Coffee grown, manufactured and packaged in the country is selling more than imported varieties such as Nescafé, in supermarkets. The increasing sales are attributed to improved packaging. “Coffee imports like Nescafé used to sell more, but ...
Coffee grown, manufactured and packaged in the country is selling more than imported varieties such as Nescafé, in supermarkets. The increasing sales are attributed to improved packaging. “Coffee imports like Nescafé used to sell more, but things have changed. Most customers are now buying Rwandan coffee,” said Abraham Haile, the manager of Simba Supermarket in Kimihurura. “The most sought after is Gorilla’s coffee then Maraba followed by Mountain coffee. In a month we sell more than 400 packets of Gorilla’s coffee,” he added. Mr Haile said improving the packaging has been a key driver of the increasing sales as well as the quality and purity of the coffee.
The “Made in Rwanda” campaign has helped local coffee manufacturers and other producers to improve their packaging. The local coffee drinking culture has been growing over the years, largely driven by the proliferation of coffee shops around the country. The opening up of new high-end amenities like Kigali Heights, Makuza Plaza, KBC among others, and a growing middle class are key drivers of the coffee shop business in the country. In 2000, Kigali only had one coffee shop, now it has over 60 coffee shops. The government also increased taxes on coffee imports to support the local coffee processing industry, which is slowly paying off, as many coffee washing and processing stations have been opened in the past five years.
Locally processed coffee brands include Maraba coffee, Arabica Kivu bourbon, Gicumbi coffee, Gorilla’s coffee, Boneza coffee, Rugari coffee, Everfresh coffee, Tora coffee, among others. The growing competition in the local coffee processing industry has also led to faster improvement in packaging and pricing. “Competition in our market has increased as we are more than 10 local coffee brands. The past few years have seen improvements in quality, pricing and packaging. This has elevated our products in the local market,” said Nkurunziza Benjamin, the sales and marketing manager of Gorilla’s coffee. He said that there has been a notable growth in local consumption of their coffee, something he attributes to an increase in tourists and MICE delegates in the country over the past few years.
“There has been an increase in local consumption of our coffee and we have been registering a 20 per cent annual growth rate in local sales,” said Mr Nkurunziza.Even as the “Made in Rwanda” campaign seeks to promote and increase consumption of locally-made products, many local producers have limited working capital, and they face high cost of transportation, energy and a biased perception about locally-made products.
Original Source: Rwanda Daily
