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Tanzanian coffee farmers enjoy fruits of their labour
2005-10-08 07:12:29
By Guardian Reporter
Thanks to a TechnoServe quality-improvement initiatives, once-struggling farmers are seeing their coffee features in the ’Tanzania Kilimanjaro’ brand being launched today by Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
This marks a milestone for the hard-working rural growers whose beans are exclusively used in this limited-edition offering.
It also underscores the economic benefits of the quality-driven changes TechnoServe has helped the farmers enact.
Peet’s new, limited-edition ’Tanzania Kilimanjaro’ product marks the first time that coffee produced by members of the KILICAFE farmers association is being marketed as a single-origin coffee in the United States.
TechnoServe helped create the association (also known as the Association of Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffee Growers) in 2001 and has steered the members’ transition to higher-quality products that yield higher profits.
This work is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Farm Africa and private donors to TechnoServe.
’Tanzania Kilimanjaro’ contains the highest quality beans produced by 10 of KILICAFE’s 90 member farmer groups, representing 839 small-scale coffee farmers.
The groups contributing to the sale were Amkeni, Dohom, Leguruki, Messe Ngarony, Mrimbouuwo, Ngaramtoni, Nombeko, Shari, Kyeeri and Mrawi.
These farmers received a 50 per cent premium over the price the farmers obtained for their average-quality coffee sold at a national coffee auction.
The high price paid by Peet’s for this premium coffee translates to tens of thousands of dollars of extra take-home pay for the farmers.
’The debut of ’Tanzania Kilimanjaro’ is a ringing endorsement of this coffee’s quality by a pioneer of special coffee in the U.S.,’says Bruce McNamer, president and CEO of TechnoServe.
More importantly, it shows that the hard work and willingness of these farmers to invest in their future, coupled with TechnoServes’ active involvement and strategic guidance, is paying dividends.
The result is improved standards of living for the farmers and their families, which also benefits their communities.
The direct sale to Peet’s, bypassing the national coffee auction, was made possible by a 2003 regulation that allows direct export of Tanzanian coffee and therefore enables farmers to enhance their profitability.
KILICAFE was the first organization to be licensed by the Tanzania Coffee Board to export specialty coffee directly to overseas buyers.
It has since sold more than 300,000 pounds of high-end coffee to buyers in the United States, Europe and Japan.
’The farmers win by moving up the value chain, earning more for their efforts, and Peet’s wins by getting our pick of the top quality coffees they produce,’ says Doug Welsh, vice president of coffee for Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc.
’Most satisfying for us as coffee roasters is knowing how much our customers are enjoying this superb limited-edition of coffee.’
TechnoServe has been helping KILICAFE farmers groups to boost their income, assisting with developing business plans, acquiring loans for the purchase of processing equipment and establishing market linkages with overseas buyers.
TechnoServe’s coffee experts have also trained the group’s staff on coffee quality and financial management.
The principal focus has been on increasing the quality and value of the farmers’ product, using refined techniques and new equipment.
The farmers pick only ripe cherry coffee, which is delivered to new village-based ’central pulperies’ instead of being processed individually by the farmers, who lack proper equipment.
At the ’central pulperies,’ the cherry skin is removed and the coffee beans are washed in the clear waters that run off Mount Kilimanjaro and then dried on raised tables, where the beans are covered to protect them from the intense afternoon sun and night-time rain.
Finally, the dried beans are taken to a coffee mill, where their parchment shells are removed and the beans are graded and bagged ready for export.
’TechnoServe has supported us to set central pulperies, which has really improved the quality of our product,’ says William Shao, KILICAFE Chairman.
’TechnoServe also helped us to install the equipment and to make other improvements in the way we process coffee and run our operations.
We have become better at doing business and it is already paying off with sales such as this one to Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
We are very proud that our coffee is featured in their ’Tanzania Kilimanjaro’ product.’
The farmers are investing their higher profits in improvements to their facilities and farms, as well as in their health and in their children’s education.
About TechnoServe: TechnoServe helps entrepreneurial men and women in poor areas of the developing world to build businesses that create jobs, income, and economic opportunities for their families, their communities and their countries.
About Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc: Founded in Berkeley, Calif.
In 1966, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer of fresh, deep-roasted whole bean coffee for home and office enjoyment.
Peet’s fresh-roasted coffee, hand-selected tea and related items are sold in several distribution channels including specialty grocery and gourmet food stores, online and mail orders, office and restaurant accounts and company-owned stores throughout the United States.
For information about Peet’s Coffee & Tea, visit www.peets.com or call 1-800-999-2132.
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