The beautiful and electric chairwoman of Kagunyu Coffee Factory is the wonderful Magdalene. She is a retired school teacher with no coffee background, but has an incredible way of connecting people and communities together. Despite being new in this industry, she wants to build something that lasts, where long term relationships with buyers ensure the sustainability of the organisation. The vision for Kagunyu Coffee Factory is painted on a sign for all to see, and it reads: “to be a market leader in quantity and quality coffee in Kenya paying the highest possible rates aimed at uplifting the members living standards.” As if that wasn’t inspirational enough, their mission statement goes on to read: “To promote good agricultural practices by educating & enabling farmers access to affordable farm inputs in order to produce quantity & quality produce which is competitive in the market.”

The vision for Kagunyu Coffee Factory is painted on a sign for all to see, and it reads: “to be a market leader in quantity and quality coffee in Kenya paying the highest possible rates aimed at uplifting the members living standards.” As if that wasn’t inspirational enough, their mission statement goes on to read: “To promote good agricultural practices by educating & enabling farmers access to affordable farm inputs in order to produce quantity & quality produce which is competitive in the market.”

When we visited Magdalene in February of 2024, she showed off this vision and mission statement with pride, emphasising her particular focus on the uplifting of living standards for her members. She noted that it is both improving quantity AND quality, and not just focusing on one, that will enable their sustainable growth and relationships with buyers. It was the quality of their coffees on the cupping table that made us visit, and it was her infectious personality and sense of community that led us to begin working together to share a representation of their work with roasters.