Rwanda is using its partnership with Aston Villa to raise the international profile of Rwanda Coffee, leveraging the Premier League club's global audience to introduce the country's flagship export to new consumers.
Under the agreement, the Visit Rwanda logo will appear on the front of the shirts worn by Aston Villa's men's, women's and academy teams. The brand has also been named the club's official coffee partner, with Rwanda Coffee set to be served at Villa Park.
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Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB) Maëva Haguma said the coffee partnership is designed to give Rwanda Coffee greater international exposure by placing it directly before Aston Villa's global fan base.
"Rwanda Coffee will be at Villa Park. Aston Villa has a lot of fans all over the world who come to see the games. That means they will have an opportunity to taste Rwanda Coffee, and when they want to buy it afterwards, they can do so,” she said.
Beyond introducing consumers to Rwanda Coffee, Haguma said the partnership could also benefit local coffee producers by increasing the visibility of their products on the international stage.
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"The agreement could also create future opportunities for coffee exporters as the relationship between Rwanda and Aston Villa develops,” she noted.
Aimee Dusabe Gahizi, Managing Director of Gitesi Coffee Ltd, a coffee-exporting firm based in Karongi District, said the partnership could help address one of Rwanda's biggest challenges in the coffee sector.
"Rwandan coffee has not yet achieved the level of recognition it deserves. Partnering with a globally recognised club like Aston Villa will increase its visibility, and greater visibility usually translates into higher sales and better value,” she said.
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"It starts with the club's fans and the people around it tasting the coffee, but the influence can spread much further. Ultimately, that could help the country earn more foreign exchange,” she added.
Gahizi noted that Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, is already one of Rwanda's key coffee markets, making the partnership especially significant.
"The quality of Rwandan coffee is already high, but quality alone is not enough if people do not know the product. The UK accounts for about a quarter of Gitesi Coffee's exports, equivalent to around 20 tonnes annually, so greater visibility will strengthen our position in the UK market,” he said.
Clarisse Nzungize Iribagiza, Managing Director of the Cooperative pour la Promotion des Activités Café (COOPAC), said the new partnership will likely help create awareness for Rwanda’s coffee.
"Countries like Ethiopia and Kenya have an advantage because their coffee is better known [globally]. As Rwanda gains more visibility as a tourism destination through partnerships like this, awareness of Rwandan coffee will also grow,” she asserted.
For COOPAC, the UK remains a relatively small market, accounting for less than one per cent of its total exports. Iribagiza said attracting buyers has often been difficult because many potential customers are unfamiliar with Rwandan coffee.
"In the coffee business, buyers first want to know the origin of your coffee before they consume it. When I approached clients in the UK, many did not know Rwandan coffee, and their interest faded, but I think this partnership will help,” she said.
Branding over quality
Oreste Baragahorana, the Chairperson of the Coffee Exporters and Processors Association of Rwanda (CEPAR), said international visibility is as important as quality in the global coffee trade.
"Coffee is sold through reputation. Quality alone is not enough. When influential people consume a product, others gain confidence in it,” he said.
According to Baragahorana, the Aston Villa partnership, together with the broader Visit Rwanda campaigns, will strengthen international awareness of Rwanda and, by extension, its coffee.
"Visibility from this partnership, and from Visit Rwanda more broadly, helps people become familiar with Rwanda. If consumers have never heard of a country, they are less likely to buy its coffee, even if it is of high quality,” he said.
Baragahorana highlighted that the UK is already an important destination for Rwandan coffee exports. He said one UK-based buyer in Liverpool imports between 20 and 50 containers of Rwandan coffee annually.
He added that the UK accounted for about 20 per cent of his company's coffee exports last year, equivalent to roughly 400 tonnes, and said the company plans to expand production in anticipation of growing demand.
"We are going to increase our efforts to produce more coffee so we can take advantage of these opportunities,” he said.