Rwandan Coffee Gets High Marks
In September 2007 coffee produced by the Karaba Coffee Cooperative of Rwanda, a co-op that has received assistance from ACDI/VOCA, got high marks from Coffee Review, a leading coffee buying guide run by Kenneth Davids.
The coffee, which is being sold by Colorado’s Allegro Coffee, received a score of 96. It was characterized as having “an intense, high-toned aroma of flowers, butterscotch and orange, a wine-like acidity, deep body” and “a continued buttery, honeyed, giddily floral character complicated by tart cherry, orange and pipe tobacco notes” along with a “long, rich, flavor-saturated finish.”
Karaba Coffee Cooperative, also known as Koakaka, received a $36,000 grant from ACDI/VOCA in 2003 through its 2000-2005 USAID-funded PL 480 Title II Development Assistance Program. The grant was used to construct a coffee washing station. The co-op received additional support in the form of management and governance training and was assisted with Fair Trade inspections.
“The ability to cup coffee and make informed decisions on the grading of small lots at a washing station is key to entering the specialty sector,” according to ACDI/VOCA’s Chief of Party in Rwanda Paul DeLucco.
It has been a good year for Koakaka, which also placed 3rd out of 138 coffees in the recent Rwanda 2007 Golden Cup Competition. A jury of 16 international coffee experts announced results on August 31. The cooperative’s winning lot was sold at auction the following day to Stumptown Coffee of Portland, Oregon for $17.00/lb, compared with New York’s current C price for similar mild arabica coffee of $1.20/lb.
Although it was a limited-lot sale that will not have widespread impact on farmers’ incomes, DeLucco explains that, “The competition has provided a big boost to the nascent Rwanda coffee sector, and next year I anticipate that buyers will be looking for these cooperatives early in the season to attempt to sign them to lucrative deals before the crop has even been processed.”
The Union of Coffee Producers of Central Rwanda, another ACDI/VOCA-assisted cooperative, took fifth place in the Golden Cup Competition.
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