The Coffee Gardens

What The Coffee Gardens does

The Coffee Gardens is a Uganda-registered specialty Arabica coffee producer and exporter founded in 2017, operating from its headquarters in Kampala with its core micro-processing station in Kyambogo Village, Sironko District, in the foothills of Mount Elgon. The company sources cherries from nearly 600 smallholder farming households in Eastern Uganda and processes them at a station equipped with Penagos pulping machines, fermentation tanks, solar dryers, cherry compost pits, water treatment and purification systems, and a colour sorter at its Mbale drying yard. It also runs mobile batch-tracking tools that trace each lot from the gardens to the store, and it is experimenting with yeast strains from Fermentis by Lesaffre to shape flavour and consistency.

The business model is single-channel on the export side: all green coffee is sold exclusively through Falcon Specialty, a long-term distribution partner since mid-2019 that offers the lots to specialty roasters and coffee shops across Europe and co-organises origin trips for roaster customers. The Coffee Gardens' primary product is its annual portfolio of specialty micro and nano lots (e.g., 2025-26 named lots including Butawa, Miwu, Gombe, Zebigi, Buwobodeya, Nafuna, Namitubi), supplemented by a Collaboration Coffee line for blended, higher-volume specialty offerings. A subset of roaster partners — Birdsong, Roasting House, Jolly Bean, Leicester Coffee House, Mug Run, and Father's Coffee Roastery — participates in the COFFEE4CURE program, donating part of sales to CURE Hospital in Uganda. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

The company operates a small core team (~9 full-time staff, scaling to over 200 seasonal workers during harvest) and is co-founded by Dana Siedem, Shakeel Padamsey, and Michael Buteera Mugisha. It distinguishes itself commercially through above-market farmer pricing, a second-payment/bonus after each season, off-season training in climate-smart and agroforestry practices, access to finance (including zero-interest loans under research with LSE), and a multi-year research partnership with the London School of Economics that has produced an M&E framework with farmer scorecards. Ancillary services include an Origin Trip experience and a community programme supplying purified water and organic fertiliser from coffee waste to the surrounding community.

Name

The Coffee Gardens

Legal name

The Coffee Gardens Limited

Website

https://thecoffeegardens.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Coffee Gardens is a Uganda-based specialty Arabica coffee producer and exporter working with nearly 600 smallholder farming households in Eastern Uganda's Mt. Elgon region. It processes fully traceable green coffee at its Sironko micro-station and sells exclusively through Falcon Specialty to European specialty roasters, with several roasters participating in its COFFEE4CURE donation programme.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Production and Export

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Coffee & Tea (Single-Origin, Micro-lot, Premium) Processing (AFAFADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Coffee & Cacao Plantations (Coffee, Cocoa) (AFAGACAI), Green Coffee Processing (Hulling, Grading, Decaffeination) (AFAFADAA), Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Trading/Wholesale (AFAIAKAD)

Keywords

• Specialty arabica coffee
• Green coffee exports
• Coffee processing services
• Traceable coffee sourcing
• Micro-lot coffee production

Headquarters

HQ city

Kampala

HQ country

Uganda

HQ region

Africa

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Green Coffee Exports: The company produces and exports specialty Arabica green coffee through exclusive partnership with Falcon Specialty. All green coffee is exclusively offered to roasters and coffee shops, primarily across Europe. Revenue is generated through bulk green coffee sales at premium prices with above-market compensation to farmers.
2. Roaster Partnerships: Collaboration with select roasters who purchase and roast The Coffee Gardens' coffee. Some roasters donate a portion of sales to CURE hospital, creating a differentiated value proposition for consumers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Coffee Gardens produces and exports fully traceable specialty Arabica green coffee from the Mount Elgon region of Eastern Uganda, working with nearly 600 farming households. Coffee is processed at the company's micro-processing station in Sironko and offered as specialty micro and nano lots, distributed exclusively through Falcon Specialty to roasters and coffee shops across Europe. Ancillary offerings include an Origin Trip experience for roasters and a 'Coffee with Extra Impact' program through partner roasters supporting CURE Hospital.

