Burundi Giku

We try not to keep coffee on the shelves for long, so if we don't have a particular coffee in stock, we have to replenish the order after the roasting day. We roast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, pack the coffee and send it out on Wednesdays and Fridays.

"Long Miles Coffee is one of the most interesting coffee projects in Burundi. It was founded in 2011 by Ben and Kristy Carlson, who recognised both the enormous potential of Burundian coffee and the problems faced by local farmers following the privatisation of the coffee sector. Their aim was to create a collaborative model that would enable farmers to produce better coffee and receive fairer payment for it, whilst providing roasters around the world with access to exceptional and fully traceable lots.

Today, Long Miles works with thousands of small-scale producers and operates its own processing stations, including Bukeye, Heza and Giku. Each batch of coffee can be traced not only to a specific processing station, but often also to the specific hill from which the cherries originate. As a result, Long Miles has become one of the pioneers in establishing transparency and traceability of coffee origins in Burundi.

The project’s philosophy is based on a simple premise: good coffee starts with people. That is why Long Miles invests not only in infrastructure and processing quality, but also in training for farmers, the development of local communities and long-term relationships with producers. The result is coffee that regularly features in the ranges of the world’s most highly regarded speciality roasters and has, for years, been building Burundi’s reputation as one of Africa’s most interesting origins.