Charles Mutwiri, the proprietor of Mukarimu Coffee Estates in Meru County, has brought home a promising report from his recent visit to California — American buyers are eager for Kenyan coffee, and there are firm orders on the table. Mutwiri, recently appointed as a director of the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (NKPCU), says the US market is wide open for Kenyan growers willing to rise to the challenge.
Speaking about his findings, Mutwiri revealed that California-based buyers are demanding no fewer than four containers of coffee every month. Each container carries 320 bags, with each bag weighing 50 kilograms — a monthly requirement that runs to over 64 tonnes of processed coffee. While Mutwiri’s own estate is capable of producing up to 200,000 kilograms annually, he was candid that no single farmer can fill that gap alone. The solution, he insists, is for farmers to band together and scale up as a collective.
The road to meeting those volumes, however, is not without its hurdles. Mutwiri noted that buyers were impressed when they cupped his coffee samples, but they were equally firm on one condition: they need reliability. Consistent quality delivered in large quantities is the benchmark that global buyers hold Kenyan producers to, and the country’s fragmented smallholder structure makes that difficult to achieve without proper coordination. To help bridge that gap, Mutwiri has been investing his time in training farmers across several counties — including Laikipia, Tharaka Nithi, and parts of Western Kenya — on modern and improved agricultural practices.
One of the more significant shifts Mutwiri is championing is a change in crop variety. He is moving away from Ruiru 11 — long a staple on Kenyan farms — and transitioning to SL28. His reasoning is straightforward: SL28 is more productive, capable of yielding up to 100 kilograms per bush. Although the variety comes with higher disease management demands, Mutwiri is convinced that the improvement in profitability more than justifies the additional effort.
A concern shared by both Mutwiri and exporter Eva Muthuri is the ageing profile of Kenya’s coffee farming community. The two have been vocal advocates for drawing younger Kenyans into the sector, warning that the country risks losing significant ground to regional competitors. Ethiopia and Uganda are expanding their coffee footprints aggressively, and without fresh energy and investment from the next generation, Kenya could find itself edged out of premium markets it has long dominated.
The message from Mutwiri’s California trip is ultimately one of opportunity — but only for those prepared to act on it. Kenya’s coffee has earned its premium reputation on the global stage over many decades, and the demand from buyers is clearly there. What remains is for farmers, cooperatives, and exporters to align their efforts, increase volumes, and deliver consistently at the scale that international markets now require.
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