Ejo Heza Women Dancing During Field School

June 29, 2018
During my field visit yesterday to Sure, where the Ejo Heza women were preparing the land for the next season, they gathered at the end for a short field school lesson on pruning. Agronomist Justin gave a short talk, demonstrating proper pruning technique, then asked Ruth Ann to stand and share some comments. She briefly shared her appreciation for all their work, and announced the number of bags Artisan would be purchasing in the coming year. The women, all 40 - 50 of them, reciprocated with a chant, expressing their dignity and purpose as a group of female coffee farmers. Then they celebrated with several dances and songs! It was loud, joyous and beautiful!

 CLICK HERE to hear the women's mantra (or click photo below).

CLICK HERE for the very short video (technical difficulties) or click one of the photos below.

Roaster of the Week: Dessert Oasis and Nathan Hamood

Mar. 23, 2018

Roaster and Co-Owner Nathan Hamood

"Dessert Oasis" has got to be one of the best names for a cafe I've ever heard. Who wouldn't love to go to a "dessert oasis"?! So we are thrilled to send our roaster shout-out this week to Nathan Hamood and his crew at Dessert Oasis in downtown Rochester, Michigan this week! The company is family-owned. Nathan's parents ran the business before he "came of age" and started moving the coffee menu towards its current firm footing in the specialty arena. Nathan is the roaster and director of coffee for their two locations, one in Rochester and one in Detroit (1220 Griswold, near Capital Park) and a soon-to-be third location in Royal Oak! He carefully curates the coffees, looking for single-origin coffees with brightness and complexity that is striking and pleasant. From the tables filled with happy customers mid-day, it was my impression that he has many people appreciating his tasting and roasting skills!

In short, they live up to their mission:

We strive to deliver an unrivaled coffee, dessert, and entertainment experience through close attention to detail, an unbelievable knack for quality, and intense love for our communities.

The namesake dessert case - mouth-watering!

One example of the Dessert Oasis offering is the Rwanda Ejo Heza from Artisan Coffee Imports. While there, I also got to taste the Kenya AA Karimikui, Gichugu, Kirinyaga county. Nathan says he has no problem filling half his menu with East African coffees if they are good coffees. He doesn't try to balance the number of S. American, Asian and African origins as some roasters do. This kind of purist dedication to single-origin taste promotes great conversations between the baristas and customers who want to know more.

Nathan roasts on a US Roaster, 3 kilo machine, carefully monitoring computer read-outs of his profile. He said he gives the Rwanda Ejo Heza a light roast, being sure to monitor it carefully after the first crack with very low heat.

The Dessert Oasis company has a wonderful team, including baristas Tyler and Olya, whom I got to meet the day I was there. They all seemed skilled at latte art, which shouldn't be surprising since the company also regularly hosts latte art throw-downs. A recent throw-down was "very successful" in Nathan's words, drawing 60 contestants and 200 attendees.

The business maintains an emphasis on live and local music with frequent concerts on its mini-music stage, an offering of CDs from local artists and music-themed decor.

Hats off again to Dessert Oasis for creating a great place for coffee, dessert and music. Thank you for offering your customers Rwanda Ejo Heza!

Nathan (L) and barista Tyler (R)

Live music is a theme at Dessert Oasis - helps create community!

Women-owned Coffee Supply Chain Continues

Feb. 19, 2018
Second year in-a-row, micro-roaster Espresso Elevado of Plymouth, Michigan offers single-origin Rwanda Ejo Heza beans, roasted to perfection! In last year's post, click here, business owner and trainer Teresa Pilarz shared roasting notes for the Ejo Heza.

This year the package sports a new label showing not only two officers of the Rwandan Ejo Heza sub-cooperative, Olive and Therese UWIMANA, but also Ruth Ann Church, the owner of the importing business, Artisan Coffee Imports.

