Newton Ndiritu
Rukira Coop, Othaya Cooperative Society, Kenya
We visited both the Rukira washing station (“factory”) and the Othaya Society’s Dry Mill and Cupping lab, hosted throughout by Newton Ndiritu one of the brightest coffee personalities in Kenya. Newton is both the factory chairman at the Rukira factory with approximately 560 members and the chairman of the entire Othaya Society (which comprises about 15,000 farmer members across several other factories).
Newton has raised the bar for his fellow member farmers at Rukira in a few ways. By using best-practice pruning methods and appropriate amounts of fertilizers he’s been able to increase the yield from around 5 kg per tree to around 23 kg per tree, thereby showing a way to make farming coffee sustainable in the long-term. He’s smoothed the path for construction of the Othaya society’s own dry mill, which has helped control the quality all the way to our roastery. The dry mill also includes a state-of-the-art cupping lab, the best cupping lab our coffee buying team has seen at any society or factory. By controlling the process and continuously cupping the coffee, Rukira (and some other factories at Othaya) consistently turn out some of Kenya’s best coffees. The Rukira AA has won awards in the Taste of Harvest competition, and we think you’ll enjoy it tremendously!
Newton has raised the bar for his fellow member farmers at Rukira in a few ways. By using best-practice pruning methods and appropriate amounts of fertilizers he’s been able to increase the yield from around 5 kg per tree to around 23 kg per tree, thereby showing a way to make farming coffee sustainable in the long-term. He’s smoothed the path for construction of the Othaya society’s own dry mill, which has helped control the quality all the way to our roastery. The dry mill also includes a state-of-the-art cupping lab, the best cupping lab our coffee buying team has seen at any society or factory. By controlling the process and continuously cupping the coffee, Rukira (and some other factories at Othaya) consistently turn out some of Kenya’s best coffees. The Rukira AA has won awards in the Taste of Harvest competition, and we think you’ll enjoy it tremendously!