Hello from Sam

Kua writes a Letter To Coffee Drinkers once a month. Topics range from daily goings on, to updates on Kua’s strategy, to recipes for coffee biscuits. The content below was the Letter To Coffee Drinkers for February 2022.

Greetings Kua Coffee drinkers,

My name is Sam, founder of Commonfolk Coffee.

Last month we spoke about Kua’s merger with Commonfolk. I thought I’d share how everything looks from my end.

I first heard of the Kua team in 2018 on the slopes of Mount Elgon. We were visiting our coffee partners and they mentioned they’d just hosted a Sydney team who were also interested in starting a climate positive coffee roasting business. I’d heard enough grand plans inspired by trips like this to maintain a healthy cynicism and quickly forgot about it entirely.

Nevertheless, a few weeks later I received a phone call from a young guy named Darcy asking about importing coffee. Next minute we’re sharing a container of the best ethically sourced beans coming out of Uganda – and we’ve done so every year since!

Fast forward almost five years and Darcy called me again:

"Would Commonfolk be keen to partner?”

The more I learnt, the more I knew it was meant to be.

Since we shook hands in December, Kua and Commonfolk have been growing closer and closer. We’ve been working on our internal systems, setting up roasting in Victoria and searching for a new staff member to join the team (email us if you’re interested!) As we have been saying to Kua customers - there will be no big changes to the Kua brand, impact or product experience, but it has been fun working together on everything that happens behind the scenes. I’ve drawn a Venn diagram:

Happy days,
Sam from Kua / Commonfolk

PS: Right now, the Commonfolk team is on the ground in Uganda. They’re visiting Zukuka Bora for the 7th time since 2014, carefully selecting coffees fresh from the harvest to ship back to Australia. I am sure the team will have plenty of encouraging, enlightening and challenging tales to share when they return.

PPS: If you’re receiving this letter in early February, there may still be time to sign up to our Ask Me Anything.