Sucastainability

Sucastainability is a Kenyan marketing agent that connects us to the many small-holder producers and quality-focused cooperatives whose coffees we adore.

Marketing agents like Sucastainability play an important role in Kenya’s supply chain, as they are responsible for cataloguing and marketing coffee lots to be sold either directly or via the Auction system to traders like our supply partner, Kenyacof, who then sell the coffee to the final buyer. They also arrange the milling and packaging of the coffee and providing important sensory analysis to potential buyers. To learn more about the supply chain in Kenya, click here.

What sets Sucastainability apart is their focus on working with small-holder, independent farmers who have the infrastructure to process coffees on their own estates, but whose volumes are too small to sell via the auction. Though this can be challenging (smaller lot sizes are more costly and less efficient to mill and market), the advantage is a higher level of distinction and traceability to the coffee lots, and assurance that quality related premiums go to the producer. These lots are typically sold directly to specialty-focused buyers like MCM, via their trading partner Kenyacof.

An important part of Sucastainability’s model is to provide their coffee farmer customers with training and resources at farm level and during processing. The dedicated agronomy team makes regular visits to partnered farms and factories and provides tailored advice and support to help improve yields and quality, with the goal of securing the highest prices possible at the point of sale. They also arrange financial assistance by providing micro-financing ahead of the harvest, and by buying inputs (like essential fertilisers and pesticides) in bulk and selling them at a discount to the producers.

Sucastainability employs 50 agronomists in each of Kenya’s six coffee-growing regions, and currently services around 1000 small-holder farmers and 70 cooperatives. The agency is managed by Wycliffe Odhiambo Murwayi, (pictured) who has over twenty years of experience working in the Kenyan coffee industry and is supported by the head agronomist, Lucy Wanjiku Njoroge (pictured).