Producer: Gloria and Jarmo Gummerus
Farm: Sakami Coffee
Region: Kitale, Trans-Nzoia County
Variety: Batian, SL-28
Process: Honey Anaerobic
Altitude: 1800 masl
Harvested: 2022/2023
CUPPING NOTES: Blackberry, red ripe fruit, tropical fruits, floral rose, brown sugar.
Transparency.
What we paid:
-Coffee: 14.59€/Kg
-Shipping: 0.18€/Kg
-Packaging: 1.50€/bag
Quantity bought: 120 Kg
Meet the farmer.
At the base of Mount Elgon, in western Kenya, lies Sakami Coffee, founded by Gloria Gummerus, a Kenyan native, and her husband Jarmo, who originally hails from Finland.
Sakami was initially a corn contract farm in 2004, but in 2011, they shifted their focus to coffee production after Jarmo introduced Gloria to his newfound passion for coffee, which he discovered during his travels to Rwanda. The idea of cultivating coffee had always intrigued Gloria, and she was excited to pursue Jarmo's suggestion. Together, they planted seedlings on a 16-hectare plot of land and named their farm "Sakami", inspired by their daughters' names, Sheila, Saar, and Nakami.
Since then, the farm earned a reputation for its strict quality control measures and is also a local pioneer in adopting circular agriculture practices.
The whole estate is equipped with drip irrigation, using solar pumps and spring water for irrigation and washing. They intercropped macadamia trees between coffee while preserving all indigenous trees in and around the farm. The wetland is also protected by not interfering with it. The farm avoids pesticides or herbicides and creates natural bush sections around the coffee trees. Beehives are also kept around the farm to promote pollination. The farm feeds all waste, such as coffee pulp and macadamia husks, to earthworms, and the worm castings are returned to the field as manure or used to make foliar feed. The farm also uses mineral fertilisers to replace the nutrients taken away when harvesting cherries. Lastly, the water used to pulp and wash the coffee is treated with lime and then used to irrigate the pasture below the ponds.
Sakami dedicates its resources to growing the best possible coffee and securing consistent quantity and quality during the growing season up to the picking, pulping, fermenting, washing, and drying.
Sakami’s goal is not just to expand their farm. Gloria also wants to empower women and encourage them to be independent. To support this mission, Sakami has female and factory managers who are role models for other women. They also employ a team of hand pickers consisting of over 100 women.
Process.
After hand-picking only the ripest cherries, the coffee was dry-fermented in an anaerobic environment in cherry for 24 hours, then depulped and dried on raised beds for 14+ days.
