Qima
Arabic for Summit - / noun / the highest point of a mountain.
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Today, Yemen is going through one of its most dire and desperate times in histor y. With an increasingly sectarian civil war raging, the worst hunger crisis in the world, rapidly declining water supplies, and the collapse of basic health and sanitation services, the countr y is on the brink of total failure. The revival of the coffee industr y is a glimmering light that can pave the path to the countr y’s gradual recover y.
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FARIS SHEIBANI – FOUNDER & CEO
01/ YEMEN’S COFFEE HISTORY
PIONEERS OF COFFEE CONSUMPTION Up until the early 1700s, Yemen was the world’s sole producer and exporter of coffee. Said to have been first consumed in 1450 by the country’s mystical Sufis – who drank it to stay awake for all-night meditations – Yemeni pilgrims spread the country’s coffee culture to the rest of the world through regular pilgrimages to Mecca. As the specialty drink made its way around the globe, the country prospered and Yemen became the world’s leading nation in the coffee trade. But as demand exploded, importing nations found new ways to develop their own sources for the bean. With cheaper coffee being produced and no quality based differentiation from the market, Yemen could not compete, which marked the start of the coffee trade’s relationship with corporate commercial capitalism. Over just a few centuries, Yemen went from being the world’s only coffee exporting country to having a miniscule share of the market. By 1800, Yemen was producing just 6% of the world’s coffee. Today, it’s less than 0.1%.
02/ YEMEN’S COFFEE NOW
DEVALUATION OF COFFEE & THE WAR With coffee now considered a commodity in Western culture, there’s been a significant drop in global prices over the centuries. Today, Yemeni farmers can make more money growing the narcotic plant ‘qat’ than they can coffee, and many have reluctantly switched over. While the eruption of the 2015 civil war adds another layer of adversity to Yemen’s history, the country’s future has never been so fragile. But Qima Coffee is changing that.
WELCOME TO THE YEMEN COFFEE REVOLUTION We are re-introducing the world to one of the rarest and finest specialty coffees. In doing so, we aim to restore Yemen to its former glor y as a globally renowned source of exquisite coffee. Working in direct partnership with smallholder farmers across central and northern Yemen, we are creating an equitable trade in cultivating and hand-har vesting speciality coffee sourced from some of Yemen’s highest altitudes. By providing farmers with the training and infrastructure they need to grow and sell their coffee – and by paying the highest and fairest premiums in the market – we empower Yemeni farmers, so they can regain a sense of purpose and increase their incomes by up to 20 times.
FOUNDED IN 2016, QIMA COFFEE IS YEMEN’S FIRST ACCREDITED SPECIALTY COFFEE PRODUCER AND THE COUNTRY’S ONLY FULLY INTEGRATED SPECIALTY COFFEE EXPORTER.
INTRODUCING THE WORLD’S RAREST SPECIALTY COFFEE QUALITY & EXCELLENCE IN EVERY CUP Re-establishing Yemen as a leading source of exquisite coffee and restoring a nation’s hope in the process is no mean feat. So, when it comes to our commitment to quality and social change, our benchmark is perfection and our ethos is excellence.
WHAT MAKES YEMENI COFFEE SO UNIQUE? Yemeni coffee trees boast unparalleled flavour profiles due to unique heirloom varieties. The majority of Yemeni specialty coffee is grown at altitudes that exceed 2,000 meters (6,562 feet). Such challenging growing conditions result in stressed coffee beans that embody an unusually complex concentration of oils that have precious aromas and flavours. Yemeni coffee farmers follow traditional cultivation and processing practices that are centuries old.
THE CUP PROFILE While each region in Yemen creates a different profile, the basic characteristics of Yemeni coffee include bright and complex acidity, plus complex notes of florals, candied fruit, dried berries, dark chocolate and a distinctive winey taste. The profile generally displays excellent range and dimension. The body is medium to full, and the fragrance and aromas are intensely exhilarating, which produces a lingering, heavenly finish; something that Yemeni coffee is famous for.
A UNIQUE APPROACH
FROM CHERRY TO CUP, WE MANAGE EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS
99% OF OUR FARMER LOTS ACHIEVED A CUPPING SCORE OF 80+
From harvesting the perfect cherries with each of our farmers to drying them on parabolic beds in the Middle East’s largest processing centre, we manage and guide every step of the production process. So you can experience the world’s rarest specialty coffees at their best.
