Zambia Kateshi Estate Natural Lot 1 UTZ/RFA

Nectarine, orange, milk chocolate
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Bag Weight 60 KG BAG
Status Spot
Lot Number P8001329-1
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About This Coffee

Kateshi coffee estate, as one of the first coffee estates in Zambia, was established in 1972 close to Kateshi village. Back then, its wet processing facilities represented the heart of coffee production in northern Zambia having been the central mill for all coffee produced in the region. It is also award-winning; its natural and honey placing both 1st and 2nd in Zambia's annual Taste of Harvest competition.

Local Community is at the heart of the estate's vision. Olam provides daily access to safe drinking water to over 20,000 locals and supports 3 schools that provide 1,500+ students with primary and secondary education. Also on site is our health clinic, the only such facility for 30km. Complete with a pharmacy and delivery room, the clinic provides free basic healthcare to over 4,000 community members and sees an average of 95 visitors per day.

Kateshi has been recognized for boldly challenging gender stereotypes in Zambia, being the first and only coffee estate to employ women for traditionally male-dominated roles such as driving tractors, bull-dozers and road graders. Oh, and we also sponsor a football team, the Kateshi Coffee Bullets who compete in the Zambian 1st Division. 

Origin Zambia
Subregion Northern Province
Producer Type Single Estate
Farm Name Kateshi Estate
Processing Natural/Dry Processed
Plant Species Arabica
Variety Castillo, Catimor 129
Coffee Grade ZMB CA WA HP
Screen Size 15 Up
Certifications Rainforest Alliance Certified, UTZ (IP | Mixed IP) Certified
Bag Weight 60 KG BAG

The Region

Long before Dr. Livingston arrived to name Victoria Falls after the queen, the people who had lived around this wonder of the natural world for generations had already named it more appropriately, “the smoke that thunders.” The falls thunder into the Zambesi River, which flows east toward Mozambique. But before the river crosses the border, take a left and head north up the Luangwa River. You’ll move through land rich in biodiversity, including the world’s largest concentration of hippos. As the river meanders and the altitude rises you will eventually arrive at the source of the Luangwa, 1500 meters up the Mafinga plateau, which is also, as it happens, the home of Olam’s 5 coffee estates.

The Northern Province of Zambia shares its borders with Tanzania to the East and D.R. Congo to the North. It also occupies the southern shore of Lake Tanganyika - the world’s longest fresh-water lake, the largest in Africa by volume and also its deepest. The Northern Province has the best conditions for arabica coffee cultivation in Zambia with its relative proximity to the equator and abundant altitude (Mafinga Hills being the highest point in the country at 2,300 masl).

The local economy is dominated by agriculture with coffee being the primary commercial crop, alongside subsistence crops such as maize, millet, groundnuts and beans. The mountainous terrain and lack of transport infrastructure makes this region challenging to work in, but also one most in need of the investment and development which the coffee industry can bring.

The Process

The best cherries are carefully selected with double handpicking (ensuring a consistency of over 98% of fully formed red ripe cherries) before being dried on raised beds. The cherries are spread across the beds in thin layers to ensure even drying, and regularly turned over a period of 3 to 4 weeks.

History of Coffee in Zambia

Coffee was first planted in Zambia in 1978, on what is now Olam’s Ngoli Estate. Overseen by a very energetic, active and supportive ZCGA (Zambia Coffee Growers’ Association), there was a rapid expansion in planting in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with national production reaching just short of 7,000mt. 

Then the global coffee price crisis of 1998 to 2004 hit, and hard. Most of the estates required significant investment and infrastructure, including the installation of irrigation systems which could not be made. Low prices forced most estates to switch to other crops. However, since Olam acquired the northern estates in 2012, significant investment has led to a rejuvenation of the Zambian coffee sector. Our coffee estate company NCCL is now the largest coffee producer in the country and the largest single employer in Zambia.

  • Subregion Northern Province
  • Farm Name Kateshi Estate
  • Producer Type Single Estate
  • Processing Natural/Dry Processed
  • Plant Species Arabica
  • Variety Castillo, Catimor 129
  • Screen Size 15 Up
  • On Sale No
  • Top Lot Yes
  • Price Per Kg £5.95
  • Status Spot
  • Certifications Rainforest Alliance Certified, UTZ (IP | Mixed IP) Certified
  • Coffee Grade ZMB CA WA HP
  • CTRM Contract Number P8001329-1
  • Origin Zambia
  • Warehouse Vollers Group Uk