Member of the Month

October 2008: M.T.L. Trader Limited

About MTL:
MTL (Main Trader Limited) is an international company based in eastern Uganda, where it produces and exports Arabica coffee. The company supervises all stages of production from the plantations on Mt. Elgon to the actual shipping and ensuring the highest quality.

The history:
MTL was established in 2003 as a joint venture between Jobbingfields Properties Limited and Bugisu Co-operative Union.

At the beginning of 2000, Bugisu Co-operative Union was in need of a financial restructuring in order to continue to operate on the market and to pursue its philosophy of supporting coffee farmers in the region. Jobbingfield Properties Limited came in to handle the situation and soon realised that the needed restructuring was not only financial but the entire approach to the area's coffee business had to undergo a global review.

Jobbingfield Properties Limited created a new independent company, MTL to handle the situation. The success in uplifting the Co-operative Union and reviving the market later led the farmers to decide to hand over the Co-operative Union to MTL.

Today, MTL is the leading coffee trader in the region with a market share above 60% with controls from coffee production on the mountains to final export. MTL also controls the price philosophy with calls for a fairer and higher return for the farmers and avoiding the use of middle men.

The coffee:
Since the very beginning, coffee has been MTL’s real passion. We repute good quality, availability, seriousness and coustumer satisfaction as the company's pillars.

Our coffees are the Mt. Elgon Washed Arabica coming from controlled plantations and labeled as specialty coffee and the Bugisu Washed Arabica, which is the traditional coffee produced in the area.

Mt. Elgon Washed Arabica:-
This coffee is grown by independent farmers in volcanic soils on the slopes of Mt. Elgon. It is organic as farmers use intercropping, terracing, natural fertilizers and avoid the use of pesticides. It’s also specialty as MTL supervises all stages of its production:

• On the mountain we inform and educate farmers on methods to obtain the maximum quality and yield
• We select only the ripest cherries, pulp, soak and dry them before bagging and transportation them to the milling plant in the valley.
• At the mill, the coffee is stored and eventually dried further before going to cup testing and final processing on a dedicated production line
• After milling the coffee is hand sorted and put into 60kg bags, ready for export. The hand sorting process ensures a default rate of less than 1%.

Bugishu Washed Arabica:-
The traditional coffee comes from the Mount Elgon area and has been grown by local farmers since the 1920s. This coffee is organic as it is mostly grown on terraces using the intercropping technique and avoiding the use of chemicals.

Central Mill – the factory:
Established in 1940, the former Bugisu Co-operative Union Milling plant is a vast industrial plant covering 30 acres, located in the outskirts of Mbale town, in eastern Uganda. Along with stores and silos, the factory has 2 milling lines, with a capacity of 3,000,000kgs of parchment/year.

The factory also has its own testing facilities and a roasting plant. The factory has direct access from the main road connecting to Kampala and Mombasa as well as an industrial railway track entering its premises.

Processing:
Depending on its origins, coffee reaching the milling plant has to undergo a series of processes before being bagged for export.

Coffee coming from the washing stations has sometimes to dry further before proceeding to milling. This is due to weather conditions in the mountains that are very rainy during the harvesting season. When coffee can not be dried there it is immediately transported to the milling plant to avoid damage.

Coffee coming from independent traders has to go through tough quality controls before it can be accepted. If the standards are not reached it is rejected.

The parchment that we process has very low moisture content. Coffee is milled only when there is an open export request. During peak seasons, milling proceeds continuously. Just before shipment, green coffee goes through hand sorting to ensure a fault rate of 1% or less in the single bag. Regular cup tests and laboratory checks are also carried out on single arrivals.

Exports:
During harvesting, around 200 workers are employed with this number reducing to 60 during off season. Before being exported all the coffee has to go through a series of internal and external (independent) checks. All shipments are accompanied with phytosanitary documents and we usually ship through the port of Mombasa in Kenya.

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