Partnering with Boot Coffee, internationally recognised specialty coffee experts, we are the only Yemeni coffee company to get our quality analysis done by an independent third party.
FULLY TRACEABLE SPECIALTY COFFEE AT A SUPER SMALLHOLD SCALE Yemeni coffee farmers are ‘super smallholder’, which means some of them produce nano and pico lots as small as 2kg per farmer. In the coffee world, that’s tiny. But it only adds to the rarity and uniqueness of Yemeni coffee. As the only coffee business in the world that works to these scales, we sell our coffee in exclusively small batches – from 500g to 5kg. Each and every bean can be traced back to the farmer who grew it. And each lot is sold in beautiful gift boxes under the farmer’s name. Inside, we tell you about the farmers’ ambitions and challenges, giving you the chance to build a genuine connection with them.
All our cupping scores were awarded by no less than two certified Q Graders (qualified ‘coffee sommeliers’). And, out of a staggering 250 farmer lots, 99% achieved a score of 80+.
TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH
TRANSPARENT TRADE
By seeking genuine partnerships with farmers, we provide them with the training they need to grow specialty coffee. We also pay the highest price for their coffee – typically double the market rate. And we share the returns of each coffee lot with the farmer who grew it, increasing their income by up to twenty times.
SERIOUS ABOUT SOCIAL IMPACT The core purpose behind Qima Coffee is to rebuild Yemen’s specialty coffee industr y and restore hope in this once-great nation. So, we’ve pledged to donate 10% of our annual profits to education and agriculture projects through the Qima Foundation.
SA’DAH
ELEVATION: 1500 – 2300 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI
The northernmost coffee growing region of Yemen. Extremely difficult to access as the area is under heavy air strike bombardment. Coffee from this region is highly sought after in the gulf markets. Farmers benefit from a market premium as traders compete for their coffee.
AL HAYMA AL DAKHILIYA
ELEVATION: 1500 – 2350 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI
One of the oldest and most renowned coffee growing regions in Yemen. Fertile soils, lush valleys, hot water springs and plenty of aquifers. Some coffee trees are over 100 years old and have adapted to the harsh, dr y conditions.
AL HAYMA AL KHARIJIYA
ELEVATION: 1200 – 2300 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI
Produces some of the highest cupping coffees in the world. Locals claim that coffee farming originated in these regions. Locals believe that the coffee tree is ‘blessed’ and grow it for its status.
HARAAZ
ELEVATION: 1400 – 2600 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI
Yemen’s largest coffee producing area by volume. Strong anti-qat sentiments here as locals perceive it as a social vice. Distinctive terraces across rugged mountain ranges.
BURA’
ELEVATION: 1200 – 2000 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI, TUFAHI, DAWAIRI
Extremely remote with many of the coffee growing communities only accessible by foot or donkey. Treacherous terrain with terraces throughout mountain sides.
RAYMAH
ELEVATION: 1100 – 2000 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI, TUFAHI, DAWAIRI
Valleys make for lush green oases as far as the eye can see. Known as the ‘fruit basket’ of Yemen. Located next to Yemen’s oldest coffee trading hub – the renowned Bait Al Faqih.
JABAL AL SHARQ
ELEVATION: 1600 – 2200 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI, TUFAHI, DAWAIRI
Mountainous region full of deep aquifers means better-than-average coffee yields. Produces a variety of different cultivars offering a diverse range of cup profiles. Thriving coffee trading hub.
ANS
ELEVATION: 1700 – 2100 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI, TUFAHI
Terraced mountain sides and shady valleys with plenty of water and a variety of crops. Known as ‘The Land of Shade and Waterfalls’.
AL QAFR
ELEVATION: 1450 – 1700 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI, TUFAHI
Among the most renowned coffee producing regions in Yemen. Country’s highest rainfall rates mean coffee trees have higher yields. Highly educated population means coffee farmers often hold university degrees.
BA’DAN
ELEVATION: 1700 – 2000 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI
Home to some of Yemen’s native coffee varietals. Luscious green landscapes, fertile soils, abundant water supplies, and well-educated farmers. Known as ‘The Valley of the Gardens’.
