Community Select

Part of our stratified buying approach, these community select lots are mostly larger lots of coffee with an elevated profile above our signature coffees. Generally these are blended lots from various producers from a single community in a specific coffee growing region in the world. These lots offer an increased level of traceability and often are a result of small-holder producers banding together in an official or unofficial structure to sell their coffees together. Café Imports is able to blend specific day lots to create a desired profile working closely with these farmers.

Various smallholder farmers

Gorilla Summit Coffee is a project founded by Gerald K. Mbabazi in 2012 with the express mission to allow farmers to earn better income on their coffee. The initiative began in the village of Kanugu, where local producers were only able to find local buyers at exceptionally low prices—sometimes less than $0.05 per pound. By offering training in order to improve farming and harvesting techniques, as well as building a cherry receiving station and installing modern processing equipment, Gorilla Summit Coffee was able to help farmers produce higher-quality coffee, and has helped bring this region of Uganda to the forefront of specialty coffee in the country.

In addition to higher overall prices for their coffee, farmers are also eligible for other livelihood-improvement programs such as educational opportunities for youth, diversification projects like chicken farming, and access to community health care.

These coffees are grown in an area near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and forest, a protected primeval forest that reaches elevations up to 2,600 meters.