As with other female-owned businesses, the focus at Espresso Elevado is on quality, customer service and meeting their mission "to craft and share coffee in a way that elevates the entire coffee experience.We strive to be Connected, Artistic, Unconventional, Sustainable, and Elevated." You may or may not notice the business and some of its products, like the Rwanda Ejo Heza, have a gender-balanced story to tell. In this case, it's the entire supply chain! It's just another reason, on top of many, to love your cup of coffee!

TREAT! Today is the Big Day in Mushubati, Rwanda

October 31, 2017

Leaders of Ejo Heza, convening the 2017 assembly.

Today was the BIG DAY in the mountain village of Mushubati that overlooks Lake Kivu. It was the day of the Ejo Heza General Assembly. Ejo Heza is the name of the cooperative of about 300 women from which Artisan Coffee has been buying coffee for two years now, it means "bright tomorrow." They are a "sub-group" of the larger and well-established KOPAKAMA cooperative with about 700 members. The general assembly is the annual meeting where the leadership gives reports about the past year and distributes the "second payment" to members. They receive the premiums they have earned on coffee sold to buyers (like Artisan) who specify an amount per KG green coffee to go to the farmer. Since the cooperative tracks how many kilograms of cherry each woman brings to the washing station, they are able to make the conversions (dollars to RWF, KG green to KG cherry) and pay the women fairly, each according to how much she brought.

Documentation is part of the coffee contract. The form that each woman has to sign when she receives her cash from the group's treasurer will be sent to Artisan soon and available for roaster-customers. [Ed. note: received the following week!] Meanwhile, today, Carpe Diem! While you host some "trick-or-treat" visitors this evening, know that many families in this mountainous region of Rwanda are so proud and happy to be coffee farmers today. They have received more than a treat, they have received much hope for a bright tomorrow, and they are dancing! See video below:

Artisan Coffee Imports is taking requests for arrival samples. Click here to request yours! Coffee is due in to Continental Terminals Nov. 13 -17. Available at the Annex in Oakland, CA, first week of December.

Frederic HAKIZIMANA - washing station manager, addresses the general assembly.

Ejo Heza members picking coffee in their community plot.

View of Lake Kivu from Mushubati.

Paying Women Coffee Producers Their "Due"

25. September 2017

Therese UWIMANA - President of Ejo Heza

At Artisan Coffee Imports we're proud to celebrate International Coffee Day on September 29, with the announce- ment of a ground-breaking partnership with a women's cooperative in Rwanda - the Ejo Heza cooperative (a group under the umbrella of KOPAKAMA) in Rutsiro, Western Province.

This 2017 harvest year, Artisan Coffee Imports signed a contract with the cooperative, co-signed by Therese UMWIMANA, the president of Ejo Heza, agreeing to pay a 30 cent premium on each kilogram of green coffee Artisan purchases (= 13.6 cents/lb. green coffee). This amount of money will be awarded to all the women of the Ejo Heza group on top of the second payment all the members of the KOPAKAMA cooperative receive. The premiums will be awarded at Ejo Heza's general assembly held every year in October.

Ruth Ann Church, Artisan's president and "chief relationship officer", still remembers the day in early May 2017 when she negotiated this contract (through a translator) with Ms. UWIMANA and Frederic HAKIZIMANA, the director of the KOPAKAMA washing station. "I'm sure it's the first time any Westerner had requested Therese to be present in a business meeting to negotiate contract terms," Church says. "The discussion got deep into the tiny details of dollars per KG and Rwandan franc per lb. parchment. I remember being concerned for Therese, whose daughter was very ill and Therese herself looked sick with worry. She had to leave her baby with a friend to come meet us. But she brightened up when we put the numbers into terms she knew very well."

"This will result in paying you and the Ejo Heza women 40 RWF/KG cherry," Church explained when she finally had enough figures in her spreadsheet to make the calculation.  UWIMANA's eyes grew wide. The price per kilogram of cherry in Rwanda this season was around 270 RWF/KG. A common premium for cherry in Rwanda is 22 RWF/KG cherry (8% of base price), and only about 20% of farmers in Rwanda ever see any premium at all. So not only is Artisan re-enforcing KOPAKAMA's "best practice" of paying a premium, Artisan is paying the women close to double what many farmers receive as a second payment.

