Exporters of roasted Kenyan coffee earned an extra Sh240 per kilogramme (kg) compared to those who shipped out raw beans in the 2023/24 crop season, signifying the earnings opportunity forfeited through trade in unprocessed produce.
Fresh market data by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) shows that Kenya exported 1.96 million kilogrammes of roasted coffee worth Sh1.96 billion in 2023/24—translating to Sh1,000 a kilogramme.
Comparatively, Kenya exported 47.23 million kilogrammes of green coffee in 2023/24 worth Sh35.87 billion, fetching an equivalent of Sh759.52 per kilogramme.
This shows a stack difference of Sh240.48 in earnings per kilogramme of exported roasted and green coffee—underlining the premium benefits of value addition. Industry players, however, said that roasted coffee carries risks of huge losses for farmers and traders whenever buyers turn down offers on quality concerns.
“Export volumes of green coffee have remained much higher than roasted stocks because of the fears of loss. Coffee that has been roasted is difficult to reroute to buyers who are very sensitive to quality because it would be difficult to convince them,” Daniel Mbithi, a trader, said.
Although exports of roasted coffee are growing globally, producers endure intense competition and tough regulatory standards in key markets such as Europe.
Roasted coffee traders also face other challenges, such as costly packaging and maintaining crop freshness after roasting.
Kenyan coffee, which is much sought-after by roasters and blenders, is marketed either through the weekly Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) or sold directly to buyers in export markets.
Data by AFA shows that in the 2023/24 coffee year, Kenya’s overall coffee exports rose by 1,242.09 tonnes, increasing from 47,957 tonnes valued at $251.86 million (Sh32.52 billion) in 2022/23 to 49,199.09 tonnes valued at $292.88 million (Sh37.82 billion).
“Kenyan coffee was exported to 59 international destinations. The leading export markets during this period were Belgium (17 percent), the United States (16 percent), and Germany (11 percent),” the regulator said.
The total quantity of coffee sold under auction at the NCE in 2023/24 rose by 27.5 percent to 41,617 tonnes, up from 32,652 tonnes that was sold in 2022/23 due to changes in the regulations in the period under review.
However, the quantity of coffee sold under direct sales decreased by 29.6 percent from 9,350 tonnes in 2022/23 to 6,583 tonnes in 2023/24.
Belgium overtook the US as the main export market for Kenya’s coffee in the 2023/24 crop season, providing a glimpse of the new market opportunities. It bought 8,275.79 tonnes of Kenyan coffee worth Sh7.42 billion.
“The total quantity of coffee sold under both auction and direct sales was 48,200 tonnes valued at $229.55 million (Sh29.65billion) in the period under review, a 14.8 percent rise from 42,001 tonnes valued at $176.43 million (Sh22.79 billion) in 2022/23,” the regulator said.
in the 2023/24, representing 16.82 percent of the total share of the exports of the commodity from the East African nation.
This performance saw the European nation beat the US, which imported 7,917.13tonnes of coffee from Kenya worth Sh6.68billion in 2023/24 and equivalent of 16.09 percent of Nairobi’s exports of the commodity for the season.
The US was the top buyer of Kenyan coffee in the 2022/23 season, where it bagged 11,228 tonnes worth Sh7.93 billion to account for a 23.41 percent share of the East African nation’s total exports of the beverage.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated the value of roasted coffee exports. It is Sh1,000 per kilo, not Sh10,000. This translates to Sh240 extra for roasted coffee not Sh9,242.
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