiopian coffee policy that allowed smallholder farmers to directly export and sell their coffees. Since then, Jabanto has expanded to over 90 members, with two main groups based in the Yirgacheffe and Kochere districts of the Gedeo region. The group benefits from the support of G Broad Trading, a small exporter founded by our friend, Getu Bekele. G Broad assists Jabanto members with the complex processes of obtaining export licenses, arranging logistics, and maintaining organic certification.

In the Gedeofa language, "Jabanto" means "stronger together," and the group's members embody this by working closely together in all aspects of processing and exporting their coffee.

Kata Muduga is a multifaceted cooperative union made up of 85 member cooperatives, 48 of which specialize in coffee production. Many of their coffee cooperatives emerged from a famously successful economic development project implemented by the non-profit Technoserve in 2009. Prior to this project, coffee from the Jimma zone was often considered low quality and sold for low prices. Technoserve's project significantly improved this situation by organizing farmers into cooperatives, investing in centralized processing facilities, and providing training in quality practices. This led to a dramatic improvement in coffee quality within the first season, and over the years, key cooperatives like Duromina, Nano Challa, and Yukro have become renowned names in Ethiopian specialty coffee.

The Kata Muduga cooperative union was established in 2016 to coordinate the export operations for its members. It is staffed by several former employees of the Technoserve project and helps members access to more competitive financing and leverage their collective buying power to purchase agricultural inputs at scale. 

The Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) is a collection of 28 cooperatives serving over 45,000 coffee farmers in the Gedeo region of Ethiopia. Though YCFCU is the third-largest union in the country, Yirgacheffe is arguably the most well-known Ethiopian coffee growing region to consumers worldwide. The union’s primary role is coordinating financing, logistical support, and market access to its members. Coffee production is the main source of income for the region’s population and YCFCU provides essential support for Gedeo’s farmers. 

The Asociación Sostenible de Café de Guatemala (ASDECAFE) is a second-tier coffee organization founded in 2013. It represents over 1,000 members from eight cooperatives across the Huehuetenango and El Quiché departments. The organization is dedicated to environmental protection, fair profit distribution, and business transparency. They have built strong customer loyalty through their high-quality standards and organic practices, a reflection of their deep commitment to both people and the planet.

The Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Desarrollo de Concepción Huista (CODECH) was founded in 2000 with the mission to purchase and export coffee from small farms surrounding the town of Concepción Huista. Initially, like many cooperatives of that era, CODECH exported generic blends consisting of hundreds of growers’ coffees. However, in 2009, the cooperative began a significant transformation with the support of Atlas Coffee Importers. This collaboration introduced rigorous quality control measures and enabled CODECH to distinguish and market higher-quality community and single-farm lots for premium prices.

CODECH’s success is rooted in their commitment to quality, transparent sourcing, and strong grower relationships, which have established them as a leading cooperative in the region.

Born and raised among coffee plantations, Max Pérez was acutely aware of both the risks and potential within the coffee industry. Driven by a desire to “make the coffee dreams come true,” he founded Finca La Hermosa in 2010 with the support of his family. Situated on the slopes of the Acatenango volcano, his coffee farm benefits from fertile volcanic soils that nurture a diverse range of coffee varieties. Max remains committed to refining the farm's organic management practices and exploring innovative processing methods, ensuring that Finca La Hermosa continues to thrive and produce exceptional coffee.

Finca Nueva Armenia is the epitome of a picturesque, bird-friendly, and biodiverse farm. Located just outside La Libertad and only five kilometers from the Mexican border, it’s nestled in a crevice between two towering peaks of the Cuchumatanes mountain range. 

Twin brothers Jorge and Javier Recinos, third-generation coffee growers, manage their family's land in Huehuetenango––a property purchased by their great-grandfather before coffee was introduced to the region. In the 1940’s, their grandfather planted the first Bourbon-variety coffee trees on Finca Nueva Armenia. Thanks to regular pruning, many of these original trees still thrive today. 

In the 1990s, while studying agronomy and environmental engineering, Jorge and Javier fully committed themselves to the farm. Their studies introduced them to organic agriculture and cemented their belief that organic practices were a perfect continuance of their family's farming philosophy.

"La Voz que Clama en el Desierto," meaning "the voice crying out in the desert," reflects the cooperative's mission to support its members through adversity. Established during Guatemala's civil war in 1979, the cooperative primarily serves the Tz'utujil indigenous community, which is deeply committed to preserving its language and traditions for future generations.

