Blog

How are Kenyan cooperatives structured?

Understanding how Farmers' Cooperative Societies are structured within the Kenyan specialty coffee market

In Kenya, coffee production is divided among smallholder cooperative societies, small estates, and large estates. More than half of the country’s coffee is produced by cooperative societies, such as the Tekangu Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), which oversees multiple factories (wet mills), including Tegu, Karogoto, and Ngunguru.

Most Kenyan coffee farmers are members of an FCS, which manages washing stations where smallholders deliver their cherries for processing. Each FCS owns or oversees multiple factories, and the quality of coffee produced can vary across these locations. While the individual factories handle production, management, and overhead costs, the cooperative society takes care of financing and coffee sales. A well-run factory can return over 85% of the final sales price to farmers, making efficient management crucial for profitability.

Farmers have the freedom to choose which factory they deliver their cherries to, often selecting those with a reputation for producing high-quality coffee that earns better prices. Since factories compete to attract farmers, the incentive to maintain high standards is strong.

Once processed, FCSs retain ownership of the coffee, which is then sold to exporters  through an auction, via a licensed agent. The exporter then facilitates grading, bagging, and logistics. 

If you want to learn more about how coffee is bought and sold in Kenya, check out this article.

Our approach prioritizes long-term relationships with cooperatives, allowing us to source from the same producers each year. This ensures that quality remains high and that premiums are returned to the farmers who produce exceptional coffees. While we focus on purchasing from the same factories annually, we remain open to exploring new relationships with producers of all scales across Kenya’s coffee-growing regions.

In recent years, our sourcing has expanded beyond Nyeri county to Kirinyaga, where we’ve found even higher-quality coffees. We also work with producers in Embu, Murang’a, and Kiambu, selecting the best-performing lots through cupping. Given Kenya’s relatively high coffee prices, we evaluate each outturn to ensure that we only purchase the highest-quality lots.

Kenyan coffee is known for its vibrant and complex flavors. We seek out coffees with characteristic jammy blackcurrant notes, as well as natural process lots with outstanding cup scores. As the coffee landscape evolves, we’re seeing an even wider range of flavor profiles emerge, particularly in lesser-known regions focused on quality improvement. Classic tasting notes include blackberry, blackcurrant, grape, and intense florals, alongside red berries, plum, stone fruit, hoppy florals, and citrus.

Photos for this article have been taken by Jake Green.

Written by
Delia Iliopoulou Friis
Published on
February 4, 2025

The latest updates delivered to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter for the freshest news on origins, harvests, new producers, our coffee list, and market insight.

By clicking Sign Up you're confirming that you agree with our Terms of Use.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.