• 6 min read
• June 10, 2025

The first thing Ben Hobby-Osman noticed as he stepped off the plane in Kigali, Rwanda was someone wearing a t-shirt that read: Coffee Did This. “For the next three days, I couldn’t stop thinking about that t-shirt,” Ben recalls, “everything I saw – the lush greenery of the farms, the warmth and genuine passion of the people who tend them, the other partners who had travelled across the world to share this experience with me – it was all made possible because of coffee.”

Ben, a Category Specialist, was with Marketing Specialist Barb Sládková in Kigali alongside a group of 48 other partners from 21 countries, after being nominated for the Starbucks Origin Experience. Together, they followed the journey of a coffee bean through the “first 10 feet” of the Starbucks supply chain – to The Land of a Thousand Hills and the people whose quiet dedication brings your cup of coffee to life.

Day 1: Welcome to the Land of a Thousand Hills

“I’ve brought the British weather with me,” Ben thought when he arrived in an overcast Kigali. But the downpour didn’t dampen their spirits. Donning raincoats, the group set off to Dukunde Kawa Musasa – one of nearly half a million coffee smallholdings scattered across the country. To get there, the partners left the bustling capital, piling into a small bus that carried them through the verdant Rwandan countryside.

Field notes: There’s a reason Rwanda is nicknamed “The Land of a Thousand Hills”. Averaging around 1,900 metres above sea level, the country is famously mountainous. It is this elevation, along with the rich volcanic soil and temperate climate, that makes it fertile ground for coffee production.  

Arriving at the farm, the team were greeted with Rwandan murakaza neza – “welcome” in Kinyarwanda, the national language of Rwanda – with song, drums and dance, an atmosphere charged with a sense of purpose and belonging that was infectious.  

Each partner was handed the small, budding shoot of a soon-to-be coffee tree, which they planted in neat rows along the hillside. It will take the trees around 2-3 years to grow and begin producing fruit. Everyone dedicated their tree to someone special – colleagues, friends or family back home.

Field notes: The growing season in Rwanda begins around September and October, continuing through to harvest season which takes place between March and July. The trees begin as little more than sprouts – affectionately called “butterflies”.

While cupping a delicate “butterfly” in her hands, Barb reflected on the cherries that would eventually grow from it, the coffee beans they would become, and where they would end up – in a Starbucks store, somewhere in the world, years from now. “Most people don’t have the privilege to see this process,” she thought, “where it all begins, how many lives are touched at every step of the journey, from bean to cup.”

Field notes: What we recognise as a coffee bean is actually the seed from a vivid red, cherry-like fruit. The beans are nestled deep inside, protected by a layer of tough, bitter outer skin and a sweet pulp

Day 2: The careful craft of dry milling   

The next day begins the way all the best mornings do – with a cup of coffee. But today the partners’ palates will be put to the test – they’re visiting a dry mill, where they’re testing the quality of the harvested beans. This is where cherries picked from the farm are transformed into the coffee beans that, once roasted and brewed, eventually end up in your Starbucks cup. It’s also where they’re tasted to check for any defects and ensure they’re up to the Starbucks standard.

Field notes: The Antestia bug – also called the variegated coffee bug – is a plight on coffee farmers’ crops. When the insect burrows into a tree it impacts the flavour of the cherries produced, causing the resulting coffee to have a distinct potato-like taste.

“Starbucks is known for the quality of its coffee, but before seeing the production process for myself, I couldn’t comprehend the rigorous scrutiny each and every bean undergoes,” says Ben, “at the dry mill, I asked how many times the beans are assessed for their quality – the answer was too many times to count.” 

If the beans are up to scratch, they’re packed up and exported to Starbucks roasteries around the world, where they will undergo their final transformation – becoming either the smooth and flavourful Starbucks Blonde Roast, the balanced and well-rounded Medium Roast, or the rich and bold Dark Roast. Perhaps they’re inside the Starbucks coffee you’re drinking as you read this.

Day 3: Propagating the future

Field notes: Rwanda has a painful history – one of turmoil, but also of triumph and hope. After the devastating genocide in the late 1990s, coffee production – and the farmers at its heart – played a critical role in the country’s economic recovery, building a path towards a brighter future. 

On their third and final day, Ben and Barb visit the Starbucks Farmer Support Centre – the first line of defence against bad weather, poor soil and pests.

“Coffee farming really is an art,” Barb explains, “it’s such a long, complex process – if you plant a tree, you won’t see the fruits of your labour for many years. It takes patience, diligence, and care. There’s so much that can go wrong. And even if you do everything right to nurture your plant into adulthood, the harvest could still be disappointing.”

To help protect farmers’ livelihoods, Starbucks operates support centres across several coffee-producing countries – from Costa Rica to Guatemala. They’re home to Starbucks agronomists, who conduct research into soil management, irrigation, and even varietals of disease-resistant trees. “We don’t keep our knowledge a secret, we share it – even with farmers who don’t work with Starbucks,” Barb explains, “we see it as our responsibility to the future of coffee and the people who produce it.”

Field notes: Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E) Practices are the cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee – when it launched in 2004, it was one of the industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards. It helps Starbucks to create a supply chain of high-quality coffee that positively impacts the lives of farmers and their communities.

Homeward: reflections on the responsibility we share

The Rwandan landscape recedes through the clouds as the plane ascends, carrying Ben and Barb back to the UK. They’re leaving with more than just memories. “It completely changes your perspective,” Ben muses, “when you’ve seen the process up close, you realise coffee isn’t just what’s in the cup – it’s this remarkable force that sustains so many lives,” Ben says.  

“Coffee production is this vast, global supply chain, but at every link of that chain is a real person,” Barb agrees, “this experience reminds us of our responsibility to each other and to the future.”