Image courtesy of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence.
The Long Miles Coffee Project (LMC) and nonprofit Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) have teamed up to launch the first Long Miles Burundi Private Collection Auction, an online sale of high-scoring, traceable microlot coffees taking place Thursday, Dec. 22.
[Note: This story has been updated. The original published date for the auction was Dec. 8. The new date is Dec. 22.]
Sixteen small coffee lots from 12 different hills in the Kayanza and Muramvya Provinces of Burundi will be available at the auction, part of ACE’s ongoing Private Collection Auction (PCA) series.
Cup of Excellence auction platform provider M-Cultivo is a third partner in the new auction program.
The Long Miles Coffee Project was created in 2011 by American expatriates Ben and Kristy Carlson, who have created numerous market connections between Burundian producers and specialty coffee roasters over the past decade. The company has a stated mission to support smallholder farmers in Burundi through direct farmer support, high prices and additional quality premiums.
With three washing stations under its watch, the company also supports a program called Long Miles Coffee Scouts, which involves dozens of local coffee community leaders who provide agricultural assistance such as locally derived solutions to ongoing issues such as potato taste defect or soil health.
“To us, coffee production is a combined effort that takes into account the needs of coffee farmers and the needs of the roasters we work with worldwide,” Kristy Carlson said in an announcement of the new auction program. “When you trust us with a coffee order, not only do you get a thoughtfully produced coffee, you directly impact our coffee farming communities.”
Registration for the auction is currently available here.
ACE previously supported seven iterations of the renowned nationwide Cup of Excellence coffee competition and auction platform in Burundi, although the event has not taken place there since 2019.
Meanwhile, the Long Miles auction is scheduled to take place just eight days after another high-profile inaugural private auction event in Burundi, the Grand Cru Burundi auction hosted by trading company JNP Coffee.
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