Growing the Right Way in Rwanda
Untimely rains caused a coffee shortage around the country right as specialty demand was peaking. Consequently, prices went through the roof and theft was rampant. Thanks to our strong partnerships (and a bit of lucky weather in the northern province) we were able to grow our volumes this year while hitting new high water marks for quality. Those two things don’t always go hand in hand. Sometimes chasing volume growth comes at the cost of quality. Thankfully, our key partners at Kinini believe that the only growth that makes sense is sustainable replicable growth. In Jacquie’s own words, “We didn’t want to outgrow ourselves.”
Before we look at the how, take a look at the amazing cup quality of this year’s Rwanda imports:
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Kinini Village AA | Cantaloupe, lemonade, chocolate, cola, orange, brown sugar
Cocatu* | Orange marshmallow, cola, caramel, creamy honey, milk chocolate
*Currently the Kinini Village AA is in store. The remaining lots are scheduled to land at CTI in early March.
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Supply Chains in Rwanda
If you are new to our supply chains in Rwanda, we source coffee primarily through two key partnerships, Nova Coffee and Kinini Coffee, pictured below. There are many parallels between these two groups. Both are located in the northern province, both are run by incredibly strong women, and both spend an incredible amount of energy to do things the right way. Since the Kinini Village AA lot is the only one that has landed so far, here is a small window into how Kinini was able to grow their volumes of specialty high-end coffee this year.
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From left to right Theresa, Nova washing station manager, and Agnes, owner. Felix, Quality Control manager at Kinini.
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Good coffee comes from good people. We’d love to tell you more about each of these producers and their coffees. Get in touch to learn more.
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