About the MARKUP Project

This is a project we are really pleased to be involved in. We are  running and promoting the auction for a project showcasing East African coffee producers to buyers in Europe and all over the world.

We are working with the International Trade Center on a project called EAC Markup, who are providing various skills to coffee farmers in Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda & Uganda.

The idea is to support farmers in a number of key areas and help them become more prepared for exporting their coffee. Some of the key elements of the programme include:

• Enhancing export competitiveness for SMEs to the EU
• Improving business development capacities
• Developing export and investment relationships  
• Teaching insight about export competitiveness
• Building awareness of market requirements such as compliance with compulsory and voluntary standards
• Creating value addition and access to finance to SMEs in the East Africa region.

The East African Coffee Markup Auction, which is a demonstration of how producers in the region can develop trading connections with buyers in the EU, will finish on 13th February 2020 (@ 11am London) during the AFCA Conference in Mombasa. Bidding will be available both online and on our stand at the show.

Samples have been submitted from more than 55 different farms in the region. This is being whittled down to a shortlist, which will be put forward to the auction, by a professional Q-Grader. The result of this is a strong selection of in-season coffee's achieving a score of 84 and above.

The profiles for each of the farmers are being put together now. We will let you know when they are online.