Product overview

The Coffee Gardens is a single-product specialty coffee company that produces and exports fully traceable specialty Arabica coffee in partnership with ~600 farming households in the Mount Elgon region of Eastern Uganda. The core offering is the annual harvest of specialty micro and nano coffee lots, processed at the company's micro-processing station in Sironko. All green coffee is exclusively distributed through Falcon Specialty. Ancillary offerings include an Origin Trip experience for roaster customers and a 'Coffee with Extra Impact' program through partner roasters that supports CURE Hospital in Uganda.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Specialty Arabica Coffee (Micro and Nano Lots) Fully traceable specialty Arabica green coffee produced in partnership with farmers in Eastern Uganda's Mount Elgon region, processed at the company's micro-processing station in Sironko and offered as specialty micro and nano lots to specialty roasters and coffee shops across Europe via Falcon Specialty.
• Coffee with Extra Impact (COFFEE4CURE Roaster Program) A specialty coffee purchasing initiative where participating roasters donate a portion of their sales revenue to CURE Hospital, a children's hospital in Eastern Uganda providing free surgery for children with neural tube defects and related conditions. Roasters include Birdsong, Roasting House, Jolly Bean, Leicester Coffee House, Mug Run, and Father's Coffee Roastery.
• Origin Trip Experience Pre-arranged guided visits for roaster customers organized in conjunction with Falcon Specialty, including harvesting demonstrations, trekking to high-altitude farmers, processing station tours covering sorting, pulping, fermentation and washing, cupping sessions of newest season coffees, and visits to Sipi Falls.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 600 farming households now securing higher incomes and sustainably growing their businesses
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Falcon SpecialtycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019In mid 2019, The Coffee Gardens formalised a long-term exclusive partnership with Falcon Specialty who now exclusively offers all green coffee to roasters and coffee shops. Together, they ensure a direct connection between farmers and coffee drinkers across Europe. Falcon also organizes origin trips for roaster customers.
• Fermentis by LesaffrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for yeast strain experiments in coffee processing. After working with Fermentis' yeast strains last season, experiments continue to explore how different yeasts can shape flavour, consistency, and overall coffee quality.
• London School of Economics (LSE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2020, annual partnership with LSE master's students conducting research projects. 2025: scaling financial services and minimising repayment risks. 2024: promoting formal savings among farmers. 2023: developing monitoring and evaluation framework for impact measurement with farmer scorecards. 2022: understanding impact of social programs on farmer loyalty. 2021: private sector's role in sustainable rural development.
• Capital CoalitionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted a 'Natural Capital' Impact Analysis to assess and quantify The Coffee Gardens' environmental impact on society (Dec 2022). Report found that TCG demonstrates how growth and sustainability can be decoupled.
• CURE HospitalminorOthersChildren's hospital in Eastern Uganda providing free surgery for children with conditions including hydrocephalus, spina bifida, brain tumours, and neural tube defects. Part of sales from select roasters (using COFFEE4CURE code) are donated to CURE.
• Café AfricaminorOthersMentioned The Coffee Gardens as a case study in their Review and Analysis of policies, strategies, attitudes, practices and institutions for strengthening coffee agroforestry in Uganda, recognizing the company's promotion of coffee agroforestry among smallholder farmers.
• International Trade Centre (ITC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished a case study featuring TCG titled 'Sustainability at the heart of community support – Sironko, Eastern Uganda.' Also wrote article discussing TCG's efforts to access finance for delivering more impact for farmers.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kyagalanyi Coffee: One of Uganda's largest coffee exporters (part of ED&F Man/Volcafe group), actively buying and processing both Robusta and Arabica in Eastern Uganda; comparable in serving European specialty and commercial roaster demand from the same Mt. Elgon origin.
• Ibero Uganda: Ugandan coffee exporter operating washing stations and buying from smallholders in Eastern Uganda, including Mt. Elgon; comparable as a domestic specialty exporter serving European roasters with similar traceability and farmer-processor integration.
• Caravela Coffee: Latin American-origin specialty green coffee importer/exporter with direct relationships to thousands of smallholder farmers and an in-house PECA quality program; comparable in vertically integrating sourcing, traceability, and farmer training for premium roasters.
• Crop to Cup Coffee Importers: US-based specialty green coffee importer that buys fully traceable single-origin lots directly from cooperatives and producers; directly comparable in the farm-to-roaster traceability and smallholder-direct sourcing model.
• Sustainable Harvest: Specialty coffee importer focused on transparent, relationship-based sourcing from cooperatives across Latin America and Africa; comparable in operating a B2B specialty model that links smallholder farmers directly to roasters.
• Kawacom Uganda: Ugandan specialty and certified green coffee exporter (part of ECOM group) sourcing washed Arabica from Mt. Elgon and other regions; directly comparable as a B2B green coffee exporter to European roasters operating in the same Eastern Uganda terroir.

Regional players

• Sasa Coffee: Kenyan specialty green coffee exporter serving European roasters with traceable single-origin lots; comparable in offering high-altitude East African Arabica to specialty buyers, though sourcing primarily from Kenya rather than Uganda.

Broad incumbents

• Twin Trading: UK-based cooperative and ethical trading group that sources coffee (and other commodities) from smallholder cooperatives for European buyers; comparable as a Europe-focused ethical/specialty coffee intermediary, but operating at much larger scale and across multiple origins.
• Royal Coffee: Established US specialty green coffee importer serving roasters with traceable single-origin lots from multiple origins; comparable as a multi-origin B2B specialty green coffee supplier, though far larger and more diversified than TCG.

Others

• Falcon Coffees: The Coffee Gardens' exclusive European distribution partner, sourcing specialty green coffee from multiple origins for European roasters; included because it shapes TCG's go-to-market but is functionally a customer/channel rather than a competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzCuknIjhfrpSvPDM6UtI1g
• Instagraminstagram.com/the_coffee_gardens/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-coffee-gardens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Coffee Gardens