Dorothy’s Coffee

More About Dorothy's Coffee

Dorothy’s Coffee is a Dutch coffee company from Leek in Groningen. The publicly mentioned owners are Dorothy Ngarina and Harro Boekhold. According to available company information, they started Dorothy’s Coffee in 2019. The company is registered as V.O.F. Dorothy’s Coffee® with KvK number 88427749. The publicly listed visiting address is Industriepark 29, 9351 PA Leek.

Origins and Background

The company’s origins lie in Dorothy Ngarina’s personal connection to Tanzania. Her family comes from the region around Mount Kilimanjaro. She has lived in Leek since 2014. Ngarina and Boekhold married in 2006 in Tanzania and lived for nearly six years in Moshi and Dar es Salaam. Their background includes education, training, coffee, and agritourism.

A 2022 profile describes how the venture began at the kitchen table in 2019. The first sales were made using a second-hand sealing machine. In this startup phase, Dorothy’s Coffee sold medium roast beans, which were roasted externally at Koffielust in Veenhuizen. The stated motivation was to tell the story behind Tanzanian coffee, while also aiming for better conditions for coffee producers, their families, and youth in the Kilimanjaro region.

Origin and Supply Chain

The coffee from Dorothy’s Coffee is described as single-origin Arabica AA from the Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania. According to company information, the beans grow at altitudes of 1,200 to 1,800 meters. The company states that the coffee comes from small-scale farms on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, where the beans are largely hand-picked.

The origin description refers to Chagga Homegardens. This is a traditional agricultural system where coffee grows among other crops. In 2022, it was reported that Dorothy’s Coffee sources through regular traders active in Tanzania. The farmers are said to be affiliated with a cooperative that supplies the importer. The name of that cooperative is not publicly documented in the available material.

Roasting and Selection

For roasting, Dorothy’s Coffee uses a 1965 Hamerel drum roaster. The company presents this roaster as part of an approach that embraces industrial heritage. Details regarding roasting capacity, batch size, roasting software, and a separately mentioned main roaster are not publicly documented.

The selection is categorized by roast level and grind size. For whole beans, five roast levels are listed: light roast, medium roast, dark roast, extra dark roast, and French roast. For ground coffee, filter grind, espresso grind, and coarse grind are listed. These variants are also linked to the same five roast levels.

Additionally, the company offers various bundles and subscription models. Documented bundle names include Proefpakket, Circulair Koffiepakket, Puur Genieten, Extra Puur Genieten, Slow Coffee pakket, and Dorothy’s Kadobon. Flexible Coffee Credits subscriptions are mentioned with names such as Mandara, Mawenzi, Umbwe, Kibo, Uru, Shira, Moshi, and Njari. The listed quantities range from 10 to 25 kilos.

Sustainability and social projects

An external profile from 2022 mentioned that Dorothy’s Coffee did not have sustainability certification. However, the company describes its own practices regarding waste reduction and logistics. For instance, it sells coffee without packaging within a zero-waste model. For corporate clients and organizations, returnable deposit containers are mentioned.

According to the 2023 annual review, Dorothy’s Coffee sold nearly 1,650 kilos of zero-waste coffee. This reportedly saved more than 44 kilos of packaging waste. Shop information also states that over 50 percent of customers buy zero-waste, citing a saving of more than 150 kilos of packaging waste per year.

The company further mentions local deliveries by bicycle or electric transport. As of 2023, it expressed the intention to transport imported coffee from Antwerpen to Noord-Nederland via sailing cargo. There is no further operational detail regarding the execution of this in the available materials.

On a social level, Dorothy’s Coffee reports that for every kilo of coffee sold, one euro is donated toward tuition for students at the Kibosho Vocational Training Centre. According to the annual review, 11,254 euros were transferred for 28 students in 2023. In 2025, the company reported that it had helped 33 students. The stated goal was a minimum of 40 students and 20,000 euros.

Sales, Locations, and Public Activities

Direct sales channels consist of the webshop, pickup at the roastery, and the physical location in Leek. Landgoedboerderij Oosterheerdt at Oosterheerdtstraat 1 in Leek is officially listed as a point of sale. Locations where the coffee is served, according to company information, include Dorothy’s Coffee, Barnie’s in Leek, De Herberg Waskemeer, Adventurepark Waddenfun, and Koffie- en theetuin De Baggelhof.

The location in Leek also offers a so-called Coffee Experience. The Kilimanjaro Koffietour lasts 2.5 hours and is scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with start times at 10.00 and 14.00. The tour is intended for groups of up to nine people and is not suitable for children under sixteen. Additionally, there is a 1.5-hour company visit for groups of up to twenty people, including coffee or tea and a tasting.

Press and Public Data

Publicly documented prices are not mentioned in the available material. However, profiles and articles about Dorothy’s Coffee have appeared. Just Enough published a profile in November 2022. De Streekboer posted a supplier profile in February 2024. Dagblad van het Noorden wrote about Dorothy Ngarina and Harro Boekhold in May 2024. Business as Mission Nederland published an article in June 2025 about the company, the Coffee Experiences, and the support for vocational education in Tanzania.

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