A roast to boast
UTAKE Coffee , a Kenyan company that exports and roasts coffee since 2018, recently experienced a boost in the number of orders:
“Our new roasting technique has thrilled our customers. I built confidence in my coffee roasting skills. Before the training, we used to roast once a week and after the training, with an increase in clients, our roasting frequency increased by three times. With higher demand, we invested in a bigger roasting machine to increase our volumes to satisfy our clients.”
Kenya Barista is already creating new flavor blends.
“We have integrated quality control procedures in roasting to be consistent and ensure that all the data are evaluated before selling our coffee to our customers.”
Operational changes in roasting processes has resulted in successful business deals made with buyers in domestic, regional, and international markets.
UTAKE and Kenya Barista attended the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) roasting training, aimed at improving export competitiveness and building capacities for business development.
Five other recipients of the training concluded business transactions of more than 206,450 kilograms roasted coffee – not only for local but also for export markets, for bulk roasted coffee, with a sales value of approximately $586,050.
Participants in the training are now able to correctly calibrate roasting temperature according to the volume and moisture content level of the beans to achieve the desired coffee quality.
The SCA Roasting training was organized by the EU- EAC MARKUP project. It delivers technical assistance activities to address both supply side and market access constraints by improving firms’ quality compliance, value addition, access to finance, business promotion, and access to buyers in new market destinations.
About MARKUP
The European Union (EU) - East African Community (EAC) Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP) is a regional trade development initiative, which aims to address both the supply side and market access constraints of selected key export-oriented sectors.
MARKUP aims to increase exports of agribusiness and horticultural products and promote regional integration and access to the European market by addressing specific challenges that small and medium enterprises, trade and investment support institutions and policy-makers face in accessing regional and EU export markets.
Funded by the EU, the programme is implemented by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and other national partners.
