Mount Meru Coffee Project
Mt. Meru Coffee Project (MMCP) is part of the faith- based relationship which started in 1996
between the Diocese of Meru of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) and the
Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). MMCP
originated 3 years later, in 1999, when a small coffee farmer said to a visiting Milwaukee
Pastor: “We grow coffee; you drink coffee; would you buy your coffee from us?”
MMCP’s mission is to develop and grow justice-based relationships, building on fair trade practices between the Meru coffee growers and U.S. coffee consumers. The price paid for the PREMIUM coffee by MMCP has benefited other farmers as well because other coffee buyers have had to raise their prices to remain competitive. The justice-based pricing has enabled the farmers to support their families, send their children to school, access healthcare, sustain and improve their farms, and support their local cooperatives, villages and churches.
In 2001, the Project started working with about 200 small subsistence farm families (most having less than three acres of land) and imported coffee for the first time. Today, the Project works with over 2,000 small coffee farmers. The Project has imported, roasted, packaged and distributed an average of 8 to 12 tons of coffee per year ever since. A large portion of the coffee is being sold through churches within the Greater Milwaukee Synod. Coffee is also being sold to churches of other denominations as well as wholesale and online customers.
Regular and decaf coffee is available in whole bean, drip grind, perk grind, and green (unroasted) form. Four flavored coffees as well as P-Berry and single cup servings (K-cups) are available at the All Saints narthex display. Your purchases help to improve the standard of living in the Diocese of Meru.
MMCP is the single largest project of the Greater Milwaukee Synod – Diocese of Meru Partnership, It involves 75-80 churches within the Synod and helps create awareness and support for other projects within the Diocese of Meru. Your support is truly appreciated.
