KZN coffee collective drives growth, investment opportunities in agriculture

A KwaZulu-Natal-based coffee farmer is building a support base to increase coffee farming in rural areas

- Jyothi Laldas

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) South Coast-based RedBerry Coffee Collective, which now consists of close to 30 members nationwide, is supporting start-up coffee farmers by providing agronomic services to strengthen the existing value chain.

RedBerry, driven by Dylan Cumming, of Beaver Creek Coffee Estate, on the KZN South Coast, is building a strong base to increase coffee farming in rural areas, support coffee farmers, and position the country as one of the best coffee producers in the world.

“The current demand for coffee worldwide is sitting at around

Cumming explained. “We have a climate ideally suited to coffee growing and a global demand to be met so our aim is to grow South African coffee farming and produce a specialty

He said they were introducing a new model that supports the coffee farming process throughout the value chain. “Through vertical integration, we can extract value at each of the nodes, so it’s not just about the endproduct. We process the coffee for local farmers, and assist in sourcing buyers, creating a self-sufficient value