Burundi Kibira Long Miles Project

I first learned about the Long Miles Coffee Project in 2015 when I attended a seminar held in Boston. As soon as I began sourcing our coffee I knew this was something I wanted to invest in, and at long last we finally have.

The Long Miles Coffee Project founders, Ben and Kristy Carlson, moved from the United States to Burundi in 2011 and saw that both injustice and poor farming practices permeated the country’s newly privatized coffee industry. They also saw that roasters around the world had a difficult time getting consistently great coffees from Burundi. In an effort to see positive change in both farmers’ and roasters’ lives, Long Miles Coffee was born. Through creating the Bukeye, Heza, and Ninga washing stations, they have gone from working with just 50 families in 2011, to over 5,500 coffee farming families, on eleven different hills. Microlots from these washing stations have consistently placed top 10 in the Cup of Excellence, and Long Miles now holds their very own Cup of Excellence "Private Collection" bid. During the peak of harvest, farmers bring their cherries to the station and each person’s contribution is recorded using the Long Miles farmer card system. This system ensures that Long Miles can trace the best quality coffee and the farmers who grow it right down to hill-level. The card system is also redeemable for much needed items for children including backpacks, textbooks, and other needed supplies to further development for the next generation.