Kenyan coffee farmers could soon sell their beans directly to Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, thanks to a deal brokered by the U.S. ambassador and the Kenyan president.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua announced the deal Sunday at a church service in Mukurweini, a coffee-growing area in central Kenya.
He said Ambassador Meg Whitman agreed to help introduce Kenyan coffee to Starbucks after meeting with President William Ruto last week.
“We thank President William Ruto for his intervention. We had a meeting with American Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman and she agreed to introduce our coffee to the world’s largest coffee chain Starbucks,” Gachagua stated.
Gachagua said the deal would eliminate middlemen who have been exploiting farmers and reduce the quality of Kenyan coffee.
“They will be buying our coffee directly. Some of the buyers have been using our coffee to blend their products and increase the quality of coffee produced from other countries. We want to remove the middlemen and brokers from the chain,” he stated.
He said selling directly to Starbucks would ensure farmers get the full value of their premium coffee, which is highly sought after by consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere.
“The people who consume the coffee are in America and they love our coffee. We have told them that they should come and take our coffee in its original form and trust me they will be buying our coffee forever,” he added.
Gachagua has been on the forefront fighting cartels in the coffee sector. The government has allocated KES 7 billion to support coffee reforms and improve farmers’ incomes. Recently, the Cabinet approved an additional KES 4 billion to increase the advance payment for farmers from KES 20 to KES 80 shillings per kilogram of cherry, the raw coffee fruit.
The deal could benefit hundreds of thousands of smallholder coffee farmers in Kenya who have been struggling with low prices, high production costs and climate change.
