More than just better coffee

By Catrine Gyllensten, Product & Marketing Manager at Johan & Nyström

Some stories stay with you long after you hear them. Earlier this spring, as we once again welcomed Ben Carlson, co-founder of Long Miles Coffee Project, to our roastery, I was reminded why we do what we do – why relationships in coffee matter, and why the work we put into sourcing is so much more than just buying green beans. Ben’s story is one of passion, resilience, and a relentless drive to change lives through coffee.

The beginning: a cup that changed everything

Ben and his wife, Kristy, founded Long Miles Coffee Project in 2013 after a life-changing trip to Burundi.

“I was travelling through the country, cupping coffee, and suddenly it hit me – this is some of the most special coffee in the world, and no one knows about it,”

he told us. At the time, Burundi’s coffee was blended into commodity coffee, with no real opportunity for farmers to benefit from its true quality. So, they packed up their lives, sold their house, and moved to Burundi.

“We put everything we had into this. My banker would have told me I was insane,” Ben joked. But the goal was clear: to create a direct connection between farmers and roasters, improve coffee quality, and pay farmers fairly.

The reality of coffee farming in Burundi

It’s easy to romanticise coffee production, but the reality is often far from idyllic. Ben painted a vivid picture of what farmers in Burundi face:

Most have tiny farms, sometimes just half an acre, with only 200 trees. When yields are low (as little as 500 grams per tree), their entire income for the year might amount to less than one full bag of coffee.
Corruption was rampant before Long Miles started. “Farmers were used to being cheated – at the scales, at payment, everywhere. And when they brought their cherries in, they were sometimes beaten just to get in line.”
In 2017, the government seized all the US dollars in Burundian banks, making it even harder to trade coffee and pay farmers fairly. And just this past year, a government-imposed export freeze delayed all shipments for two months.

Yet, despite all this, Long Miles has grown from working with 180 families to over 7,000 today.

Coffee Kids Camp: impact beyond coffee

One of the most powerful stories Ben shared was about Coffee Kids Camp, a programme that started with just a few hundred children and has now grown to over 9,000 kids.

In Burundi, education is free, but only if you can afford a uniform and school supplies. If you can’t, you don’t get through the door. The result? Families are forced to make impossible choices, often sending their sons to school while their daughters stay behind. Some girls even resort to prostitution to afford an education.

Photo by Long Miles Coffee Project

As a mother of a daughter here in Sweden, it’s the kind of reality that both brings tears to my eyes and makes me want to turn away. And as a marketing manager for coffee, I know this isn’t the kind of story that sells more coffee. The “customer” wants to see smiling (adult) farmers picking ripe, triple-certified cherries by hand, then heading home to feed their families, pay for school, and maybe even plan a holiday.

But if we genuinely want the coffee world to be better, not just for us and our families, but for every family along the chain, then we need to talk about it all. The joyful and the painful. The progress and the injustice. Only then can we start to change what truly needs changing.

Long Miles did exactly that – by turning pest control into a game. Kids were rewarded for collecting antestia bugs, the insects responsible for the notorious potato defect in coffee. The results? Fewer potato defects, a better yield for farmers, and thousands of children receiving books and uniforms so they could go to school.

“A local government official pulled me aside, told me our province had gone from the worst school attendance to the best in the country – and that teen pregnancies had dropped by 90%.”

The challenge of a changing market

It’s no secret that coffee prices have skyrocketed. When asked how farmers and roasters can survive in this market, Ben was direct:

“We’ve underpaid farmers for decades. The reality is, this price correction was bound to happen. And if we don’t pay farmers a sustainable price, they won’t grow coffee.”

He pointed out that in Burundi, inflation has risen 46% in the past year. “People’s entire salaries are going towards just getting to work,” he explained. If we, as roasters, feel pressure from rising coffee costs, imagine what it’s like for a farmer living on a few dollars a day.

Why relationships matter

Despite the struggles, Ben remains hopeful – and that hope lies in relationships like ours.

“Johan & Nyström was one of our first partners. We wouldn’t be here today without relationships like this.”

It’s easy to focus on numbers, contracts and logistics when working in coffee. But today was a reminder that behind every contract is a real person, a real farm and a real impact.

“You get to make a difference in people’s lives that you’ll never meet. And that’s worth something.”

The coffee from Burundi arrived at our roastery in early summer. It’s now a key ingredient in some of our favourite blends and also featured in a limited-edition release together with our friends at Coffeedesk in Poland. Every time we brew it, we’re reminded of the people, the places and the purpose behind the cup.

Photo by Long Miles Coffee Project

Coffee is never just coffee. It’s a connection. It’s a story. And sometimes, it’s the spark that helps change a community. We’re proud to be part of that spark – and to keep working for better, together.