Guchienda estate was established in the early 1950s by Elikana Njiru Guchienda. The original 12-acre parcel of land was allocated to Elikana by the elders of the Embu community. Elikana planted the first 1,200 coffee trees on the estate in 1963. After Elikana's death, the farm passed to his son Stephen Mati Njiru and his wife, Esther Wanjiku Kamau, who expanded Guchienda by planting more than 4,000 additional trees, most of which are the esteemed SL-28 variety. The estate delivered their coffee cherries to the Kibugu Farmers Cooperative Union until 1997, when Stephen invested in the construction of a washing station on the farm. This equipment enabled Guchienda to retain more of its coffee's value and to exercise more control over cup quality. Esther Wanjiku Kamau and her sons Edwin Kamau Mati and Benson Njiru Mati took over operation of the estate after Stephen died in 2015.

Edwin and Benson—both graduates from top universities in Kenya—use their talents to build on their family's legacy. The brothers bring fresh energy and an openness to new ideas in coffee production that have resulted in quality improvements. In the coming years, they plan to acquire more land and experiment with new and improved production and processing practices.