Burka coffee estate was founded in 1899 by German settlers just outside the town of Arusha in Northern Tanzania. The neighbouring Selian estate was established in 1910 and acquired by Burka in 1991. The first coffee trees were planted in 1918 and now number some 1.3 million, mostly shade-grown varietials. 314 acres are reserved for forests and a further 250 acres to natural grasslands. There are around 200 permanent staff at Burka, a further 200 casual daily staff and up to 5000 temporary staff involved in the picking and sorting at the height of the harvest season. All permanent staff are provided with housing on the estates with salary set at least 20% above minimum government requirements.
Staff have social security and labour union membership included in their contracts and an estate credit union also offers loans and advice for education, health and house construction. Each estate has its own nursery which educates over 100 children and two primary schools cater for over 600 children from the estate workers and neighbouring communities. An on-site health centre with nurse and dispensary is available for all staff and the estate has its own ambulance along with shops, sports facilities, churches and a mosque. Regular inter-estate football and netball matches occur along with staff BBQs and other holiday celebrations. Workers are supplied with free firewood from stumped coffee trees and fruit and nut trees are grown around the staff villages.
The staff at Burka have a combined wealth of agronomist experience and over the course of many decades the estate has built a reputation for consistent production of fine arabica coffees characterised by mild acidity with flavours of lemon, chocolate and caramel.
Origin: Tanzania
Subregion: Arusha
Harvest season: 2023/24
Farm name: Burka and Selian Estates
Processing: Natural/dry processed
Altitude: 1350m - 1500m
Varieties: Blue Mountain, Kent, KP423, N39, Red Bourbon