Earlier this month, Mark had the pleasure of welcoming Sidney Kibet, founder of Lot 20 Coffee, to the roastery and to our Kenya Day tasting event.

Kenyan-born Sidney founded his small coffee processing company in Kericho County in western Kenya in 2022. Lot 20 Coffee works with the Metibellion Coffee Company, a 29-member co-operative of coffee growers with a coffee-processing facility in Ainamoi.

As well as championing innovation in coffee production, Lot 20 Coffee also invests in the coffee growers to empower them in their coffee production. In turn, it buys coffee from the growers to export to UK partners such as Shiloh, with Sidney splitting his time between Kenya and his UK home of Sheffield.

At the moment, Lot 20 Coffee is supporting the co-operative to develop new, more durable drying racks, or drying beds. The first of the prototype metal drying beds is now in use and there are plans to build more. These will last longer than the existing wooden beds, which need replacing frequently as they are exposed to the elements and cannot be treated with any protective products.

As part of our current focus on Kenya, we're raising money to help support this project. For every one-off purchase of Kenyan coffee you make with us from May to August, we're making a donation towards the new drying beds. There's also an option to add a donation at the checkout when you place any order on our website.

Working with Sidney and Lot 20 Coffee in Kenya is as close as we can get to trading directly with the farmers of the Metibillion Coffee Company, who Mark and Jean were privileged to meet during their travels in Kenya earlier this year. We really appreciate Lot 20's efforts to support the coffee farmers and help them develop and grow their operations, and we're pleased to partner with them all on this exciting project to improve the co-operative's drying beds.

If you'd like to support the project too, why not take a look at the products we have available featuring delicious Kenyan coffee. For all one-time sales of these products between May and August, we're donating £2 per kilo bag and £1 per box or 250g bag.

And if you fancy a different coffee, you'll still have the option to add your own donation, if you'd like to, at the checkout.


Watch Sidney as he gives a brief lowdown on Lot 20 Coffee