Qima Coffee

Overview

Qima Coffee was founded in London in 2016 by British-Yemeni Faris Sheibani, a Cambridge-trained chemical engineer who left a career at Shell in oil and gas to work on Yemen's coffee supply chain after the country's 2015 civil war. With his team, Sheibani led the 2021 scientific study that identified Yemenia, a previously undocumented genetic group of Coffea arabica described as the largest such discovery in a century, and Qima now sources from over 5,000 Yemeni smallholders across 55 villages.

Known for

• Founded 2016 in London to revive Yemeni specialty coffee post-civil-war
• Led 2021 discovery of Yemenia — a fourth major genetic group of Coffea arabica
• Operates the annual Best of Yemen Private Collection Auction with the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (since 2019)
• Sources from 5,000+ Yemeni smallholders across 55 villages with photo-traceability to individual farmers
• Qima Café opened in Fitzrovia 2022 and Covent Garden 2025 — in-house roasting, signature Qishr Latte and Cascara Fizz

Why it matters

Yemeni coffee carries unmatched historical weight as the origin of the global trade, but its modern reputation collapsed under decades of declining quality, war and the more profitable khat plant. Qima rebuilt the country's market credibility by adding two things Yemeni coffee had lacked — radical traceability down to individual farmer portraits and rigorous scientific work on its varieties — and the discovery of the Yemenia genetic group reframed Yemen from a romantic origin story into a globally relevant climate-resilience laboratory.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

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color sorting

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roaster machine

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filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

London, United Kingdom

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

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Café

This roaster operates a café.

Recognitions

• Co-discovery of Yemenia genetic group of Coffea arabica (2021)
• Le Cafe Alain Ducasse partnership

Sources

• https://9ambusiness.co.uk/exclusive/he-built-schools-roads-and-clinics-alongside-running-his-business/
• https://zephyrcoffee.com/a-chat-with-faris-sheibani-ceo-and-founder-of-qima-coffee/
• https://kensingtonandchelseareview.com/2025/09/23/qima-cafe-tree-to-cup-coffee-to-the-heart-of-london/
• https://allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/blog/2024/07/30/best-of-yemen-pca-2024/
• https://mtpak.coffee/2021/08/roaster-of-the-week-qima-coffee/
• https://www.qimacoffee.com/press1/ybvz3qbiwapn98zgrju9xlnyker2zg