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More about this coffee
This coffee takes its name from the Sovu washing station, used by members of the Maraba co-operative, our longest-standing partner. This exquisite coffee is the result of the highly skilled growing, harvesting and processing; and the areas perfect conditions of silt-clay-sandy soils, high altitudes and ideal climate.
Only the ripest cherries are selected before being expertly slow dried on raised African beds – this coffee took up to a month to dry. The coffee washing station is an important source of employment in the region and employs between 80 and 100 people during the season, of which 80% are women.
VARIETALS
- Bourbon
We are the home of fresh coffee. When you order online, your coffee is roasted fresh to order, especially for you. Plus, it’s speciality grade and traded ethically through Union Direct Trade.
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Maraba Sovu
Rwanda
The Maraba co-operative have a very important role in Union’s history, being the first co-operative that Union partnered with back in 2001. A USAID-funded development project was launched to improve the livelihoods of poor rural farmers through production of high-quality coffee following the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Union were the first commercial partners of this project, becoming the first coffee company in the world to source speciality coffee from Rwanda.
Rwanda is commonly nicknamed ‘The Land of a Thousand Hills’ - a small country with a hilly landscape allowing you to see for miles. The high altitudes make for the perfect locations to grow speciality coffee. Maraba coffee is grown up at 1,700 metres above sea level.
From approximately 300 initial members in 2001, the cooperative has expanded to over 1,500 members, of whom about 35 per cent are women. We have worked with the cooperative to fund processing facilities and to provide training in growing high quality coffee, allowing farmers to earn more for their crop. The premium we pay has contributed towards health insurance for cooperative members, improved housing with hygienic flooring, tile roofing and furniture, and economic stability in the local area through the creation of shops and local banks. Being able to eat three balanced meals a day has resulted in improved nutrition and health.
There has been a transformation in Maraba. What was one of the poorest regions of Rwanda, has now got growing economic stability, a bustling town and strong community spirit.
Related Regions
Union Direct Trade
UK
Free Delivery
Free Delivery via Royal Mail 48 Tracked when you spend £18 or more.
Free Courier Delivery via DPD tracked delivery when you spend £40 or more.
We aim to despatch all orders within 2 working days of receiving them. During peak mail order periods (for instance, Christmas or other promotional activities), this timeframe may be extended slightly, although every effort will be made to despatch your order as soon as possible.
All our coffees are roasted to order so we require at least one working day before we can despatch your order
Standard delivery is charged at £3 per order (mainland UK)
For all orders over £18 (before delivery) or over 2KG in weight, delivery is FREE
Convenient Delivery packaging
In an effort to reduce wasteful packaging and also make delivery more convenient for you. If your order is 2 x 200g bags of coffee or less your delivery will be sent in a box designed to fit through your letterbox. So you no longer need to wait in for your Union Coffee delivery.
N.B not all letterboxes are made equal. Our boxes are designed to meet the Royal Mail letterbox guidelines, sadly this doesn't cover all letterboxes. We've discovered that older houses can often have unusual dimensions and the box may not fit through.
Our Couriers
For all Orders under 2kg (equivalent to 9 x 200g bags of coffee or less) your delivery will be sent 48 Hour Tracked Royal Mail
For all Orders over 2kg are sent recorded delivery via DPD (delivery on working days only)
CoffeeClub Deliveries
We aim to freshly roast and despatch all orders within 48 working hours of receiving them. During peak order periods (for instance, Christmas or other promotional activities), this timeframe may be extended slightly, although every effort will be made to despatch your order as soon as possible.
All CoffeeClub subscription orders are sent via Royal Mail Tracked 48 service. You will receive an email upon despatch, and a tracking number to help track your order. Royal Mail estimate a 2-3 working day delivery window. Please note our CoffeeClub subscription service is only available for delivery within mainland United Kingdom.
Where coffees are unavailable, or out of stock, Union Hand-Roasted Coffee will advise customers appropriately through the online shop or by email or phone where those have been provided with an order.
INTERNATIONAL
Unfortunately due to the increasing complexity and challenge of crossing borders around the world at the moment, we now only offer delivery to the United Kingdom.
If you would rather order by phone, please call the Roastery on +44 20 7474 8990 and we will happily take your order and quote for shipping if relevant.
Where goods are unavailable, or out of stock, Union Hand-Roasted will advise customers appropriately through the online shop or by email or phone where those have been provided with an order.
Re-orders of previous shipments can be done easily through the 'my account' section of the website. If one or more products is out of stock, the re-order link will not be visible. Please check individual products required, or select alternatives.
Our online shop no longer has a minimum transaction value.
RETURNS AND REFUNDS
Returns Policy
If there has been a delivery issue or your parcel has exceeded its collection period, Royal Mail will return the parcel to us as sender. You can check on the delivery status of your order using the tracking number provided.
If your coffee is being returned, contact us here with your order details and we’ll be happy to arrange for the parcel to be redelivered to you, once it arrives. This policy also applies to our DPD customers.
To avoid missing your parcel, we recommend checking your delivery address is correct before placing the order and once it’s despatched, checking the delivery status via the tracking number.
When we receive a returned parcel, we will always endeavour to contact the customer and offer redelivery. If we do not hear back within 2 weeks of contact, the coffee will be donated.
As all of our coffee is freshly hand roasted to order, we cannot accept returns/exchanges unless specifically requested by our Customer Service team.
Union Hand-Roasted Coffee does not refund or exchange coffees, teas etc. if ordered incorrectly through our website.
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