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• Where
Travelers Rest, SC
• Founders
Ildi and Robert Brown
• The Story
Robert Brown was born in Zimbabwe, and his family has been farming
there since 1965. In addition to coffee, they grow passion fruit
and have dairy cows. The farm supports 90 families, plus leopards,
monkeys, cobras, bushbuck, and two endangered species: Samango monkeys
and the rare Blue Duiker antelope.
Robert and Ildi met and married in Zimbabwe and had 2 children.
They intended on staying in Zimbabwe and working on their farm,
but a changing political landscape in Zimbabwe convinced Ildi and
Robert that creating a green coffee import and roasting company
in the U.S. could help the farm overcome obstacles that might be
encountered in the future.
So, in 2004, Ildi and the kids moved to South Carolina and opened
the warehouse, roasting facility and cafe. Robert still spends much
of the year in Zimbabwe running the farm.
The situation in Zimbabwe is difficult: the government structure
is still in question a year after elections, unemployment (94% of
Zimbabweans are unemployed), violence, rampant cholera and food
shortages. The most immediate problems to the farm involve Zimbabwe's
staggering inflation rate of over 1 septillion percent, with few
people able to get local currency. Farming there is a real challenge!
Zimbabwe coffee is now a rare commodity: There are only a handful
of coffee farms left that are still productive and even fewer able
to get their coffee over to the U.S.
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• Locations
Farm in Zimbabwe; roasting facility and cafe in Travelers Rest,
SC
• Passions
(1) Great coffee
(2) Their farm - great care is taken to preserve the indigenous
forest that supports so many rare animals and birds.
(3) Their community - all workers are provided with free housing
(including water and electricity), a day care center, primary education,
health care, a soccer team, and community hall in the farm village.
• Awards
Best Zimbabwean Coffee by international cuppers at the Eastern
African Fine Coffees Association Exhibition in 2005, 2006 and 2007
(the award has not been given since)
Zimbabwe Coffee Growers Association Small-Scale Coffee Grower of
the Year most recently: 1998-2002 (last year of award)
Top reviews on CoffeeReview.com
• Web Site
www.leopardforestcoffee.com
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