YAFI
ELEVATION: 1400 – 2200 METRES VARIETAL: UDAINI
The only coffee growing region in the southern part of Yemen. Unique terroir and flavour profile due to the region being located between arid desert and harsh mountains.
OUR COFFEE GROWING AREAS
SAY ‘HELLO’ TO SOME OF OUR FARMERS
WE WORK WITH OVER 1000 FARMERS PER YEAR ALONE, AND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS A UNIQUE STORY TO TELL.
AGE: 35 AREA: AL HAYMA AL DAKHILIYA
QATAN MUHAMMED
Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPBRINGING AND HOW YOU GOT INTO COFFEE FARMING? A. Despite my basic education, I always loved learning, especially mathematics – my teacher would say I had the mind of an engineer. But like most farming families, I had to leave education and help my father work the farms. My father had a few coffee farms and I got my early coffee education on them. I’ve always thought about what life would be like if I had left the village in search of an education. I’m not sure I’d be happier.
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I’ve always thought about what life would be like if I had left the village in search of an education. I’m not sure I’d be happier.
Q. WHAT DRIVES YOU?
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A. I’m ambitious. I quickly learnt the coffee ropes and I’m now the ‘coffee advisor’ in my community. I know everything there is to know about taking care of a coffee tree. Ever yone comes to me for help and advice.
I love to grow too. My father and grandfather started off with only a few farms, but we’ve expanded over the last twenty years. We now have some of the biggest farms in our community.
Q. WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR IN THE FUTURE? A. I want to be one of the biggest and most well-known farmers in Al Hayma. When I see coffee, I see a beautiful crop that can be appreciated by the world, but I also see hope for a better future. I want to help other farmers take care of their coffee trees. I want to see more and more coffee growth in our area so that we become renowned for our amazing coffee. I’m ready to work night and day to achieve this.
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AHMED KABEER AL-KAWKABANI AGE: 55 | REGION: HARAAZ
Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPBRINGING AND HOW YOU GOT INTO COFFEE FARMING? A. I never got a formal education. The closest we had to school was a patch of land under the village tree. In those days, we didn’t even have books and pencils, we had wooden tablets and scribes. I studied that way until I was eight. Any schooling after that would mean I needed to go to the city, and my father couldn’t afford that. So I got into farming with him. In reality, I felt obliged to farm. He was waiting for me to help him on the fields. All I wanted to do was make him proud. He means everything to me.
Q. WHAT DRIVES YOU? A. My motto in life is that no matter how bad things get, you must remain positive because nothing is impossible. Besides, why should I be unhappy? I’m surrounded by friends and family, and they are the most valuable thing in the world to me.
Q. WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR IN THE FUTURE? A. I’m proud of my heritage – we have been producing food from our lands for many generations. My grandfather would always talk about how valuable coffee was, so I grew up with the idea that coffee is like gold. My hope is that my grandfather was right and that we live to see the day when farmers can live comfortably from producing coffee.
My grandfather would always talk about how valuable coffee was, so I grew up with the idea that coffee is like gold.
ABDULHAKIM MOHSIN AGE: 40 | AREA: HARAAZ
Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPBRINGING AND HOW YOU GOT INTO COFFEE FARMING? A. I grew up in the mountains of Haraaz. This area is probably Yemen’s largest coffee producing region. Growing coffee is a way of life, not a business. I never got to complete high school – I left when I was 14. I didn’t want to leave, but my family couldn’t afford it, and in our culture, you’re expected to start providing for your family at that age. I left school and started working the coffee farms with my father. Over the years, we started growing some qat alongside coffee, like almost ever y farmer in Yemen. But I never consumed it; I actually hate it. I don’t want my children to stop their education like I did, so making a decent income is a matter of survival.
Q. TELL US ABOUT WHAT DRIVES YOU? A. I want to do something good for my land. Yemen is known as the blessed land and we call the coffee tree the blessed tree. Ever y morning, I wake up and drink a coffee on my rooftop, overlooking my farms. I am overwhelmed by how beautiful nature is and how lucky I am to be so closely connected to it. In the same way that I take care of my children, I want to take care of my land, nurturing it with love and compassion.
