Urimubenshi: the man behind Rwanda’s award winning coffee

Muyongwe Coffee Washing Station from Gakenke District earned the highest price for its top coffee at this year’s international online coffee auction organised by National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB). The washing station that is barely 10 years old has also scooped several accolades in the past, making it one of the most ‘awarded’ coffee washing station in the country, thanks to its quality coffees. Antoine Urimubenshi is the man behind Muyongwe washing station, whose coffee lot fetched $67.4 (about Rwf50,887) per kilogramme, the highest offer at the auction held a fortnight ago. The coffee also won a prestigious Presidential Award at the Cup of Excellence 2015 in August, together with Mahendo Coffee Washing Station from Nyagatare District. Established in 2006, the Gakenke based Muyongwe Coffee Washing Station has won several awards, thanks to its meticulous process that ensure the highest coffee quality in the land. The washing station is located in Muyongwe Sector. Starting out Urimubenshi says he ventured into the coffee business out of passion since he grew up on a coffee farm. He says he took the business a notch higher after the government called on farmers and coffee dealers to embrace value addition to earn better prices from their coffees. “Later in 2007, my friends and I pooled resources together to start a modern coffee washing station. We chose Muyongwe because there are many coffee farmers in the sector, whom we wanted to support,” he explains. When we started, the first lot of coffee was voted the best by a jury of coffee experts and won an award. “This was a huge challenge that set the pace for the washing station’s future excellence,” he says. Urimubenshi points out that the station started with a handful of coffee farmers, but currently he works with hundreds of farmers from whom they buy the cherries. Why Muyongwe coffees top Urimubenshi says coffee quality is mainly influenced by the harvesting process, where one must pick only the ripe cherries in time, which are also free from any infections. “Also, farmers must ensure that they deliver the harvested cherries to the washing stations right away because delays affect coffee quality,” he notes. He says this practice is emphasised because it is the key to good coffee beans. “When the coffee cherries reach the station, we record all the details and pay the farmers. The records help in identifying which farmers brought the best coffee so that we can be able to trace them when their coffee wins in the annual Rwanda Cup of Excellence competition,” Urimubenshi explains. Cup of Excellence Urimubenshi says the perfectionist in him ensures that the station maintains the highest standard of coffee produced by the washing station. The washing station has won in the several editions of the Rwanda Cup of Excellence over the years, with the recent win being last month at the 2015 edition, where the station bagged the prestigious Presidential Award for best coffees. “I always strive to be perfect in whatever I do in all aspects of my life. Even in other businesses I do, I always insist on quality work. Winning comes naturally to me because I always put in my best in everything I do,” Urimubenshi notes. He lauds the various competitions aimed at improving coffee quality and farmers’ earnings, adding that the Cup of Excellence has greatly influenced the quality of coffee produced in Rwanda. “Because of the competition, everyone along the coffee value chain puts in extra efforts to ensure they produce winning coffees. Farmers harvest only ripe cherries and they are careful to take them to the washing stations immediately they are harvested,” he explains. He notes that at the washing stations, the coffees are subjected to rigorous process, including washing and sorting routines, to ensure only finest beans are produced. “When our coffee wins, we all celebrate and are motivated because our efforts are rewarded. The farmers are motivated too,” he notes. He is also happy the washing station provides jobs to over 100 people, and assures ready market for 2,000 coffee farmers. Urimubenshi says lack of electricity in the area is the biggest challenge the station faces, saying it makes coffee processing an expensive venture as they only use diesel to run the machinery at the washing station. Also price fluctuations on the international market affect their business, he adds. Advice to entrepreneurs “Always work hard, be consistent and give your best in everything you do because this will determine whether your brand shines or sinks,” he says. He advises farmers and stakeholders in the coffee sector and other agro-based industries to add value to their product, saying it is only then that they will reap big in terms of better prices. Future plans He plans to build a laboratory at the washing station to add more value to the processed coffee and produce finished products. He says this is the way to go for local farmers, noting that finished goods fetch more money and also give better opportunities to Rwandans and farmers to taste their home-grown coffee. What people say about him Elias Rwiririza, the president of the coffee farmers’ co-operative in the area, says Urimubenshi is a hardworking man, who aims for the best. “He is a hard worker and a perfectionist in everything he does. We have adopted some of the best practices from him to produce the highest quality coffee cherries. He is a great inspiration for us in Muyongwe sector and Gakenke District, generally,” says Rwiririza. ***** THE MAKING OF TOP COFFEES Estelle Nyiragenda, a fulltime employee at the washing station, takes us throught the process from when coffee cherries are delivered at the station to storage. When coffee cherries are delivered at the station, they are first washed and hurled. They are then immersed in water to sieve the poor quality beans from the good ones. After this, the beans are left in the water for 12 hours to ferment. Later, they are squeezed to remove the outer coat and then returned to water for six more hours. After this, the coffee is further washed in clean running water and sorted into three categories. The heavy beans remain under water, and are in the first class of coffee. The ‘lightweight’ coffees make the second and third class. The coffee beans are further washed as per the different categories to remove any foreign bodies. This is done on clean tables in an enclosed cool place to avoid splitting of the beans. Later, the sorted coffee beans are put out to dry in the sun on tables covered with special net. Someone keeps turning the coffee beans to make sure no bean is left half-dry. The sorting continues further until the beans are completely dry, a process that should not take more than five hours. After this process, the coffee beans are packed in clean sacks according to the category and stored in a dry clean place. business@newtimes.co.rw

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Urimubenshi: the man behind Rwanda’s award winning coffee