From its inception, the cooperative has been dedicated to organic coffee production and takes pride in sharing its processes with those unfamiliar with coffee cultivation. Through ecotourism, they actively educate visitors about every aspect of coffee production, fostering a greater appreciation for the extensive effort involved in producing and exporting high-quality, organic coffee.

Since the late 1990’s, Manos Campesinas (Manos) has been a leader in providing service and care to thousands of smallholder coffee producers. As a second-level organization uniting 15 associations, Manos is committed to building resilient coffee communities throughout Guatemala. Operating in coffee-growing regions such as San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu, and Sololá, Manos excels in collaborating with producers and associations to promote sustainable, high-quality, organic coffee production—at a level of impact that is unmatched in the country. 

Counter Culture relies heavily on Manos for a substantial portion of our Guatemalan coffee, which are the backbone of both our year-round offerings and single-origin selections, including Sipacapa, ASUVIM, and San Miguel. 

Marysabel Caballero and Moisés Herrera, owners of Finca El Puente, are among Counter Culture's oldest and best partners. Though Marysabel was born into a coffee-farming family, she didn't initially inherit her own land. She was encouraged by her parents to explore different career paths, but her heart always yearned for coffee. Fate intervened when she met Moises Herrera, a Guatemalan accountant working for a coffee company in Marcala. They fell in love, married, and established Finca El Puente together in 1996.

Their dedication to producing top-quality coffee quickly paid off, winning Honduras' first coffee quality contests and setting new standards. Today, Finca El Puente is renowned for its innovation, growing rare coffee varieties and experimenting with unique processing techniques to continually improve their coffee production.

Finca Pashapa is an organic, family-owned coffee farm located in La Labor, western Honduras. Established in 1965 by the Salazar family, the farm originally focused on sugarcane before diversifying into coffee cultivation. Today, the 60-hectare farm is managed by six siblings––Yeny, Roberto, Oscar, Mauricio, Yesenia, and Mirna. Roberto manages sales and also serves as the general manager of Cocafelol, a local cooperative. Mauricio is in charge of production, while Yeny handles finance. In addition to their coffee operations, the family operates several local businesses, including stores, restaurants, and a small inn. They are dedicated to organic production, using self-made fertilizers and maintaining a robust shade system.

KaadKaapi is a collective of Indian coffee farmers dedicated to producing wildlife-friendly coffee. Located in the lush Western Ghats of southern India, this group of farmers cultivates coffee in harmony with the region’s rich biodiversity. They specialize in high-quality, shade-grown Arabica and Robusta, often intercropped with spices like cardamom and pepper. KaadKaapi’s dedication to quality, sustainability, and animal welfare has helped elevate the profile of Indian coffee both nationally and internationally.

Kamavindi Coffee Lab has been a long-time dream of Peter Mbature, one of our closest collaborators in Kenya. Situated on Kamavindi Estate, a third-generation coffee farm in Embu run by Peter and his siblings, the lab serves as a learning hub for farmers to deepen their understanding of coffee quality. Inspired in part by Counter Culture’s training centers, Peter envisioned a space where farmers could engage in sensory analysis and see firsthand how different farming and processing techniques lead to higher quality coffee. 

In 2024, Peter obtained an export license and began facilitating exports for the farmers he works with through Kamavindi Coffee Lab—a unique model in Kenya, where most sensory analysis and exports are controlled by a few multinational companies in Nairobi, far removed from the coffee-growing regions. Kamavindi Coffee Lab brings quality control and export capabilities closer to farmers, empowering them to take greater control of their coffee's value.

In 2012 Counter Culture began working with small estate owners near Mt. Kenya to establish a more direct and transparent purchasing model than Kenya’s typical export routes allow. The vision was to work more directly with individual estates and also connect them to one another, facilitating knowledge sharing that would improve quality. These autonomous growers named the alliance Kushikamana, Swahili for "connected.” Since the project began, we’ve seen quality steadily improve and the group grow in size. All of the Kenyan coffee we purchase comes from members of this group, with farmgate prices negotiated directly with growers. 

Mayan Harvest, founded by Rosalba Cifuentes in 2017, connects her hometown of Bella Vista, Chiapas, Mexico, with specialty coffee roasters worldwide. Rosalba's passion for coffee is driven by her mission to elevate Mexican coffee's standing in the specialty coffee industry. The company sources coffee from small farms, including her own family's, focusing on traditional varieties like Bourbon and Typica that offer exceptional flavor profiles. Rosalba’s journey from restaurant work in Berkeley, California to leading a successful coffee company is inspiring and a testament to her determination and vision.