Q. WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR IN THE FUTURE? A. When my father passed, I inherited a few hundred metres from him. Over the years, I’ve bought more land and now I have almost 10,000 square metres. I want to plant it all with coffee. It’s important to make a living from it, but it’s even more important that what we grow doesn’t harm our land or our people. Qat has destroyed Yemen, drugged its people and dried its water wells. But that’s finally changing now. For the first time in my lifetime, coffee growing can provide enough incomes to rid us of the need to grow qat.
QIMA FARMERS
THE QIMA-RUWAD PARTNERSHIP As well as working with individual farmers, we also partner with various cooperatives throughout Yemen. In 2016, we signed the countr y’s largest and most equitable coffee partnership to date with Al Ruwad, Yemen’s most renowned specialty coffee cooperative. Through this partnership, Al Ruwad’s farmers receive interest-free micro loans, double-the-market prices for their coffee, and a profit-sharing return on each one of their coffee lots we sell.
Based in Al Hayma Al Kharijiya, Al Ruwad is Yemen’s largest and most established specialty coffee cooperative, serving 285 families – the equivalent of around 2000 people. Since its inception in 2013, Al Ruwad’s goals have been to educate farmers on specialty coffee best practices and to protect them against traders who have exploited their poverty and lack of awareness.
RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCING SOME OF YEMEN’S MOST EXQUISITE SPECIALTY COFFEE, IN 2017, AL RUWAD PRODUCED A COFFEE LOT THAT ACHIEVED A CUPPING SCORE OF 97 ON THE WELL-KNOWN COFFEE REVIEW WEBSITE – THE HIGHEST SCORE IN THE SITE’S HISTORY.
THE QIMABOOT COFFEE PARTNERSHIP ‘In October 2016, at the height of the Yemen war, Faris Sheibani came to me with an ambitious proposal to build Yemen’s largest and most innovative specialt y coffee business. With a healthy amount of skepticism, I agreed to get on board with the project, but on two conditions; firstly, Faris had to become well-versed in the complex sciences of coffee in a matter of months (normally it takes years). And secondly, he had to have a large appetite for risk and prove it. Over the next few months, Faris embarked on an intensive programme of multiple coffee courses and private consultation programs run by my team at Boot Coffee in Panama, Ethiopia and the Netherlands. The entire educational programme ended with a daring 5000km trip for Faris and his team around Yemen’s coffee regions, all in the middle of a war. He had satisfied my initial conditions – I was in! Since then, my team and I have supported Faris in establishing Yemen’s most innovative specialt y coffee business. Having recently cupped samples from over 250 individual Yemeni smallholder farmers at our lab, we can confidently let the qualit y of coffee speak for Qima’s success!
Boot Coffee is proud of its partnership with Faris and the wider Qima Coffee family. And we’re amazed at how much we’ve achieved through our collaborations in such a shockingly short period of time. More importantly, we’re extremely excited about what we can achieve together in the future!’ – Willem Boot, Founder of Boot Coffee
ABOUT BOOT COFFEE Established in 1998 by Willem Boot, an internationally recognised specialty coffee industry expert, Boot Coffee is a globally respected coffee consulting company. Over the years, Boot Coffee has consulted hundreds of clients all over the world, from roasting companies and retailers, to exporters, governments and NGOs seeking specific expertise for international programmes. Operating in more than 15 countries, Boot Coffee helps build supply chains for specialty coffee companies through effective post-harvest quality improvement interventions and innovative marketing campaigns.
THE QIMA FOUNDATION
Built on a ‘trade not aid’ ethos, we set up the Qima Foundation to help reverse Yemen’s socioeconomic crisis. By focusing on the country’s agricultural and education sectors, we aim to bring about positive change through projects and initiatives that enable and empower.
ADDRESSING POVERTY AND WOMEN’S ISSUES IN AGRICULTURE Yemen’s rural communities represent up to 65% of the population. Typically some of the poorest in the country, almost all of these communities rely on agriculture as their income, including the specialty coffee industr y, which employs a female labour force of over 70%. With agricultural products representing Yemen’s second largest source of export revenue after oil and gas, we believe there is real hope to bring about change in this sector. So, through targeted projects, the Qima Foundation aims to address Yemen’s poverty crisis as well as women’s economic and social rights within agriculture. At the moment, we are fully sponsoring the development of new coffee farms for 20 leading women from farming communities across Yemen.
