It was a hot summer afternoon in 2019 when James Wilkinson first walked into the roastery with a backpack full of Ugandan coffee samples. He’s a guy who is hard not to like, and when he starts talking about coffee, the challenges smallholder farmers face and the work he’s doing to make things a little better, it’s hard not to get onboard with his mission. James’ story, and his coffee, were compelling enough to launch a relationship that would shift the way we buy coffee from that point on. Since founding Omwani James and his team have expanded to import from 10 other origins, and Omwani has become the de facto industry leader of African coffee imports to the UK.
Our bond with James is special because we, Ludwika and Rachel, met him when we were first starting out as roasters at Steampunk and he was first starting out as an importer, so we’ve grown alongside one another over the years. In 2022 James facilitated a life-changing trip to Burundi for Ludwika, and then another trip to Rwanda the following year. She spent six weeks there learning and sharing her knowledge to help set up a cupping lab at the Migoti Hill washing station.
Besides being great partners and, as they’ve grown, following through on their commitment to their producer partners, the coffee Omwani imports just keeps getting better. Not exaggerating, the Masenga Hill lot we’re roasting as our house espresso is the best Burundian coffee we’ve ever tasted. And their Ethiopian imports, a new origin for them, are among the best out there.
How did you start working in coffee?
James said:
"I was very fortunate to work with a close friend from school, Jonny, whose parents had lived and worked in western Uganda for four years in the 1980s with a charity at a rural development centre. Jonny studied agriculture, took an interest in tropical agriculture and through his parents’ connections went to do a work placement in Uganda. From there the idea to work with the many thousands of farms across western Uganda came about. Jonny wanted to move back to Uganda fulltime to start a business and I offered to help him. Very quickly after arriving we realised so many people were growing coffee and that there was an opportunity to help find better markets, improve quality and many other benefits!
Anyway, Jonny did all the hard work. I left in 2015 and rejoined in 2017 when things were really ramping up and we were buying lots of coffee and processing them. I offered to help where was needed and got involved in the on the ground buying, managing systems and just anywhere I was needed, because coffee seasons are really busy time
I loved working in Uganda but after a couple of years my wife wanted to move home to the UK. I didn’t want to lose her, so thought I’d better pursue this silly idea Jonny and I had, to start buying our own coffee, export it and import it into the UK!"
How has Omwani changed since you started?
James said:
" At risk of sounding cliché, I’d say it’s evolved. In the beginning I couldn’t imagine selling origins other than Uganda, even though I wanted to support the many other amazing producers I’d met along the way. Now have nine origin partners in nine countries across Africa, plus others emerging in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, which has been a huge shift.
I’ve learned to be careful what I wish for! We’re now a team of eight, but if you’d told me back in 2019 that we’d grow to eight people championing African coffee, I wouldn’t have believed it was possible. Also, we used to bang the “buy direct” drum, but realised we were just jumping on the bandwagon. Now our approach is just to be as honest as possible and celebrate all the people in the supply chain because they’re all adding value."
Do innovations and developments in other parts of the coffee industry (like experimental processing or sustainability initiatives) impact African producers?
James said:
"Yes, for sure. Ultimately, demand is driven by consumers and it works back up the chain. With social media producers have a lot more access to info and insights about what other producers are doing across the globe. Every country is different though, which has its own complexities and challenges."
What do you think people get wrong about the origins you import from?
James said:
"I feel like African coffee supply chains are assumed to be similar to South/Central America, but they’re very different. Coffee has further to travel; a number of the governments have bigger controls in place on the exports, which means more bureaucracy. Even shipping—a Brazil container can cross the Atlantic in two to three weeks. We’re over the moon if we get a container inside two months from leaving the drymill.
Also, I don’t think we see enough African coffees being used as part of house blends. There’s so many incredible coffees which could work so well for espresso-based drinks but more often we see coffees as seasonal/filter options. And finally people have narrow expectations of flavor profiles. Too often all African coffees get banded into the same bracket. And also, assumptions are made, like all Kenya coffee should taste like blackcurrants."
What's the best coffee you've ever had?
James said:
"My first cup of Kenya, which actually did taste like Ribena. I guess I can see why everyone chases that profile!"
Ludwika and Rachel with David Burton, Head of Coffee at Omwani.
We're going to be featuring a new coffee soon from Burundi, sourced through Omwani, so keep an eye out for it launching soon!