Mt. Meru Coffee Project

One of the first fair trade coffee importers and roasters in the city of Milwaukee was the Mt Meru Coffee Project, a joint venture between the Diocese of Meru, ELCT, (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania) and the Greater Milwaukee Synod, ELCA, (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). Their churches were joined in a global partnership in 1996, and in 1999, a visiting coffee farmer from Meru asked the life changing question, “why don’t you buy coffee from us?”

The Mt Meru Coffee Project pays the farmers 20% of the retail price, usually 20-50% more than they would receive from a traditional buyer. With this sustainable income, farmers are able to send their children to school (since they no longer need to depend on their children for extra labor), update their equipment to make the work more efficient, and use extra funds to support village markets and farms in their communities.

The scope of the Project has expanded from 200 farmers to more than 2,000. The partnership between the churches has given the project a trustworthiness and legitimacy that contributes to its growth. Their motto is “Doing justice never tasted so good.”