Fact Sheet: Starbucks Rwanda Rift Valley Single Origin Coffee

New Starbucks® Rwanda Rift Valley Single Origin Coffee

Rwanda, located just two degrees south of the equator, is a land-locked country with a lush green and hilly terrain. This coffee flourishes in the nutrient-rich, volcanic soil—a stunning red in color—of Rwanda’s Rift Valley. Legend has it that the red earth is so fertile that if you took a dead tree branch and stuck it in the ground, it would come to life and grow a new tree. The red soil, combined with high elevation and good rainfall make this is an ideal place to grow high quality coffee. We love the elegant flavor it delivers to your cup and the promising future it brings to Rwanda’s premium-coffee growers.

Coffee was instrumental in bringing people together and lifting the spirit of the population after an incredibly traumatic moment in the country’s history. Much of the coffee is produced in cooperatives, but post-war trust was very low. Cultural and ethical boundaries needed to be overlooked in order to set up the infrastructure needed for a thriving specialty coffee industry. It was literally through the cultivation of specialty coffee that people in Rwanda were able to come together, to know each other, to trust each other again.

Starbucks has been purchasing high quality arabica coffee from Rwanda since 2004. In 2009 Starbucks opened a Farmer Support Center in Kigali, Rwanda. This center allows Starbucks agronomists and quality experts to collaborate directly with coffee farmers to encourage responsible growing practices and improve the quality and size of their harvests. Ultimately, these efforts can help farmers earn better prices and become more resilient, long-term producers.