Acacia Hills
This coffee estate in Tanzania is a partnership of growers and roasters. Owned by Mark Stell (Portland Roasting Company) and Leon and Aideen Christianakis (local Tanzanian coffee farmers), this relationship is a powerful combo that works to elevate coffee in the entire Ngorongoro region through a yearly cupping event.
Watch owners Mark Stell, Aideen & Leon Christianakis chat about all things Acacia Hills, from recent harvest conditions to their elephant problem:
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People
Mark Stell
Owner
Portland USA
Leon Christianakis
Owner
Tanzania
Aideen Christianakis
Owner
Tanzania
Beyond the Cup

Cupping at the Crater
From the inception of Acacia Hills, the goal was to not only improve their own coffee, but to elevate the coffee of the entire region. With Mark having first hand experience as a coffee buyer, he understood the appeal of being able source and explore a region at a single, central cupping. From this, the Ngorongoro Coffee Group was born and in 2012 their inaugural ‘Cupping at the Crater’ event was held – which we were lucky enough to attend!
What started off as just Acacia Hills Estate and their neighbouring farm, Shangri-La Estate, has grown to a group over 6 estates in the Ngoronrogo region. Receiving cupping feedback from a variety of people, exploring what other estates are producing, and the sharing of growing and processing knowledge among farms has helped improve the coffee quality of all involved.

Tanzania Water Project
After assessing the local area around the farm, 3 small villages – roughly 2,000 people, the Acacia Hills team found that 25% of their workforce were always sick from waterborne illness or suffering dehydration, and the average house was walking 6 hours a day for water. With these shocking stats in mind, the Tanzania Water Project was started and fundraising began with Five Senses, as well as many other coffee roasters around the world, jumping on board.
With a water source on the Acacia Hills farm that had not been developed in the last 70 years, an ambitious piping and storage project began. Bringing water down to the village and setting up storage tanks has considerably improved the access to water in the local area. This project is an excellent example of both wanting to be a positive impact in the local area and an improvement for the business – healthy workers are needed on the farm. Win, win!
Coffee from this relationship


