Ndaroini Coffee Ltd.

The story of the Ndaroini people

Ndaroini is a place of rest in the Swahili language. The Ndaroini group chose this name because they traveled long distances to deliver their cherries. After days of picking on their farms, they had to walk hours with their bags of cherries to the Gichathaini washing station. They couldn’t stay for the night and had to walk back to their place of rest, Ndaroini.

The Ndaroini farmers became fed up with the long walks. As the group grew, they dreamed of their washing station just a stone throw from their homes. The Gichathaini feared to lose the Ndaroini cherries and did everything to prevent the plans from succeeding. But the Ndaroini people finally got their washing station after years of persistent campaigning.

The group has two hero’s; the late Geoffrey Mugetha and Muthoni Maathai. In 1984, these chairmen came to terms with the government to give them 2.5 acres of land to build the washing station. In the harvest of ’84, the Ndaroini opened their washing station: to this day, one of the most celebrated in Nyeri County.

Kenyan coffee revolution

Kenya’s FOB prices rank among the highest in the world. Although this is a remarkable feat, growers seem to leave the industry. Coffee doesn’t pay to well in Kenya, and we noticed this while cupping Kenyan coffees over the years. The black-currant quality AA’s and AB’s weren’t there.

Our founder, Menno, traveled to Nyeri to find answers. He met the Ndaroini group who were blunt about the volume and quality drop. The group blamed late and low payments as reasons for departing coffee growers. They were ready for change.