EMPOWERING CHILDREN THROUGH EDUCATION Unfortunately, many people in Yemen’s rural communities are without a basic education. But it’s not because of a lack of desire or ambition; inadequate material resources mean young Yemenis are expected to provide for their families from an early age. Through the Qima Foundation, we aim to support rural children in attaining high school and university level education, so they can be empowered to make better life choices. At the moment, in one of our largest farming communities, we are distributing School Kits to the children of the farmers.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE, SPONSOR A FARMER BEING A COFFEE FARMER IN YEMEN IS CHALLENGING. BUT WITH YOUR SUPPORT, FARMERS CAN BUILD A MORE SECURE FUTURE FOR THEIR FARM AND THEIR FAMILY. TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, HEAD TO QIMAFOUNDATION.ORG
FARIS SHEIBANI FOUNDER AND CEO
Just as coffee plays an integral part in Yemen’s histor y, it plays a key role in Faris’ family’s past too. At age 13, Faris’ grandfather started selling coffee out of a small shack in Aden. What began as a humble endeavour grew into one of Yemen’s largest and most recognised industrial groups known as much for its charity work as it was for its business success. Faris decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the company. But, little did he know, his journey wouldn’t be too dissimilar to his grandfather’s. Born and raised in the UK, Faris frequently visited Yemen growing up, developing a strong connection to the country. Seeing the massive economic and social challenges Yemen faced, his ambition was to improve the lives of Yemeni people, somehow. After completing two Masters in the UK, Faris
planned to develop Yemen’s energy infrastructure and offer basic power services to a countr y in desperate need of them. But in 2015, civil war broke out, which changed ever ything. With the country pushed into total collapse, he quit his job working in a prestigious London energy firm and began to think of ways to help Yemen. It was then that he saw coffee – such an integral part of his family’s lineage. After extensive research on the coffee trade, Faris came across expert educator Willem Boot, owner of California’s Boot Coffee Consulting. Under Willem’s careful tutelage, Faris learned the many steps needed to grow specialty coffee and embarked on solidifying his learning with a Specialty Coffee Association of Europe Diploma. On 31st October 2016, Faris visualised his dream of developing Yemen’s largest specialty coffee project. Less than one year later, Qima Coffee was manifesting in front of his eyes
AHMED MAHYOUB CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Born into a rural village in Central Yemen, Ahmed spent his childhood between shepherding in the mountains and attending his local school, which was a patch of grass under the village tree. Identified as a gifted student at 10, Ahmed was sent to Taiz to pursue a better education. From then on, Ahmed excelled educationally, gaining a bachelor’s degree and a Masters in Eastern Philosophy and Spirituality. Having come from a background where there were limited educational opportunities, especially for females, Ahmed became a community leader and activist in Taiz. As well as his work supporting children with disabilities, Ahmed made it his dream to establish educational centres for women across rural Yemen. A dream that would later materialise. When civil war broke out in Yemen in 2015, Ahmed was living in one of the country’s most affected cities. After witnessing the devastation and destruction the conflict created, he knew
he had to do something to help. So when Faris proposed Qima Coffee, it presented the perfect opportunity. Friends since childhood, Ahmed and Faris used to spend hours exchanging stories of their radically different countries. As the years passed, they launched several successful charity projects together in the areas of education and basic provisions. When the idea for Qima Coffee came about, it was a natural extension of their past collaborations, and of their shared love of discovering and connecting different cultures. Most importantly, Qima Coffee presented an opportunity for them to unite their visions and achieve a shared dream. For Ahmed, Qima Coffee represents an opportunity to bring light and hope to the dire situation his country faces. It’s his sincere hope that the business can improve the livelihoods of individual Yemenis, the rural communities, and the wider country.
QIMA TEAM LONDON
CHINA
YEMEN
YEMEN
A TASTE OF YEMEN’S HERITAGE
The Arabic calligraphy that features on some of our packaging is the opening line of a famous Yemeni love poem. Loosely translated to ‘O Yemeni Coffee, O precious pearls, O dearest treasure upon the trees’, the second line goes on to say, ‘whoever plants you will never go poor, and will never experience a shame’. By bringing life to these words on our packaging, we hope to make this proverb a reality once again. And we’d like you to be part of the journey.
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