farmer stories

Ethiopia Galeh

Most of this information comes directly from the This Side Up website which can be found here.

Limu Kossa is a private estate that extends its knowledge to surrounding farmers in order to be able to support them with higher prices and is an astounding example of agro-forestry where coffee grows as close to wild as commercially possible. 100% certified organic.

Since 2017, the start of the partnership with This Side Up they were able to achieve the following:

2017: partnership born, first microlot created for This Side Up, plans to export surrounding farmer lots established for next season.

2018: naturals and washed lots of our Galeh microlot imported. Giday Berhe visited This Side Up on his second ever trip to Europe for the Producer Crossover and to create a thorough outgrower training program.

2019: created an Ethiopian first: a single farmer lot by one of the farm’s trusted outgrowers, Sultan Ba’wari. Imported both Grade 1 and Grade 4 estate lots – the latter serves as one of our prime “base blends”.

Cherries are hand picked by seasonal pickers on the estate. On delivery, all cherries are pre-screened by controllers, after which lots are separated into the washed lots (early and mid season) and naturals (late season).

fully washed: hand-picked, pre-sorted, floated, pulped, wet fermented for 12 hours, soaked and washed, dried on raised beds and dry-milled all under the supervision of the farm owner, Giday.

Find the cupping information here

Brazil Capricornio

Most of this information comes directly from the This Side Up website which can be found here.

Luiz Saldanha and his partners established Capricornio to breathe new life in five regions in the southern states of Paraná and São Paolo, which until the 1960s, were one of the country’s most vibrant coffee producing regions. Due to terrible frosts and the rise of the major coffee regions up north, its production stagnated, leading many coffee farmers to move north, leaving their farms underdeveloped. Now, due to climate change, these regions have become attractive to farmers again, but hardly anyone saw specialty potential.

That is until Capricornio found 20 passionate farmers and started the Four Seasons project: they helped them turn their farms into modern, ecologically sustainable farms and process their coffees to the highest standards.

Because of its uniquely low latitude (around the tropic of Capricorn at 23ºS), coffee here endures more stress while developing. This leads to large, slowly ripened cherries with surprisingly complex cup profiles, similar to what happens at higher altitudes

Next to single estates and microlots, Capricornio makes  blends from their partner farmers according to roasters’ desired cupping profiles, called “Signatures”. In this they are unrivalled in creating annual cupping consistency.

World class when it comes to processing experimentation and spreading good processing practices: anything from pulped naturals to controlled yeast fermentation – we want our other partners to learn from Capricornio how to perfect it.

Capricornio greatly reduces the ecological footprint of all their 20 partner farmers: they help them create water-efficient mills, implement waste water treatment technologies, and apply systems thinking to optimise all coffee processes and reduce CO2 output. They also stimulate the use of organic fertilisers, energy-efficient machinery and irrigation systems.

Since the start of their collaboration with This Side Up they were able to achieve the following:

2017: started collaboration; Capricornio started producing signature lots especially for This Side Up partner roasters.

2018: Exclusive microlots and boutique lots for This Side Up in the European market. Capricornio collaborated with barista Thiago Sabino to produce the award-winning Honeymoon microlot, and secured him the title for the national Brazilian barista competition. Partnership with IAPAR (Agronomical Institute of Paraná) to lead training programs in its Quality Coffee Centre infrastructure. 

2019: experienced a significant increase in demand for signature lots, making Capricornio our biggest supplier. Especially the tailor made blended lots for roasters are a resounding success.

Find the cupping information here 

Rwanda Rushashi & Intango

Peru Churupampa

Colombia Argote

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we've joined forces with Tane Roasters Collective

Hi there! 

Afters 3 years of working side by side I have decided to merge NGOPI with Tane. It makes admin easier and there’s more hands to help getting sustainable coffee in your cup. The shop is gone on this website, but the button on the right and below will lead you towards the new and improved Bamboo Forest Blend. Thanks for the support!