Harvest has started on Mt Elgon, East Uganda.

We've just ordered a full year of coffee from Tom and his growers at the Mt Elgon Coffee Cooperative. Every bag of it.

Here's why that matters.

In conventional buying, coffee can change hands 6 to 8 times on the commodity marke before an importer even gets it. Growers sell their cherry on the day, for whatever price they can get. Often that's up to 50% less than what we pay.

Our relationship with Tom works differently. Before a single cherry is picked, we agree on a price that gives up to 200 families a sustainable income. We pay cash upfront. No middlemen. No guessing what the season will bring.

That's relational direct trade

How it's picked

No strip picking here. The cherries are picked by hand, only when they're ripe, and the trees get worked over weeks.

It's slower. It's also why the coffee tastes the way it does.

What happens next

Once it's picked, the cherry goes through the wet process:

Pulped. A mechanical pulper squeezes the bean out and strips the skin and pulp.

Fermented. The beans rest in water tanks for 12 to 48 hours while natural enzymes break down the sticky layer.

Washed. Clean water rinses it all away, and the beans are graded by density.

Dried. They're laid out on raised tables until they reach around 12% moisture.

Translation: no shortcuts, which is how you get a clean, sweet cup.

That gets us to parchment. Then it's off to the mill for 9 more steps, until it's loaded on a ship bound for Aotearoa.

All up, it's a process that takes several months. We'll keep you posted along the way.

You make this possible. Every bag you buy is what lets us order a full year upfront and put a great price in the hands of the people who grew it.