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Kampala · Uganda

Endiro Coffee

Since 2011 · Gloria Katusiime, Cody Lorance

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Overview

Endiro Coffee was founded in 2011 in Kampala by Ugandan journalist Gloria Katusiime — who opened the first café in Kisementi with no business background and the express mission of generating revenue to support vulnerable children — and was later joined by American Cody Lorance as Co-CEO. Endiro now operates roughly 16 cafés in Uganda plus one in Kenya, and opened its first US location in Aurora, Illinois in 2017, followed by a second in Anacortes, Washington in June 2025. All Endiro coffee is grown in Bukalasi village, Bududa, where the company contracts with around 250 farming families on land that has been in the same families for generations; the network is roughly 90% women, who receive training in coffee picking, fermentation, beekeeping, and shade management. Endiro's flagship Bududa Bukalasi Coffee won the 2022 sofi™ Award for Coffee and Cocoa from the Specialty Food Association — the first Ugandan product to win — and the 2023 Mindful Awards Coffee Product of the Year. The company is a Certified B Corp.

Known for

  • Founded 2011 in Kampala by Gloria Katusiime; mission: end child vulnerability through coffee
  • Co-CEO Cody Lorance (American) joined and opened first US café in Aurora, IL (2017)
  • 16 Uganda cafés + 1 Kenya + 2 US (Aurora 2017, Anacortes WA 2025)
  • 2022 sofi™ Award (first Ugandan product), 2023 Mindful Awards Coffee Product of the Year
  • Certified B Corp; ~250 family farmers in Bukalasi village (~90% women)

Why it matters

Endiro is Uganda's most internationally recognized specialty coffee brand and a B Corp benchmark for tree-to-cup operations in East Africa. By building a value chain that grows, processes, exports, roasts, and serves coffee from a single Ugandan village while distributing through Trader Joe's and 17+ company cafés across three countries, Endiro has positioned itself as one of the most successful examples of a producing-country brand selling its own specialty product abroad. The 2022 sofi™ Award is the first ever for a Ugandan product.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
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color sorting
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roaster machine
Ambex YM-15 (15kg)
filter equipment
V60, percolator pots, military-style jerry-can cold brew
cupping frequency
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roastery location
Aurora, Illinois, USA (US wholesale roastery)
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Kisementi, Kampala (original)

Recognitions

  • 2022 sofi™ Award — Coffee and Cocoa (first Ugandan product)
  • 2023 Mindful Awards — Coffee Product of the Year
  • Certified B Corporation
  • SCA Coffee Design Award 2022 (Sipi Falls branch)

Sources

More roasters