Red Fox Coffee Merchants is an importing company based in Berkley, California. They are deeply immersed in their supply chains and have offices in Lima and Oaxaca to support their work at origin. Red Fox supports farmers by paying prices well above the local average. They meticulously cup small lots and blend by quality and community, offering distinctive offerings for their clients. In Mexico, their ground-up approach has established robust supply chains and made it possible for us to purchase coffees in Oaxaca, Chiapas and Puebla that would otherwise be out of reach. Their focused approach to go deeper, rather than wider, is rather unique in the industry and we proudly support their mission. 

Founded by Claudia Lovo and Tim Willems, Bridazul’s mission is to connect smallholder farmers across the Nueva Segovia region with international buyers. Though Bridazul in its current form is relatively young, their small team draws on their deep experience in the coffee industry to create real and lasting impact for the producers they work with. Among the many services they offer are financing, quality control, milling and export logistics. 

Their passion for sustainability goes beyond farm practices with a particular focus on building a community of like-minded individuals throughout the entire supply chain. One unique way they foster this community is by offering week-long coffee farm training sessions. These immersive training sessions bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds to share knowledge and build connections through hands-on farm work. 

The Cinco de Junio cooperative, located in the department of Madriz, is our longest-running partnership in Nicaragua. We first tasted coffee from Cinco de Junio in 2009, when a graduate student spending his summer working with the Fabretto Children’s Foundation sent us an unexpectedly delicious sample from one of the producers in the co-op—whose coffee would go on to take 2nd place in the 2010 Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence! Counter Culture has been working closely with the cooperative ever since. 

Cinco de Junio is made up of roughly 130 smallholder farmers who share a passion for organic coffee production. This group has overcome significant challenges over the years related to both the coffee business and political turmoil that has affected Nicaragua. When times were tough, they doubled down on the collective strength of their members and focused on improving the quality of their coffee. In recent years, the cooperative has purchased land to centralize drying coffee and invested in quality feedback loops to help members improve. This work has breathed new life into the group, and they’re poised to grow both their membership and the impact they provide to their local communities. 

Finca La Victoria is a medium-sized estate located in Dipilto, Nicaragua. The original owners of Finca La Victoria first planted coffee in 1872. Mario Martin Lovo and his wife, Nelly, purchased the farm in 2007, not knowing it had once belonged to his great grandmother, Helena. Since then, the Lovos have expanded the estate to nearly 60 hectares by acquiring additional nearby parcels. 

Along with growing the size of the farm, the Lovos have made steady improvements and renovations over the years. An exporter by the name of Caravela introduced us to the Lovos in 2017 and still plays an integral role each season by offering agronomy support, quality analysis, and exporting services, as well as the critical task of drying La Victoria's coffee. 

Sabio Coffee is owned and operated by the Ferrufino family based in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. In their own words, “We are a vertically integrated coffee operation that produces, processes and exports specialty coffee directly from our farms in Nicaragua to the rest of the world. Through research, innovation, experimentation, and sustainable practices, we continue to push the envelope on our quest to produce the perfect cup of coffee.” Sabio Coffee is one of the largest estates we work with. This scale allows them to handle all aspects of the coffee process on-site, including milling, exporting, and importing, which is unique in the industry. 

Finca Nuguo, a small farm situated in Jurutungo, Panama, is managed by Jose Gallardo, his family, and a dedicated small staff. Finca Nuguo specializes in producing exceptional lots of the storied Gesha variety. Since Jose began managing Finca Nuguo in 2014, Counter Culture has worked closely with him, and the coffees we purchase from the Gallardos have consistently been some of the best and most exciting coffees in our lineup. 

Finca Nuguo has won numerous awards at tasting and barista competitions around the world and once held the world record for the most expensive coffee ever sold at auction. In addition to their impressive quality, the Gallardo family is deeply committed to sustainability, drawing inspiration from the nearby La Amistad International Park in Costa Rica. 

Founded in 2005, the Incahuasi Valley Cooperative unites nearly a dozen communities to promote specialty coffee production in a region known for its difficult terrain. Despite the challenging hikes needed to access remote coffee-growing valleys, the cooperative has successfully connected its dispersed members through the commercialization of high-quality coffee.

