Family,
I hope you are well. I want to share with you about my recent trip back to my homeland, Burundi. My goal on this journey was about finding the best Burundi coffee, yes, but also about connecting with the amazing people who grow it and tell their stories.
Not far from the border with Rwanda, I got lucky to meet one very inspiring woman.
In the village of Mparamirundi, I met Pauline Ntaconkurikira, or as we call her: Mama Mukuru.
She is in her 70s and has grown coffee her whole life. She is an inspiring businesswoman who takes pride in her specialty coffee beans and goes to great distances (like Guatemala!) to understand coffee and improve the quality of her fruit.
Her dedication and hard work are incredible, really.
A few years ago, Mama Mukuru helped organize a women's collective, and together they built the Gitemezi Washing Station. Their group also created a fund to help each other with loans for school fees, buying land, and other family and business needs.
The coffee industry in Burundi faces many problems, with local coffee prices now lower than corn. Mama Mukuru grows coffee for heritage, not just for money.
Our goal is to work directly with growers like Mama Mukuru so we can make sure they get paid a fair amount for their hard work.
By partnering directly with her and the women's collective, we can cut out layers of middlemen and share the cost savings at both ends of the supply chain — providing stability to people like Mama Mukuru who will know that every coffee bean they grow already has a buyer, while passing on some of those savings to you.
That is our commitment and our responsibility.
We are excited about developing this partnership and telling more of Mama Mukuru's story and others like it.
When you buy our Burundi coffee, your support helps us make a difference in the lives of the people who work hard to bring us the best coffee from East Africa.
Thank you for being part of this journey with all of us.
With Love,
Mamba