At the end of November 2025, part of the Mare Terra Coffee team traveled to Nyeri, Kenya, to visit Washed stations, accompany our suppliers in their processes, share knowledge and continue building community around coffee.

For almost a week we toured different washing stations with which we already work and others with which we are exploring future collaborations. In addition, we organized an intensive Q processing course and closed the trip with a running race as part of our social project Green Field Project.

Visits to washing stations: strengthening relationships and exploring the future

Over several days we toured different Nyeri washing stations, both stations we already work with and others with whom we are exploring collaborations.

We visited stations such as Ndiani, Kamoini, Gachichi, Gatugi, Ichamama, Chinga, Kiagutu, Kiruga, Tuthi and Ndurutu, with the same objective: to see firsthand how they work, review together the recipes carried out, and detect opportunities for new processes and recipes.

Beyond the figures, these visits are moments to sit down with the people responsible for each station, listen to them, understand their challenges and align how we can add value from Mare Terras Coffee.

Processing course in Ndurija: applied knowledge at source

At the same time, we organized an intensive Q processing course at WS Ndurija, where the managers of all the stations we had visited during the week met. For three days we worked on key concepts such as the importance of cherry reception for the final quality, the use of meters and simple controls to make better decisions in the processes, and the basics of fermentations, putting a lot of emphasis on writing down all the relevant data of the process (times, temperatures, densities, etc.), so that later we can analyze what worked, what didn’t, and be able to replicate the best results.

We also delved into drying techniques and how to implement them well on a daily basis to gain stability, consistency and cleaner cup profiles. The whole course was very practical, combining theory with demonstrations at the station itself and a lot of exchange of experiences among the participants. The idea was not only to apply the Mare Terras Coffee recipes, but for each station to take away real tools to understand, control and repeat processes with greater precision.

Running in Ndurija: A meeting point for the community

One of the days was dedicated to something that goes beyond the work at the stations: a running race organized as part of our social project Green Field Project, our social project at origin that uses sport to take care of the most important thing in the coffee chain: people.

It was especially exciting to be able to run a race in Kenya, home to some of the best marathon runners in the world, and to experience running surrounded by the coffee community itself. We designed a circular route starting and finishing in WS Ndurija, crossing the same paths that many of the participants walk every day in their daily lives.

The response was incredible. Neighbors, families, Producers and workers joined the event, along with Nyeri authorities who wanted to be present and support the event. It was a real party, with everyone very happy to be part of something common beyond work, making the race a real meeting point for the coffee community.

The event was attended by many people from the area, along with Nyeri authorities who wanted to be present and support the event.

In addition to the runners who had already registered for the race, as the starting time approached, more and more people joined the race: station workers, families and neighbors.

Some took the race very seriously and went out at a good pace; others walked, and many stayed and cheered from the margins of the course. There were medals for the fastest and the winner completed the route in about 25 minutes, in a circuit above 1,700 m.a.s.l. and with a lot of elevation gain.

Beyond the competition, what remained was the joy of participating together in something common. The race became a true meeting point for the coffee community, a space where sport and coexistence strengthened the bonds that unite us.

For us, sharing this moment with the same people we had accompanied during the week at the stations, in the drying patios or in the course, was the best way to remember that the real impact of our work goes far beyond the coffee.

In short, this week at Nyeri was proof that when we spend time at origin and work hand-in-hand with the people who produce the Coffee, every decision we make together translates into better coffees, stronger relationships, and a project that moves forward.