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A Rare Trip to Origin

A Rare Trip to Origin

Posted by Ryan on 24th Jun 2018

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be invited by our partners La Marzocco, to go on a trip to visit a coffee plantation in East Africa.

Although these kinds of trips are common place for roasters and green bean sourcers, being able to experience this as a parts supplier is a rarity and something that many will never get to experience. The destination was South West Tanzania in a region known as Mbeya, where we stayed at the amazing Utengele Coffee Lodge.

The trip was part of the Songwa Estates Project, a non-profit organisation setup by Mahlkoenig, Probat and La Marzocco back in 2007, aimed at educating staff, clients and all those who work in the coffee sector on the numerous intricacies involved in growing, harvesting and processing green coffee as well as providing support to the local community whose livelihoods depend on coffee, which is financed in part by the project Hands for Songwa”.


The 3-day educational program was hosted by Thomas Plattner, a Swiss agronomist and coffee expert with over 25 years of experience, who now lives in Tanzania. As part of the class we spent several days on both the Utengele and Songwa plantations getting hands-on experience of picking, sorting and pulping the coffee. Our trip to the plantations culminated in a grading and cupping session back on the Utengule farm.

Alongside our coffee training, we also visited the local communities that have benefited from the recent social projects run by the team at Songwa. The Muvwa Primary School has seen the reconstruction of two school buildings, the furnishing of 4 classrooms and the completion of sanitary facilities over recent years and our party was lucky enough to inaugurate the new water hole in nearby xx. The opening of this well means that the surrounding villages no longer have to walk for miles each day to get access to clean, potable water.

The Songwa Farm, which respects the Rainforest Alliance and Utz Kapeh standards, is situated about 900 kilometers from Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and expands over a total area of 59 hectares: 25 hectares are presently being used for the cultivation of coffee, with an additional 8 hectares of land available for expansion.

The area is approximately 1450 meters above sea level and heralds Bourbon beans on plants that are up to 80 years old.

You can see all of the photos from my trip here.