You have never seen more horrific scope creep.

A sip of coffee revealed the gaps in the industry. We fell in those gaps, and the gaps in satellite data, weather forecasting, AI, plant pathology, soil management. Oh, and we grew coffee.

A genuine thank you to

An unproductive meeting. A life-changing sip.

In 2010, Union co-owner Steven Macatonia handed Graham a freshly roasted cup during a routine meeting about servers. Graham shot David a knowing grin, fully aware of his brother's disdain for coffee. Through a forced smile, David took a polite sip, relieved it was hot chocolate.

"No, that's Rwandan coffee," Steven said. That sip opened the door to questions about coffee and the struggles of farmers. That moment marked the start of everything.

The mission.

Develop a best-in-class solution for coffee.

2010

It started with a sip

A routine meeting at a client's office. A cup of Rwandan coffee. Two brothers discovered the struggles coffee farmers face — and unknowingly started a 13-year journey.

2012

Building partnerships

Strategic partnerships with Innovate UK and the European Space Agency. A team of weather modellers and satellite experts. Early adopters of AI. The real challenge was understanding coffee on the ground.

2013

The scope creep begins

David and his team lived alongside smallholder farmers in East Africa — not to bring solutions, but to listen. The complexity of coffee farming revealed layers of challenges, each with new issues to solve.

Coffee farming is not sustainable

Very low production

Most farms produce an average of 0.3kg of cherry per tree. 4kg is easily achievable. Farmers are working hard for nothing.

We realised fast

Technology was not enough

We had all the tech from the start. Satellite data, AI, weather forecasting. But it will never make a difference on the ground. It can only ever support a farming standard.

We discovered

Seedlings keep dying

~40% of seedlings die shortly after transplant. Of those that survive, another 40% never become productive — transplant shock, nematodes, J-root, weak anaemic rootstock. Only twenty trees in a hundred reach the cherry harvest. This reality was shocking.

We tested

Dead soils

We sampled soils across multiple countries. Most were devoid of microbiological life — either from overuse of chemical fertiliser or years of no management at all.

We saw

The weather impact

After every heavy rain, topsoil and whatever fertiliser farmers had applied washed straight off the farm. Even landslides. The trees don't even get to drink.

So we got involved.

13 years in the field. GAP77 built from the ground up.

2014

We had to get involved

We faced a choice: develop tools remotely or fully engage with the complexities of coffee farming. We chose the path less travelled. Demo farms, trial and error, highly risky — but there was no real choice.

2014

GAP77 takes shape

It takes three years for a coffee tree to start producing. We've produced over 150k trees. We made mistakes, but devised the best way to grow seedlings and transplant them — finding the optimal tree density, intercropping, and irrigation methods that farmers can actually use.

From the start

Monitoring everything

Satellite data, weather stations, soil testing — we were monitoring and building feedback loops from day one. Every intervention measured, every prediction validated, every model refined.

Today

250,000+ farms mapped

A platform that bridges the gaps across the entire supply chain. Mapping, managing, monitoring, optimising. The pathway forward is built.

"We had the satellites, the AI, the weather models. None of it mattered until we understood what was happening on the ground."

David Mills CEO & Founder

Ready to bridge the gaps?

13 years of research, demo farms, and real-world solutions — built for the people at origin and the buyers who depend on them.