The Story Before the Bag
What do you know about the people who grew your coffee?
You might recognize the country on the label or know which flavor notes you enjoy. Knowing the farmers, hearing their concerns, and understanding what they want for their future takes a closer look.
That is the focus of What’s Brewing’s September 16 feature, “Roaster Spotlight: Before the Bag.” The article introduces Solai Coffee through founder Peter Kuria’s return to Kenya and the documentary series that brings viewers onto the farms and into conversations with producers.
“For us, traceability has to be more than something written on a coffee bag or website. We wanted to put boots on the ground and let our customers walk through the farms with us.”
Giving farmers room to speak
The feature explores Peter’s family connection to coffee farming and his parents’ ambition to represent their own work in the market. It also highlights what happened when the cameras began recording: farmers spoke about their families, production costs, drought, and their hopes for farming.
One point deserves particular attention. The farmers wanted to hear from the people drinking their coffee. They wanted feedback, a better understanding of customer preferences, and opportunities to improve while maintaining their coffee’s identity.
That exchange matters to us. A closer relationship with origin should give producers room to ask questions and help shape the conversation. Customers’ experiences can become part of that discussion, alongside the knowledge farmers bring from working with their trees and harvests.
Watch Part 2: The Story They Didn’t Tell You About Kenyan Coffee
Our articles on the journey of a coffee bean, the coffee supply chain, and transparency in coffee sourcing explore related questions. This feature brings a personal perspective to those subjects through Peter’s account and the farmers’ participation in the documentary.
At Solai Coffee, our documentary series allows customers to hear directly from farmers in Kenya. What’s Brewing’s “Before the Bag” feature explores why Peter Kuria returned to film those conversations and what producers wanted to share. Their interest in customer feedback shows how greater visibility can also open a conversation between farmers and the people drinking their coffee.
Thank you to What’s Brewing for sharing Solai Coffee’s story and introducing its readers to the families and relationships behind our work. We invite you to read the feature and follow its links to the documentary to hear more from the people at origin.