The Guardian Program  ·  Why Coffee

Coffee is how
we reach
the mountains.

We position Nepal's harvest as the rare luxury commodity it is. The commerce that follows brings stable wages to highland communities, helps build a coffee industry still finding its scale, and creates a relationship between a collector at home and a farmer in Nuwakot that lasts a generation.

The model does not generate revenue and then donate. The business model is the preservation. Every bag sold is a direct economic argument for keeping the forest standing.

73.6% Gross Margin at Retail
$65 Retail per 12 oz Bag
$25M Ten-Year Preservation Investment
$7.1M Y5 Guardian Revenue
"Somewhere between Kathmandu and the clouds, there is a farm. You reach it by a road that narrows as it climbs. The terraces appear first, then the coffee itself, grown in the long shadow of Everest."

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Nuwa Estate  ·  Nuwakot, Nepal  ·  Proof of Concept

One farm.
One partnership.
Proof it works.

Nuwa Estate in Nuwakot is our proof of concept. One partner, Tashi Wangchuk Tenzing, grandson of Tenzing Norgay. One valley. One supply chain, direct from farm to cup. The farm earns. The community holds the land. The model is validated.

What Tashi Has Built at Nuwa Estate

70,000 organic Arabica plants grown at 1,200 to 1,500 metres. Five-year exclusive US distribution rights. Payment 100% advance to farm. 432 households directly supported. 8 schools funded through the Nepal Green Tara Foundation. This is what one farm, run well, can do.

02  /  03

432
Households, Direct Families supported directly through
Nuwa coffee production today.
1,028
Households, Indirect Additional households in the valley
benefiting from Nuwa's activity.
8
Schools Built Through the Nepal Green Tara Foundation.
Commerce funding education, not charity.
92K ha
10-Year Vision The Himalayan Corridor Connecting three national parks. This is
what the Nuwa model enables at scale.

The Replication Thesis  ·  Coffee and Preservation at Scale

Nepal is the beginning.
Every high-altitude harvest
is a preservation argument.

The architecture does not change. A rare crop, grown at altitude, in a landscape that needs protecting. A direct trade relationship with the community that holds it. Commerce structured to make the forest more valuable standing than cleared.

Nepal is proof the model works. Kenya, Bolivia, and Ethiopia are where we take it next. The coffee changes. The mechanism stays the same.

Where coffee grows at altitude, communities face the same pressure: economic fragility, forest loss, youth migrating away from the land. The Guardian model is built for exactly that gap. We start with the cup. We end with the corridor.

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Live · 2025

Nepal

Nuwa Estate, Nuwakot. Proof of concept established with Tashi Wangchuk Tenzing. Direct trade, five-year exclusive.

1,200 to 1,500 m  ·  Arabica

Origin Expeditions · Jan 2027

Kenya

Mt Kenya and Amboseli corridor. Partnership with Maasai communities. 30+ luxury hospitality outreach partners active.

1,400 to 2,200 m  ·  SL28 / Ruiru 11

In Discussion · 2027

Bolivia

Yungas and Caranavi valleys in the Andes. Among the highest-grown coffee in the world. Framework under development.

1,200 to 1,900 m  ·  Typica / Caturra

Pipeline

Ethiopia + Beyond

Yirgacheffe, Sidama, and other high-altitude origins where rare coffee and fragile mountain ecosystems share the same hillside.

1,700 to 2,200 m  ·  Heirloom Arabica