"I could see some of the care and concern melt away from Therese's face when I told her that number,"  Church says. "It was wonderful to see it replaced with her beautiful smile!"

For samples of this amazing coffee, contact Artisan Coffee Imports via their contact page, or call seven-three-four, 717-6278.

Ruth Ann Church with Therese and Olive & beautiful Rwandan horizon!

Coffee cherry picked by Therese

Beatrice, Olive and Therese - leaders of Ejo Heza

Selection of delicious new crop Rwandan!

19. September, 2017

September - pre-shipment samples in Michigan.

We cupped pre-shipment samples today of the incoming crop of Rwanda Ejo Heza coffee from KOPAKAMA cooperative, Rutsiro district, in western Rwanda. [See blog posts here to learn more about this cooperative.] The cups were good! Samples approved! Excited to be able to share samples of these delicious cups of apricot, cedar, rose-hip tea and clove-spiced aftertaste with roasters, soon!

The plots of coffee come from along Lake Kivu. We cupped two types, some from the Mushubati washing station and grown by the Ejo Heza women's cooperative, and others from the Nyagatari washing station -- both of these belong to the KOPAKAMA cooperative which has a total of about 700 members. The Ejo Heza women are about 300 total.

Back in June 2017, when Ruth Ann was in Kigali, she cupped several coffees from KOPAKAMA and other cooperatives, and selected the Ejo Heza Lot B and the Nyagatari for import. The sweet taste of pineapple, mango and orange mixed with clove were delightful! Scored at least an 86. That was a fun day at the wonderful Starbucks lab in Kigali. For those of you who don't know, Starbucks offers the coffee industry in Rwanda (all of East Africa, really) a wonderful resource by fully staffing an excellent lab in Rwanda's capital city, Kigali. They regularly host cuppings and meetings for all types of coffee companies, even direct competitors. Kudos to Starbucks!

That was the easy part! The contracting, financing and shipping arrangements take months of international coordination after the initial coffee selection. Finally, three and half months later, the pre-shipment samples arrived and I was able to cup them today. In another two months (end of November), coffee should be at the port in New Jersey. Some of it will be shipped to the Annex in Oakland, CA.

We are bringing in 80 bags of the KOPAKAMA Ejo Heza Lot B for spot sales. Call to get YOUR NAME on the list for arrival samples today! 734-717-6278.

June 2017 - Starbucks cupping lab - Kigali, Rwanda

June 2017 - Starbucks lab staff are the best!

Ruth Ann and Olivier GASHEMA of Misozi Coffee - Q grading samples.

All Female Value Chain Creates Delicious Cup of "Jane"

Feb. 24, 2017

Earlier this month Espresso Elevado, a micro-roaster in Plymouth, MI, brought a new Rwanda roasted coffee to its shelves. This coffee is labeled to highlight the women's cooperative that grew the coffee -- the Ejo Heza group of the KOPAKAMA cooperative, Rutsiro district of the Western province of Rwanda. About 300 women of the 775 total members formed their "sub-cooperative" in 2011.

Women of Ejo Heza with their coffee trees - Bernice, Therese and Olive (L to R).

Upon closer inspection, this coffee goes a few steps further than "just" being sourced from female coffee producers. The coffee was imported by woman-owned Artisan Coffee Imports and roasted by woman-owned Espresso Elevado, making it a very unique "all-female-value-chain" coffee.

The coffee tastes great in the cup. With Espresso Elevado's roast, we find the flavor complex with sugar plum and pink lemonade fragrance, maple syrup, winey, plum aroma. After the break, flavor has wine and berry, vanilla, roasted almond, butter and clove with aftertaste of butterscotch and hints of orange. Great smooth body with the familiar Rwandan ‘sparkle’ of acidity.

