Rwanda Coffee showcased in the Amsterdam Coffee Festival
Rwanda Coffee export companies are participating in the Amsterdam Coffee Festival for the fourth time, from March 30 to April 1 in the Netherlands. This coffee trade show, themed “Pioneering coffee excellence & connecting communities,” will highlight the diversity of the global coffee industry, providing over 8,000 attendees with various opportunities to engage coffee business dealers from around the world.
Rwanda’s participation in this festival has been organized by the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) and the Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria Onlus (ICU), with support from the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The following eight Rwandan coffees will be represented at the Rwanda Coffee stand (G45): Baho Coffee, Kanya Coffee, Kivu Belt Coffee, Mountain Coffee, Mubuga Coffee, Nova Coffee, Nyakizu Coffee, Rwashoscco and Sake Coffee.
“The festival is an excellent event for coffee enthusiasts, significant industry leaders and of course many other participants to enjoy the uniqueness of our specialty coffee. On the other hand, it is an excellent opportunity for the country to increase the awareness of the coffee brand [Rwanda Coffee – A Second Sunrise] and to attract more buyers.” said H.E. Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe, the Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Rwanda Coffee brand demonstrated potential for widespread recognition when exhibited in the last three editions of Amsterdam Coffee Festival under the support of NAEB and the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in The Hague. It stood out among other specialty coffee origins, leading the way for other origins.
The goal of Rwanda’s participation in this prestigious event is to create long-term commercial ties, by piquing the interest of coffee lovers in the Netherlands and raising the brand’s awareness on the global market.
The initiative is part of ICU’s Coffee Value Chain Development project that has the goal to improve quality and quantity of coffee produced by smallholder farmers, strengthen coffee processing companies and cooperatives to build more sustainable businesses, facilitate access to finance and increase visibility on the international market. The project is working with more than 12,000 smallholder farmers and 20 coffee washing stations across 12 districts of Rwanda.
Since the Netherlands is the third-largest exporter of roasted coffee in the world and the seventh-largest buyer of green coffee in Europe, there is much that Rwandan businesses might learn from the Dutch added value in coffee and secure markets for their green coffee.
From January to December 2022, Rwanda exported to the Netherlands 466.3 metric tons of coffee valued USD2,330,008. Rwanda aims to increase the export of roasted coffee beans.
About NAEB:
National Agricultural Export Development Board, abbreviated as “NAEB” is a commercial, public institution established by the law No 13/2017 of 14/04/2017 in the framework of regulating and promoting the development and growth of Agriculture and Livestock export commodities in Rwanda, as well as marketing them worldwide. The head office of NAEB is in Gikondo, KK 530 St, in the City of Kigali, the capital of the Republic of Rwanda.
About ICU:
ICU – Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria Onlus is implementing the project ‘A market driven approach for value chain improvements and the expansion of the Rwandan coffee market’ in Rwanda in partnership with Kahawatu Foundation. The EUR 2.5 million contract is co-funded by the European Union and monitored by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Rwanda (MINECOFIN) with the support of the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB).
From left to right:
Emmanuel Niyomugabo (Mountain Coffee)
Laetitia Mukandahiro (Branding & Marketing expert / ICU)
Agnes Mukamushinja (Nova coffee)
Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe (Ambassador / Embassy of Rwanda in The Netherlands)
Jean Hugues Mukama (First Secretary / Embassy of Rwanda in The Netherlands)
Jean Marie Vianney Uwitonze (Nova coffee)
Willem Versteegh (Marketing & Communication Expert / Embassy of Rwanda in The Netherlands)
Michel M. Sebera (Minister Counselor / Embassy of Rwanda in The Netherlands)