Coffee quality is meticulously managed at a central warehouse and quality control lab in Andahuaylas, located about four hours from many producers. While some farmers process coffee on their own land, most cherries are centrally collected and processed to create community lots.

The cooperative collaborates closely with Red Fox, whose approach in Peru emphasizes working with cooperatives rather than bypassing them. This partnership has fostered strong supply chains focused on community empowerment.

The members of Valle Inca are dispersed around the small community of Calca, a key market hub and one of the last stops for travelers heading into the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Señor Jose Prudencio, a producer himself, leads the collective by organizing quality assessment, coffee storage, and transportation. After several years of operating as a loosely organized group, Prudencio formally organized the members into a cooperative exporting organic and Fair Trade coffee in 2020. 

Valle Inca’s members are spread across the Yanatile and Lares river valleys. Despite the distance between them, they stay connected through basic infrastructure. While dirt roads often fall into disrepair and are prone to landslides as they wind along the steep valley walls, most farms are linked by walking paths, making roads unnecessary or impractical in many areas.

CENFROCAFE (Central de Cooperativas Cafetaleras de la Región Norte del Perú) is a cooperative based in Jaén, Peru established in 1999. The cooperative has a large membership base, encompassing over 3,000 farmers across the Cajamarca and Amazonas regions of northern Peru. The cooperative emphasizes organic farming methods and fair trade principles to ensure fair prices and better working conditions for its members. 

In addition to coffee production, CENFROCAFE invests in infrastructure and training, enhancing members’ technical skills and farming practices. This support enables farmers to achieve higher yields and produce better-quality coffee, contributing to the cooperative's success and influence in the global coffee industry. Through its efforts, CENFROCAFE plays a crucial role in supporting the local economy and promoting sustainable development in northern Peru.

Origin Coffee Lab (OCL) is a Peruvian explorer based in Cajamarca led by the husband and wife team of Jose Rivera and Mariagracia Echeandia. Since starting in 2017 with just 25 producers, they have expanded to over 400, significantly broadening their international market reach. OCL is committed to enhancing farmers' lives through quality-based premiums and fostering long-term buyer relationships.

As their influence has grown, OCL has extended its support to other cooperatives and producer organizations across Peru, focusing on quality control and market access. Sustainability is central to their mission; they manage farmer’s organic certifications and offer training on farm management, processing techniques, and financial literacy. Their efforts have earned Jose the Specialty Coffee Association’s sustainability award in 2023. OCL has become one of Counter Culture’s largest suppliers and we work with few others whose values align so closely with our own.

Ikawa House is an exporter and service provider started in 2019 by Laetitia Mukandahiro and Uzziel Habimana–two longtime veterans of the Rwandan coffee industry. Based in Kigali, the company offers a range of support to small cooperatives and private washing stations including marketing, quality control, logistics, and more. Ikawa House also owns and manages Ruronzi Farm in the Karongi district. 

Laetitia and Uzziel believe that extraordinary coffee is born from a combination of nature's gifts and meticulous care. During the off-season, they offer training courses on cupping and quality control to engage and educate young Rwandans in the country’s growing coffee industry. 

Roots Origin is a Rwandan social enterprise that sources and exports coffee from over 800 farmers in the Western Province of Rwanda. Founded by Gilbert Gatali, the company is dedicated to both agricultural excellence and social impact. Gilbert has a long history working in coffee in the region. Originally from Canada where his family settled as refugees, Gilbert later returned to East Africa to reconnect with his roots. Almost by accident, he stumbled into the coffee business and went on to become a pivotal player in the reimagining of the Rwandan specialty coffee sector by way of the PEARL project. He is currently the executive director of the African Fine Coffee Association 

In 2018, Roots Origin began processing coffee at the Intango coffee washing station located in the Karongi district. Intango has several meanings in the Kinyarwanda language, but is most often associated with the concept of new beginnings. When a traditional home is built, the round foundation is constructed first, which is called intango. 

Kawacom is ECOM’s Ugandan coffee company established in 1996 and operating in several coffee-growing regions across the country, including the highlands of Mount Elgon. The company sources coffee from thousands of smallholder farmers and specializes in producing a diverse range of high-quality exportable coffee. Their quality control processes at their mills and innovative washed, natural, and honey processing methods craft unique flavor profiles that showcase the quality potential of Ugandan coffee.