Kula Is: The Link Between Coffee Drinkers and Growers

We exist to eradicate poverty through the development of entrepreneurs in Rwanda’s coffee communities. 

Whether through our 15 month fellowship program or by processing, exporting and selling specialty coffee, that is our primary goal and motivation.  In the process we aim to inform, educate and inspire our community of coffee-drinking supporters as well, providing a connection that is too often lacking and bringing increased value to the farmers behind it all.

Like with so many products we enjoy on a daily basis, the process of getting coffee from origin to consumer is multi-faceted, complex, and involves factors that can be overwhelming to understand, resulting in coffee drinkers not giving a second thought to the process, and too easily maintaining that farmers gain the least.

As our work has evolved has over the past 10 years, and we have invested deeper into coffee-growing communities with our trainings, farm tools and investments, we have realized that to fully partner and provide impact it is not only crucial for farmers that we get further involved in the business of coffee, but that it is far too great an opportunity to pass up.  Since purchasing our own washing station in 2019, and continuing to partner with other washing stations in areas we work, we have steadily increased the amount of coffee we have purchased from farmers, the price we can pay them for their work, and the quantity exported to coffee customers around the world- whether individuals purchasing on our website, roasters buying green coffee for their cafes, or corporate partners bringing Kula coffee to their offices and clients.    

Through it all we want to make this message clear: there are individuals; hands, feet, hopes, dreams, obstacles and opportunities behind every cup of coffee you drink- hours, months, years of digging, pruning, watching, picking, carrying in order to provide quality coffee harvest ready to be processed and exported.  The more we can tell this story, grow our community of thoughtful coffee drinkers, and bring increased profitability to these farmers- the origin of the supply chain- the more we fulfill our mission and support entrepreneurs who will transform their communities.