diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 95639c9..c011fd8 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@ NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE=http://localhost:3000  # base URL for API endpoints, must b
 NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_ENV=dev  # application environment: 'dev' or 'prod' - controls logging, error handling
 NEXT_PUBLIC_HOVER_THRESHOLD=1200  # hover threshold in milliseconds for UI interactions
 
+# Backend service
+BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:5000  # backend API URL for kafka ingestion (set to railway service URL in prod)
+
 # Service ports - used by docker-compose and service communication
+BACKEND_PORT=5000  # backend server port for kafka ingestion API
+KAFKA_HOST=localhost  # kafka broker hostname - set to remote host in prod (e.g., kafka.example.com)
 KAFKA_PORT=9092  # kafka broker port for event streaming
 REDIS_PORT=6377  # redis port for worker queue and caching
 REDPANDA_CONSOLE_PORT=8084  # redpanda console UI port for kafka monitoring
diff --git a/backend/server/app.py b/backend/server/app.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8544689
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/server/app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# boilerplate code
+from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
+from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from typing import Optional, Any
+import uvicorn
+import os
+import json
+from datetime import datetime
+from kafka import KafkaProducer
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+load_dotenv()
+
+app = FastAPI()
+
+# kafka producer - lazy init
+_producer: Optional[KafkaProducer] = None
+
+def get_producer() -> KafkaProducer:
+    global _producer
+    if _producer is None:
+        host = os.getenv('KAFKA_HOST', 'localhost')
+        port = os.getenv('KAFKA_PORT', '9092')
+        broker = f'{host}:{port}' if port else host
+        _producer = KafkaProducer(
+            bootstrap_servers=[broker],
+            value_serializer=lambda v: json.dumps(v).encode('utf-8'),
+            key_serializer=lambda k: k.encode('utf-8') if k else None,
+        )
+    return _producer
+
+class EventPayload(BaseModel):
+    sessionId: str
+    eventName: str
+    page: str
+    productId: Optional[str] = None
+    metadata: Optional[dict[str, Any]] = None
+    storeMode: str
+    userAgent: Optional[str] = None
+    ts: Optional[str] = None
+
+app.add_middleware(
+    CORSMiddleware,
+    allow_origins=["*"],
+    allow_credentials=True,
+    allow_methods=["*"],
+    allow_headers=["*"],
+)
+
+@app.get("/health")
+async def health():
+    kafka_status = "unknown"
+    try:
+        producer = get_producer()
+        # attempt to get cluster metadata to verify connection
+        producer.bootstrap_connected()
+        kafka_status = "connected"
+    except Exception as e:
+        kafka_status = f"error: {str(e)}"
+
+    return {
+        "status": "healthy",
+        "kafka": kafka_status,
+        "kafka_broker": f"{os.getenv('KAFKA_HOST', 'localhost')}:{os.getenv('KAFKA_PORT', '9092')}"
+    }
+
+
+@app.post("/api/kafka/ingest")
+async def ingest_logs(event: EventPayload):
+    try:
+        if not event.ts:
+            event.ts = datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + 'Z'
+
+        producer = get_producer()
+        producer.send(
+            'user-interactions',
+            key=event.sessionId,
+            value=event.model_dump()
+        )
+        producer.flush(timeout=5)
+
+        return {"success": True}
+    except Exception as e:
+        import traceback
+        print(f"[ERROR] {e}")
+        print(traceback.format_exc())
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(e))
+
+@app.get("/api/kafka/dump")
+def dump_logs():
+    # TODO: implement a dump of logs of time period t_start to t_end (params of get)
+    # OR: allow for params of last_n logs as a param - creating two modes of the dumping
+    pass
+
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    PORT=int(os.getenv("BACKEND_PORT", 5000))
+    uvicorn.run("server:app", host="0.0.0.0", port=PORT, reload=True)
diff --git a/backend/server/requirements.txt b/backend/server/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9113ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/server/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+fastapi==0.104.1
+uvicorn[standard]==0.24.0
+kafka-python==2.0.2
+pydantic==2.5.0
+python-dotenv==1.0.0
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index abfb77d..affa437 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,18 @@
 services:
+  backend:
+    container_name: "PHANTOM-backend"
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: docker/backend.Dockerfile
+    ports:
+      - "${BACKEND_PORT:-5000}:5000"
+    environment:
+      - KAFKA_HOST=kafka
+      - KAFKA_PORT=29092
+    depends_on:
+      - kafka
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
   redis:
     container_name: "PHANTOM-redis"
     image: redis:7-alpine
@@ -7,6 +21,7 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - phantom_redis_data:/data
     restart: unless-stopped
+
   zookeeper:
     container_name: "PHANTOM-zookeeper"
     image: confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:latest
diff --git a/docker/backend.Dockerfile b/docker/backend.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32eb28b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/backend.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+FROM python:3.11-slim
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY backend/server/requirements.txt .
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
+
+COPY backend/server/app.py .
+
+EXPOSE 5000
+
+CMD ["uvicorn", "app:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "5000"]
diff --git a/web/package.json b/web/package.json
index c46656c..0a32603 100644
--- a/web/package.json
+++ b/web/package.json
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
     "start": "next start"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "kafkajs": "^2.2.4",
     "next": "16.0.0",
     "react": "19.2.0",
     "react-dom": "19.2.0",
diff --git a/web/src/app/api/ingest/route.ts b/web/src/app/api/ingest/route.ts
index 83a68e1..70497ac 100644
--- a/web/src/app/api/ingest/route.ts
+++ b/web/src/app/api/ingest/route.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
-import { sendEvent } from '@/lib/kafka';
 import type { EventBase } from '@/lib/events';
 
+const BACKEND_URL = process.env.BACKEND_URL || 'http://localhost:5000';
+
 export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
   try {
     const body = await req.json();
@@ -16,7 +17,15 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
       ts: body.ts || new Date().toISOString(),
     };
 
-    await sendEvent(event);
+    const res = await fetch(`${BACKEND_URL}/api/kafka/ingest`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify(event),
+    });
+
+    if (!res.ok) {
+      throw new Error(`Backend returned ${res.status}`);
+    }
 
     if (process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_ENV === 'dev') {
       console.log('[ingest]', event);
diff --git a/web/src/lib/kafka.ts b/web/src/lib/kafka.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 4228a15..0000000
--- a/web/src/lib/kafka.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-import { Kafka, Producer } from 'kafkajs';
-import type { EventBase } from './events';
-
-let producer: Producer | null = null;
-
-const kafka = new Kafka({
-  clientId: 'phantom-web',
-  brokers: [`${process.env.KAFKA_HOST || 'localhost'}:${process.env.KAFKA_PORT || '9092'}`],
-});
-
-export const getProducer = async (): Promise<Producer> => {
-  if (!producer) {
-    producer = kafka.producer();
-    await producer.connect();
-  }
-  return producer;
-};
-
-export const sendEvent = async (ev: EventBase) => {
-  const p = await getProducer();
-  await p.send({
-    topic: 'user-interactions',
-    messages: [{
-      key: ev.sessionId,
-      value: JSON.stringify(ev),
-    }],
-  });
-};
-
-export const disconnect = async () => {
-  if (producer) {
-    await producer.disconnect();
-    producer = null;
-  }
-};