{"product_id":"kitonya-farmers","title":"KITONYA FARMERS","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"product-description hidden-down-md\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKitonya Farmers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eA group lead by Rosemary Kezabu, who is a farmer herself, with 1,600 SL28 trees on Kitonya and Karangura hills. This is an area that has historically experienced difficulties accessing buying channels, as it was 3km from the nearest collection point in Nyabuswa. With the help of Eli (the founder of Empaako), a new buying channel has been created with a cherry collection center in Kitonya. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe coffee is a collection of the coffees from 17 different farmers contributing vastly different quantities of coffee, some giving as little as 2kg of cherry and others such as Rosemary giving nearly 2,500kg of cherry. Each farmer gets the same price per kg cherry delivered paid in full directly to the farmer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThis coffee is juicy and has a very delicate finish, a lot of fruits in the front with a complex tea like finish. This is a great coffee for those looking for a more sophisticated pourover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Empaako\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eEmpaako Collective is a brand new initiative from communities in the Rwenzori mountains, this season we selected four different coffees in this region (three of which are from Empaako). Despite Uganda being the Africa’s largest coffee exporter (as of July 2025), it is not particularly known for its differentiated coffee, most regions such as Rwenzori typically sold on the commodity market. Only areas near Mount Elgon were known for exporting specialty coffee. The four coffees we are bringing from Rwenzori we hope will shine a light on this region, showing a diversity of profiles and characteristics that perhaps are not traditionally associated with this region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eEmpaako’s core team is formed from Eli (founder), Immaculate (head of processing), Stanley (agronomist) and Nyakto (accountant). This team aim to provide all members and farmers working with the group the tools and knowledge they need to ensure a more lucrative future working with coffee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe aim of this project is to create a farmer lead supply chain. Farmers are usually the most vulnerable member of any supply chain relying on producers to collect, process and sell the coffee; Empaako aims to shorten this gap from farmer-producer to give farmers greater agency in their chain, giving full transparency and traceability to the farmer by allowing the farmer to actively partake in these latter stages of the chain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eAnother aim of the Empaako Collective is to ensure producers receive their money in full, at each station the harvest data of every single producer is collected, and shared, to show full transparency* from what each farmer collected and what they were paid for it. The money is then transferred directly to the producer using the mobile money platform, 103% of the money is transferred to cover the 3% transaction fee. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e*We have decided to not share the transparency data for each individual as it contains personal information. But we will still remain transparent about general farmgate price averages.   \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eEmpaako can track the coffee and farmers and deliver feedback to the growers on their coffee, which is something completely new for this region as it was usually sold undifferentiated to intermediaries. This access to information is incredibly valuable, allowing farmers to improve on their yield, productivity and quality. As well as access to free seeds and advice from Eli and the team. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the processing: \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eCherries are collected by hand and then fully washed to best capture the delicate and fruity nature of this coffee, the cherries are then dried on raised beds.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Roast: \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eWe roasted this coffee light so that we could maintain the delicate profile this coffee has, yet wanted to ensure full solubility in extraction. \u003cem\u003eRoast Level:\u003c\/em\u003e Very Light (97 Agtron)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the coffee:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRegion: Kitonya, Rwenzori Mountains, Rwanda.\u003cbr\u003eAltitude: 1,800 to 1,900 MASL\u003cbr\u003eImporter: Semilla\u003cbr\u003eExporter: Semilla \u0026amp; Empaako\u003cbr\u003eHarvest: September 2025 - Januray 2026\u003cbr\u003eFarmgate price: $3,630UGX per kg cherry\u003cbr\u003eRegional farmgate price (2025): $3,000UGX per kg cherry\u003cbr\u003eFOB Price: 15 USD\/lb\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" class=\"p1 preFade fadeIn\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eView a full breakdown of costs our margins \u003c\/em\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1glKIlNQC-M_8bgkrXdwOfWDsBTrF2-N7tS92S9pbQts\/edit?gid=1002308639#gid=1002308639\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"sqsrte-text-color--lightAccent\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ehere\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cem\u003e (Use the lookup function)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"von\u0026vonnie","offers":[{"title":"Whole Beans \/ 250g","offer_id":56516086923604,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Whole Beans \/ 1kg","offer_id":56516086956372,"sku":null,"price":71.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Pour Over \/ 250g","offer_id":56516086989140,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Pour Over \/ 1kg","offer_id":56516087021908,"sku":null,"price":71.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"French Press \/ 250g","offer_id":56516087054676,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"French Press \/ 1kg","offer_id":56516087087444,"sku":null,"price":71.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Moka Pot \/ 250g","offer_id":56516087120212,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Moka Pot \/ 1kg","offer_id":56516087152980,"sku":null,"price":71.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1032\/7444\/7188\/files\/DSCF6876.jpg?v=1784562718","url":"https:\/\/vonandvonnie.com\/products\/kitonya-farmers","provider":"von\u0026vonnie","version":"1.0","type":"link"}