Bunyangabu Oro Yeast FW

Born from a partnership between Sucafina NV and Ugacof, this coffee is part of a specialty project aimed at developing a consistent, high-quality profile that adds value to the region’s coffee. Anička Marková, Green Coffee Merchant at Sucafina NV, worked closely with the Ugacof team to develop a customized experimental processing method tailored to the project’s goals.”

The objective was to create a consistent profile by establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and achieving a clean, floral cup that meets specialty market demands,” Anička explains. “Through collaboration and knowledge sharing, we achieved consistency across batches and uniformity in the cup.”

Why Specialty Coffee in Western Uganda?

Specialty projects in this region offer farmers access to premium markets and sustainability initiatives that can boost productivity. Thanks to Ugacof’s strong reputation and the strategic location of the farms, these lots benefit from consistent production and innovative agricultural practices.

Bunyangabu Washing Station, located in Uganda’s northwest near the Congolese border, plays a key role in this project. Its favorable environmental conditions, well-equipped facilities, and steady cherry supply make it an ideal hub for specialty processing.

The region is traditionally known for DRUGAR (Dry Ugandan Arabica), with farmers often delivering large volumes of cherries at varying ripeness levels. This posed a challenge for producing this lot, which is why meticulous cherry sorting was essential to ensure cup quality.

Around 3,500 smallholder farmers deliver cherries to the Bunyangabu station. These farmers cultivate coffee on the surrounding hills at altitudes ranging from 1,300 to 1,600 meters above sea level. The main varieties grown are SL-34 and SL-28. Many farmers also intercrop with bananas, vanilla, and beans to diversify income.

After purchasing cherry from producers, Bunyangabu CWS sends the cherry through a strict sorting process. First, washing station staff remove any lower quality cherry through flotation. Then, a specially trained staff visually inspects the remaining cherry for any visual defects.

After intake, cherry is pulped and coffee is placed in fermentation tanks. Oro yeast purchased from the French company Lalcafe is first rehydrated, then added on wet parchment with water. The tanks are left to ferment in this environment for approximately 40-46 hours before being washed with Eco-washer to remove any remaining mucilage. Parchment is laid on raised beds to sundry. Workers visually hand sort drying parchment to remove any damaged or defective beans. They also rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 18 to 22 days for parchment to dry.

Our partner, UGACOF/Sucafina Uganda is committed to improving quality in Uganda by building new washing stations and infrastructure and training personnel in the region. Collaborations with our FarmerHub program and our sustainability partner, the Kahawatu Foundation, are building upon our work to expand farmers’ access to better resources and better training. Our connections to our more established operations in nearby Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya offer us advice and a perspective steeped in a familiarity with East Africa.

The bulk of our work in Uganda is focused in the West, near the Rwenzori Mountains. The biggest difference between East (Mount Elgon) and West (Rwenzori) is that Mount Elgon is a more established and competitive market. We are excited to be at the forefront of the drive for enhancing coffee production infrastructure, developing the industry and becoming reliable partners for farmers in the Rwenzori Mountain region.

It is clear to us that the potential in this region might exceed our expectations and even the potential of the popular Mount Elgon region. With an ever-growing demand for high quality Arabicas and a sustained interest from roasters and coffee drinkers in the East African origins, we are very confident that, with diligence and effort, Western Ugandan coffees will be able to take their place alongside the other great East African coffees. ​

While the scale of work in regions like this can sometimes be overwhelming, we have a clear plan that steadily increases coffee quality.

Our first step is the one that leads to the most immediate and noticeable improvement: harvesting techniques. Due to a long history of home-processing and a lack of incentive for high quality, harvesting in the region is often semi- or entirely non-selective. Thanks to our extended network of cherry collection sites, we meet with farmers every day during the harvest season and can give real-time feedback that can impact the quality of the next day’s harvest. At the collection sites, we can insist on higher levels of care and reward meticulous picking. Though we’re still in the early years, we have seen a clear difference in quality from one year to another and even from the first week of the harvest to the last.

Future steps will include working with farmers to improve their access to materials and knowledge of better farming practices. This means making fertilizer more accessible, encouraging farmers to plant shade canopies and more. We’re planning on building demonstration plots, input access sites across the region and training a new generation of skilled washing station staff. We know it will take time, but we have a strategy and are committed to realizing this vision.