Kinini

Kinini coffee started as a charity set up by Malcolm Clear and Jaqueline Turner. They set up the charity 'A New Beginning' in Rwanda in 2008 and started growing coffee in 2012.
A New Beginning was set up to help a group of widows and orphans displaced during the genocide in 1994, who were resettled in an area of uncultivated savannah. The charity set up a school and a health post which has fully trained staff and is self-sufficient. Their work is ongoing and are raising another £24k to build three more classrooms for the ever-growing school.
In 2012 they started R & B Import Export to partner with farmers in the Northern Province of Rwanda with the aim to improve the lifestyle and well-being of the local community. They partnered with 633 local farmers and the Local Government to grow coffee in 252 hectares of prime consolidated coffee growing land in Rusiga and Mbogo Sectors, Rulindo District, Northern Province. The land is ideal for coffee growing.

In 2012, 38 of the 252 hectares in the Northern Province of Rwanda were planted with Bourbon Mayaguez 139 seedlings, 2,000-2,500 in each hectare. This totalled nearly half a million new trees, and access to nurseries and supply of new trees continues. Jacquie Turner and Malcolm Clear led this regeneration. Not just limited to new trees, new roads were built to improve access for the many farmers that have to deliver their days picking to the washing station by 4pm to maintain quality. The Improvements now encompass a roasting facility, covered with a donation from our Full Circle event, the introduction of natural and other processing methods in 2019, and more recently a worm bed for turning the coffee cherry into organic fertiliser. New water treatment facilities at the washing station prevent pollution into local water sources. Kinini has also started to harvest spring water for processing and rainwater for fermentation. This has had a positive effect on quality whilst also reducing reliance on alternative water sources.

Coffee is de-pulped on a 4-disc McKinnon pulper, there are several tanks for fermentation both with and without water, leading to channels to both the soaking tanks and then down to the drying beds. Each raised bed comes with its own marker to ensure microlot traceability and yellow tarpaulin for quick covering in case of rain. Satellite technology is used to monitor leaf glare from the trees -any changes can be a sign of disease or infestation and early detection pays dividends when it comes to clean cups and good green. The washed process gives us cleaner brighter fruitier flavours in the cup.