The MF Coffee Shop is the café inside Summerhall, but it’s much more than just a part of the building. A lot of people think the café is run by Summerhall itself, but actually, MF Coffee Shop is its own thing—a unique business doing coffee differently.
The “MF” stands for Manchewe Falls, the tallest waterfalls in Malawi, and it’s where all the coffee we serve comes from. The story behind the shop is rooted in Malawi, where Cameron McAllister (that’s me) took over an off-grid eco-lodge called The Mushroom Farm back in 2013. The lodge was in Manchewe Village in Northern Malawi, and my sister and I ran it together for seven years.
While running the lodge, I started buying green coffee beans from local farmers to roast and sell to travellers and backpackers staying with us. That’s when I fell in love with coffee—not just drinking it but learning everything about it, from farming to processing. Over time, I got to know two incredible farmers, Lyson Msiska and Noel Nyirenda. We became good friends, and together we decided to build a washing station. (That’s where the coffee cherries are processed, and the beans are prepared for roasting.)
Noel & Lyson, directors and co-founders
We started working with other farmers in the area, experimenting with how we processed the coffee to bring out different flavors. Then we’d send it around the world to get feedback and figure out how we could improve. Through all of this, I learned how unfair the coffee trade can be, especially for farmers, and we decided to do something about it. That’s how the MF Coffee Project was born: a way to connect farmers directly with coffee drinkers and make sure farmers get paid fairly for their hard work.
In 2020, my sister and I sold the lodge, and I moved to Scotland, a country with strong ties to Malawi. I started importing coffee from our team in Malawi and selling it online and at markets across Scotland. In 2022, I got the chance to turn a shed in the Summerhall courtyard into a coffee stand for the Fringe Festival. It went really well, and after that, I was offered the chance to take over the main café space inside Summerhall. That’s how MF Coffee Shop came to be.
Today, everything we serve—every cup of coffee—comes directly from farmers in Manchewe. Because we work directly with them, we cut out the middlemen and can pay farmers way above fair-trade prices. Plus, we’re able to reinvest in the community by building infrastructure like our washing station and supporting other local projects.
Since opening, the café has also become a bit of a hotspot for brunch and lunch. We’re known for our in-house baked goods, cakes, and a menu that changes with the seasons. We even serve specialty teas from Malawi to keep the connection going beyond coffee.
Cameron, director and co-founder
MF Coffee Shop isn’t just a place to grab a cup of coffee. It’s a way to experience the journey of coffee—from a small village in Malawi to your cup in Edinburgh.
#PaidAd – MF Coffee Shop can be found at 1 Summerhall Place, Newington, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL
Images courtesy of MF Coffee Project