Rwandan coffee exports drop, milk rises
Coffee is traditionally the main source of Rwandan export revenue but it has emerged that during the final quarter of 2013, milk surpassed the bean for the first time.
The figures, released by the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda last week, show that milk and other milk-related commodities brought in an income of $22.4m compared to coffee’s figure of $17.9m.
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All-woman Rwandan coffee available in UK supermarket
UK supermarket Sainbsury’s has launched the first variety of Fairtrade coffee to be produced solely by women.
It’s a first of its kind move in the United Kingdom as Sainsbury’s, one of Britain’s biggest supermarket retailers, began selling Kopakama Ejo Heza ground coffee as part of their ‘Taste the Difference’ range.
UK supermarket Sainbsury’s has launched the first variety of Fairtrade coffee to be produced solely by women.
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Rwandan coffee is rewarded
All Africa reported on the results of the 5th Annual Cup of Excellence competition recently.
What is this competition?
It is set up in Rwanda to reward the best coffees in the country and started in March this year.
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Rwanda helping to boost marketing skills
Life is complicated these days, isn’t it?
Many of us are expected to multi-task in our jobs.
As well as providing a service, we are expected to know how to market ourselves, have a knowledge of the business context and commercial implications of our actions and so on.
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Drive to encourage coffee-drinking by Rwandans
It’s ironic, isn’t it?
Africa is a continent which has such strong links with the coffee industry and yet there has been an article in All Africa recently, which says that a plan is underway to encourage the locals in Rwanda to drink the stuff.
Is it really only seen as an export product?
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Rwanda could increase coffee output
Africa is a continent which has a strong connection with coffee.
Legend has it that coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia and many of the countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, have a well-known and much-loved coffee industry.
Perhaps Rwanda is not the first African country which springs to mind when you think about coffee, but it is doing very well, thank you very much and the reports are that it could do very well this year.
Why? What is the news on the block?
Rwanda is expected by some to boost its coffee output by some 50% during 2012.
What is the reason for this encouraging and significant increase?
Towards the end of 2011, there was significant rain in the country, which has helped the growth of their coffee crop – good news for the farmers.
Although the country is a comparatively small coffee producer when measured against the output of, say, Uganda, it is still a relatively fertile area and is looking to boost sales of its speciality coffee.
It grows the Arabica variety of coffee bean and the markets in the United States and also Europe, Japan, together with South Korea, all import the Rwandan coffee bean.
The exports for the country increased significantly, with reports that the figures grew to $75m in 2011, compared to $56m during 2010.
Now the word on the street is that the Rwandans have set their sights on new markets, particularly in the Nordic countries and also in China, a potentially enormous market.
Rwanda coffee chain is growing…
In the local news for Massachusetts in the United States, there is hopeful news for a new Rwandan coffee chain which is taking baby-steps to develop itself. This is good news – in the land which is famed for a pioneering spirit, Bosco Munga is forging his way in the coffee industry.
So what’s the story?
The Bourbon Coffee branch is due to open later in December in Cambridge. This will be the third outlet in America – the other two opened in Washington D.C and also in New York City. The owner is a former refugee from the troubled African country of Rwanda and he is finding a new life for himself and his coffee company in the United States. He already has four coffee shops in his native country.
He is reported in the local press explaining the reasons for his decision to choose these three locations for the Bourbon Coffee chain. Apparently, Mr Munga wanted to have a presence in the political capital of his new country (Washington D.C.), the financial capital of the Big Apple and now he is also aiming for the intellectual capital, as he sees it.
Mr Munga, however, is also proud of his roots and they are reflected in the design and décor of his coffee shop – the Cambridge branch is said to be in an African architectural style with artwork too. He is aiming to have a mix of visitors – business meetings would be welcome (there is free wi-fi ) and also the art exhibitions are intended to welcome locals.
Japan and Rwanda – a happy coffee partnership?
According to reports, the two nationalities met in a crowded room at a Specialty Coffee Association of Japan exhibition in Tokyo. Of the many Japanese who met at the event (rumoured to be over 6,000), some 2,400 attended coffee-tasting events and rather took a shine to the coffee blends from the African country of Rwanda.
The National Agricultural Export Board was flattered by the attention and invited three groups of Specialty Coffee Association of Japan members to visit, so that they can see if the flames of passion for Rwandan coffee can be fanned higher.
The Association is a Japanese organisation which seeks to improve understanding and knowledge of coffee. As the Japanese members were impressed by the Rwandan coffee, they are hoping to visit the country in May to learn more and find out how the coffee-relationship between the two countries can blossom.
The Rwandan coffee calendar is busy in May and so this was seen as an ideal time to show the Japanese around. However, the Japanese have already ordered over 60 tonnes of coffee from Rwanda since April and that initial meeting. The Japanese have also extended other means of support to the African country and, according to reports, is becoming a significant development partner. For example, this support has taken the form of advancement in human resources, equipment and education of science and mathematics teachers. The tourism flow to Rwanda is also becoming more significant. Long may the partnership continue.
Coffee roasting heats up in Rwanda
Africa is allegedly the home of coffee and is one of the continents that produces an excellent quality and quantity of bean. Ethiopia and Kenya for example have a world reputation for their blends. Rwanda is another African country that produces coffee, but it has had a problem of late. What is it? The Rwandan coffee product tends to be unroasted – published statistics state that 98% of the export is still a green bean when it leaves the country. This is problematic for farmers in Rwanda – the price paid for green beans is not has high as the price for the roasted version of the bean.
A solution is being proposed, however. A new coffee roasting plant is in the works which should go a long way to addressing this issue and which will, hopefully, help the farmers to earn more money for their coffee.
The differential between green and roasted coffee prices is significant. Again, according to reported statistics from the international market, it has been revealed that green beans have a price tag of around $6 per kilo, whereas the roasted version is over three times as valuable at $20 per kilogram. As well as being more lucrative in monetary terms, roasted coffee exports have another advantage: they are less subject to price fluctuations.
Rwanda has set out its stall to hit a target of $60 million from its coffee exports in 2011 and wants to raise it to $110m in 2012. Let us hope that the coffee roasting plant helps them towards this goal.
Naming of Rwandan Coffee to Attract Buyers
A range of coffee derived from Rwandan sources is in the final stages of being associated with an appellation that is hoped will help bolster the product’s’ value on an international scale and boost sales.
The initiative, which has been called ‘Appellation Reference Research,’ is being carried out in the so-called cupping laboratory of one of the leading coffee chains in Kigali.
Experts are currently defining the coffees’ key attributes and will name the offerings before introducing them to market. Not only involving the naming of the coffee range, the exercise also looks at ways to improve the coffee’s production – primarily focusing on environmental conditions, which it is expected will lay the foundation for future progress in the country’s overall improvement in coffee-growing.
Under the SPREAD (Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness Development) programme, sampling of coffee from Rwanda’s northern regions, the central Kivu area in the west and Huye in the south, revealed a consistency of quality in these geographies. As such, coffee from these regions emerged as the most preferred.
SPREAD has been running for five years and is sponsored by USAID, combining improvements in agriculture with health education to better the lives of those working within the farming industry.
The current exercise associated with the naming of various Rwandan coffees is also being funded by the Rwanda Coffee Development Authority (OCIR Café) as well as the Centre for Geographical Information System (CGIS), the latter providing geographical references for coffee plantations.