Wendi Farms

OUR GOALS

It wasn’t until adulthood that I realized the drink my grandfather had each morning and wanted so much to share with others was, in fact, coffee, and I’ve never forgotten what he always said after drinking it. Fast-forward twenty-five years later and Wendi Farms was born. I am here and ready to go, and our goal is to ensure that farmers like my grandfather and cousin earn enough money not only to barely survive with just the minimal necessities, but to thrive and send their children to school.
Wendi Farms accomplishes this by buying vanilla and coffee (Robusta and Arabica) from small, family-run farms, having it graded, and then selling it directly to consumers in Africa, Europe, and North America.

Specifically, through the generosity of your purchase, Wendi Farms helps farmers in Uganda by:

When you buy:-

1. Paying farmers more than fair trade prices
2. Donating a minimum of 2% of the profit to The Uganda School Project, a nonprofit organization to cover the cost of tuition for Ugandan students in grades k-12 and trade schools irrespective of political or religious affiliations
3. Donating 1% of the profit to organizing workshops for sustainable farming in the regions where we obtain our coffee and vanilla.

We provide high quality services to our customers by delivering the values and the organic flavours of the real farm products.

FARM PHILOSOPHY

Customer’s satisfaction is our priority

OUR FARMING EXPERIENCE

As a teenager I attended high school in America as an international student. I lived with a family in Vermont that owned a small, family-run farm, and I couldn’t help but notice they shared some of the same exact struggles as my Ugandan family even though they weren’t farming coffee and vanilla. Meanwhile, at school, I noticed I was putting quite a bit of money in the vending machines without a second thought, and it occurred to me that I could donate the same amount of money to cover the cost of a child’s semester of school in Uganda, and so, with the help of my host family, I started a nonprofit organization called The Uganda School Project to do just that.

Sell directly to consumers

After high school I earned a bachelor’s in both Biology and Community Health Development, and from there I graduated from Pharmacy school with a PharmD. A few years later I relocated to Bellingham, WA where I bought a five acre blueberry farm.

During my first year as a blueberry farmer, I sold my harvest in August to a “middleman” at a fruit processing plant, and I was quite shocked to learn that I wouldn’t know how much I was paid per pound until November, when I would receive a mere 10% of my gross sale, with the final payment not arriving until late December or January.
Because of this, I had to borrow money to pay the folks I hired to pick the berries, and after paying them, I was left with just twelve cents per pound, which is hardly enough to make the business of farming economically viable. Meanwhile, the average price of blueberries in grocery stores is $4 a pint.

In the subsequent years our business model has evolved and I now sell directly to consumers and other private buyers and businesses, allowing me to pay the folks I hire to pick the berries above minimum wage and keep up with the farm bills. This is the same model I envision for the small coffee and vanilla farmers I buy from in Uganda.

Much like wine

Vanilla beans grown in the soil of Uganda have a unique and delicious flavor that is distinct from the more commonly available vanilla grown in Madagascar.

Much like wine, location imparts unique regional flavor, and Ugandan bourbon-style vanilla is high in vanillin content with rich, earthy tones reminiscent of fig and milk chocolate, a delicious addition to your cooking, baking, and extract needs.
Unlike other regions where vanilla is grown, Uganda has two growing seasons, ensuring a fresh supply year-round. Our beans are packaged in a vacuum-sealed pouch for maximum freshness.