2019 has been a big year for Karst Organics what with it being our first year to export coffee out of Timor-Leste.

Having experienced a whole coffee harvest in Timor, we are excited and proud to be able to say that we ourselves have been personally involved in the processing of the coffee every step of the way, from picking the cherries all the way through to hand sorting the processed green beans.

It has definitely been a great experience to be able to see the whole process of how the coffee cherry is processed to produce the delicious coffee that we all know and love. Coffee processing is probably one of THE most labour intensive jobs that we have ever experienced.

Sadly those who work within the coffee industry will know that coffee prices at origin are debilitatingly low and are continuing to decline day after day. Without getting first hand experience of what is actually involved in processing coffee, I don’t think you could ever quite appreciate what it is like. Following this past harvest, we definitely have a new appreciation for all coffee farmers around the world, and believe that they truly are the most important part of the supply chain who deserve to be rewarded and paid fairly for their amazing work. This is of course the main goal for Karst Organics; to ensure that the farmers are the ones who benefit the most from their coffee, empowering them to take control of their own livelihoods to become more self-sufficient.

We came across a few stumbling blocks along the way but now that the coffee is on the boat making it’s long journey to the UK, we are really excited to be able to introduce Timorese coffee to you – the coffee lovers.