On the picture Mr. Beau – Special Roast, H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga, Ambassador of Rwanda / The Hague, Mr. Lennart Clerkx – This Side Up Coffees, Mr. Hendrik – Special Roast Barrista – Special Roast, Mr. Erik – Rose & Vanilla.
After the big successes at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival in 2015 and 2016, this year on 9, 10 and 11 March, the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in the Netherlands and This Side Up joined forces with Special Roast (coffee roaster and retailer) and Bakery Rose & Vanilla for a new approach to promote Rwandan Coffee.
The participation was supported by Rwanda National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB).
‘Rwanda is a unique coffee origin because of its location and its people. Its climate gives rise to excellent coffees that are sweet, often tea-like and rich in acidity, and the country’s quick rise to the highest specialty ranks inspires producers worldwide.’
‘At the Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2018 Rwanda showcased the truly transparent coffee value chain, from award-winning farmer cooperatives in Rwanda to specialty coffee roasters abroad’, said H.E. Ambassador Jean Pierre Karabaranga.
Rwanda coffee is imported by several Dutch companies, including This Side Up, which is a platform that allows coffee roasters in Europe to trade transparently with coffee farmers in Rwanda.
The Embassy of Rwanda in collaboration with NAEB and This Side Up invited several producers from Rwanda to come to the festival or to send the best coffee varieties to be roasted for the Amsterdam Coffee Festival.
‘Throughout the day we held walk-cuppings and visitors to the booth were inspired with everything they wanted to know about these coffees’, Lennart Clerkx of This Side Up said. ‘New this edition were the pastries made from Rwandan Coffee, freshly baked by bakery Rose&Vanilla’.
Being present at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival was an opportunity to provide information to potential investors and coffee retailers how to deal with Rwanda.
This Side Up has years of experience in direct marketing in Rwanda and was there – with the Embassy of Rwanda – to answer any question about starting and maintaining direct trade relationships with Rwandan producers.
