Lolly Drop Espresso

I met George Waweru (pictured) in February 2024, and right away he stood apart from other managers I’ve met in Kenya. He has an effervescence that was so refreshing. George had just been promoted then from milling machine operator, but he’s been toiling at Rukira since 2002. That’s not a typo. I do mean 22 years! I met George for the first time last year, and his eagerness and energy were palpable. We chatted for a decent interval, and while he is new at management, he’s eager to learn and develop. In his caring hands, I’m heartened for the upcoming seasons of Rukira.

Now fast forward to the 2024/2025 crop (this coffee), and it’s George’s first official season running the show, and I can already see the influence of his enthusiasm. Rukira is showing strong this year. It usually lags behind its brother station, Mahiga, but this year it’s neck and neck.

George has his work cut out for him, though. Early 2025 had favorable weather and so it was easier to manage, but it’s not always the case. The problem is the coffee drying. Climate change has impacted Kenya, and over the last decade, it’s produced more erratic weather. For Kenya, that mostly means erratic rain. The rain is sometimes missing at the time it’s needed for optimal flowering to produce the best yields, and then it arrives when undesired, while attempting to dry or store the coffee. It’s hard to keep things dry in the rain! So George will have to mitigate these moving challenges, which will continue to be challenging!

On to Othaya Co-op in general, their superpower is that they are vertically integrated. So, while some factories were struggling with the government changes a number of seasons ago, Othaya and their export arm, Kenya Cooperative Coffee Exporters (KCCE for short), were enjoying business as usual. Although, the Othaya mill was a fair bit busier!

What I love about KCCE is that they operate with a fully transparent pricing structure. They take a fixed 2% fee from the total price paid by buyers. This is completely contrary to other marketing agents and exporters, who take varying and non-transparent amounts from the sale price of each coffee.