Eighty Starbucks partners (employees) from Europe, the Middle East and Africa visited Rwanda in May, as part of the 2023 Origin Experience. The goal? To immerse in the story of coffee on the farms where it’s grown.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Similar Origin Experiences occurred earlier this year in Costa Rica, for North American partners, and Indonesia, for those in Asia Pacific. In total, 929 partners company-wide participated in Origin Experience in 2023. Since the program started in 2010, 3,344 partners have visited Origin.

The partners in Rwanda represented a variety of roles and perspectives within the company, from baristas to manufacturing to operations leaders, in both company-owned and licensed markets. They met farmers, agronomists, exporters and buyers; planted coffee seedlings and harvested coffee cherries; and saw how coffee is grown and processed.

See what they experienced, through this photo essay, and hear from partners about what they’re taking away.

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The lessons begin at Dukundakawa, a farming cooperative where partners learn about the different stages of the coffee plant: how a seed sprouts into a “little soldier” and then a “butterfly” before it’s planted in the ground to become a tree that will bear fruit in 2-3 years.

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They harvest cherries from trees that Origin Experience partners planted in 2019.

Later that day, at Abakundakawa, a different cooperative,&nbsp;they see how the coffee is washed, processed and graded in the traditional manner – pushed by paddles along narrow canals – and dried on long, raised beds that stripe the lush green hillsides of Rwanda, a country nicknamed “the land of a thousand hills.” The coffee grown in Rwanda will eventually be used in Starbucks blends worldwide – Siren’s Blend, Green Apron Blend and Cold Brew Blend – as well as in high-end Starbucks Reserve selections like Rwanda Sholi and Rwanda Hingakawa.&nbsp;

Smallholder, subsistence farmers in Rwanda don’t have enough money for all the fertilizer they need, and often, the only way to get it is by having a cow. Cows make manure, which provides the raw material for compost, which helps coffee farmers improve their production. In the village of Musasa, Origin participants meet Faustin, a farmer who Starbucks gifted with a cow 10 years ago. Since then, he’s increased his yield – from 1.5 kilograms of coffee per tree to 4 kilograms per tree – and he’s used the extra income to pay for his children’s schooling, make improvements to his house and reinvest in his farm. 

In communities like Faustin’s, tradition means gifting the first-born female calf to a neighbor in a public ceremony, and partners witness one such heartfelt exchange between families. “If I give you a cow, by default, you’re my friend forever,” says Arsene Mustafali Bin Uwihoreye, an agronomist at the Rwanda Starbucks Farmer Support Center who works with farmers in Musasa to improve yields. “It unites people.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The next morning, partners visit RWACOF, the largest exporter of coffee in Rwanda and Starbucks biggest coffee supplier in the country. After the coffee is processed on the farms and the cooperatives, it’s brought here by truck to the RWACOF dry mill and warehouse to be hulled and sorted – both by hand and a buzzing assembly line of machines. The quality is re-inspected in a lab, where test batches are roasted and screened for taste and issues like Potato Taste Defect. Then it’s all bagged for delivery on container ships.

Partners also visit the Starbucks Rwanda Farmer Support Center to learn how the team helps coffee producers throughout east Africa grow and deliver the best product. 

And finally, they meet with representatives from Rwanda’s <a href="https://naeb.gov.rw/index.php?id=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Agricultural Export Development Board</a> for a formal presentation about the coffee industry.

Throughout the experience, Origin participants learn about how the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/productions/hingakawa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coffee industry helped Rwanda recover</a> from a violent past. They spend one afternoon in contemplation at the Rwanda Genocide Memorial in Kigali, the capital city, that commemorates the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda when Hutu extremists killed an estimated 1 million people. The memorial sits atop mass graves where an estimated 250,000 people are buried. Many participants come out shaken. Later, they hear the testimonies of the Women of Ineza, the victims of sexual violence during the genocide, who formed a support group and sewing cooperative. For all the sad moments, there are uplifting ones as well. Each cooperative greets Origin participants with welcome dances and singing. One night, a dance troop delights the participants back at the hotel with a beautiful celebratory performance.

On the final day, Origin participants visit a small village in the Musenyi sector for a community service project with The Starbucks Foundation and one of the nonprofits it supports, <a href="https://rippleeffect.org/us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ripple Effect</a>. The day’s work options – building a cow shed, planting vegetable gardens, plastering the exterior walls of houses, building bricks or constructing rainwater tanks – will help five women in this coffee-growing community, including four widows. The atmosphere is festive. Pop music blares from speakers on a big central field. Dozens of people from the community join the muddy, sweaty work. And afterwards, everyone dances in a big circle. Laurent Munyankusi, country director for Ripple Effect, tells the Starbucks participants, “For you to come here to Rwanda, it’s a big blessing. The only way to address the problems of this world is through partnership.”

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<em>Follow the journey of three Starbucks&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2022/barista-championships-2022-milan-winner/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EMEA Barista Champions</a>, as they experience Origin for the very first&nbsp;time.</em>

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Starbucks partners (employees) from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa traveled to Rwanda in May to immerse in the story of coffee, on the farms where it's grown.

Rwanda Origin Experience 2023

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Starbucks Stories EMEA

https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2023/rwanda-origin-experience-2023/

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Starbucks Origin Experience takes Starbucks partners (employees) from behind the bar or office desks and places them among&nbsp;the people that grow, harvest and produce the coffee.​

The aim of the experience: build a bridge between what Starbucks calls “the first 10 feet” – the coffee farms themselves – and&nbsp;the “last 10 feet,” where a customer orders and consumes their&nbsp;favourite&nbsp;coffee. Iced, hot or shaken – however the beverage&nbsp;is crafted – the coffee is&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/cafe-practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee/">ethically sourced&nbsp;</a>by farmers around the world.&nbsp;​

This year,&nbsp;80&nbsp;Starbucks partners from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) travelled to Rwanda to immerse in the&nbsp;origin of coffee in the East African nation.​

We followed the journey of three partners, all Starbucks&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2022/barista-championships-2022-milan-winner/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EMEA Barista Champions</a>, as they experienced Origin for the very first&nbsp;time.&nbsp;

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This is&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2021/teddys-journey-barista-champion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Teddy</a>&nbsp;(2019 Champion),&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2022/cynthias-journey-barista-champion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cynthia</a>&nbsp;(2021 Champion), and&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2022/meet-phuti-south-africas-barista-champion-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Phuti’s</a>&nbsp;(2022 Champion) story from&nbsp;store&nbsp;to&nbsp;farm.​

<em>​See more photos from the Rwanda Origin Experience <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2023/rwanda-origin-experience-2023/">here</a>.</em>

Every year, partners (employees) from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa travel to Rwanda to be immersed in the origin of coffee.

Store to Farm: Rwanda Origin Experience​

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/sites/17/2023/06/SBX20230612-Rwanda-OE-video-story-FeaturedHorizontal-1.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2023/store-to-farm-rwanda-origin-experience/

Every year, partners (employees) from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa travel to Rwanda to be immersed in the origin of coffee. From behind the store counters to meeting the people that grow, harvest and produce our coffee. This is Starbucks Origin Experience.

Rwanda

Rwanda Origin Experience 2023

Store to Farm: Rwanda Origin Experience​

Store to Farm: Rwanda Origin Experience