Teresa Pilarz - Founder & Chief Caffeinator of Espresso Elevado Espresso Elevado

 Roasting notes from Teresa:  
The first time roasting any new coffee is always somewhat of a shot in the dark.  I noticed this Rwandan seemed to lose a lot of heat after first crack began.  Our goal was to maintain a gradually decreasing rate of rise and prevent any heat spikes during the latter part of the roast. In working with this bean, we’ve figured out how to keep it quite light-roasted and still reach a solid 20% roast development.  This brings out the sparkling acidity while also allowing the complex flavor profile to shine through with hints of dried fruit, exotic spice, and butterscotch sweetness

If you'd like to purchase a bag, you'll find Espresso Elevado near the "town square" of Plymouth, MI at 606 S. Main St.  Retailing at $16/12 oz. bag you can also get a fresh pour over of Rwanda Ejo Heza.

Ruth Ann Church - Founder - Importer at Artisan Coffee Imports (also Chief De-caffeinator!)

 Sourcing notes from Ruth Ann: 

• This Rwandan coffee is from Ejo Heza, a women’s cooperative that is a sub-group of the larger KOPAKAMA cooperative. Located in the Rutsiro district of western Rwanda, there is a fantastic view of Lake Kivu from the washing station.
• I was able to visit them several times while I lived in Rwanda, Nov. 2015 – Aug. 2016.
• The washing station is recognized by others and me as one of the better-managed ones. They have processes in place to ensure quality and I observed a well-managed washing station staff.
• The Ejo Heza women receive a lot of agronomist support and other training from KOPAKAMA. For example, one of the reasons I met them is because I was giving a leadership and management training to the cooperative ("Lean at Origin" training). The president and two others from Ejo Heza were invited to be in this training. In other words, there is evidence of lots of inclusion for the women of this coop.
• The women asked me to see their trees and some of the experiments they are doing with weeding and mulching to lower their costs. (See blogpost) I was very impressed. These women are running experiments with control plots on growing techniques! Their objective is to lower their costs while maintaining the high quality coffee production that earns them a higher price than low grade coffees.

What do the women do with their “bonus” from coffee? The KOPAKAMA cooperative helped them start a microcredit savings and lending group a year ago (Jan. 2016). It is well-proven in development literature that microcredit groups are effective vehicles to enable savings and small loans in low-income rural areas. See this blog post for two stories from women of the Ejo Heza group, sharing what microcredit group has helped them accomplish. 

Therese and Olive - Leaders of the Ejo Heza group of women producers.

See you in Seattle - Artisan at SCAA

Looking forward to the great gathering of passionate, innovative, game-changer coffee people in Seattle next week!  www.scaaevent.org 
If you will be there, too, I hope we cross paths. Here are a few things to look for:

Learn new stuff! Attend one of the two panel lectures I am moderating:

Cost to Produce vs. Price: Producers Narrow Margins

Saturday, Apr. 11, 9:00 - 10:15am
The Conference Center (adjacent to the expo hall bldg.) - Room 304

• Presenter 1: Mark Lundy, International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT
• Presenter 2: Saurin Nanavati, COSA (Committee on Sustainability Assessment)
• Presenter 3: Ben Carlson, Long Miles Coffee
• Moderator: Ruth Ann Church, Artisan Coffee Imports

Economics of Quality & Price: Insights From CoE Auction Data

Saturday, Apr. 11, 10:30 - 11:45am
The Conference Center (adjacent to the expo hall bldg.) - Room 202

• Presenter 1: Norbert Wilson, Auburn University
• Presenter 2: Adam Wilson, Thrive Supply
• Moderator: Ruth Ann Church, Artisan Coffee Imports

Roast Magazine -- Early Release of the May/June edition

Pg. 25, you'll find an article I wrote: "A New Focus on Farm-Level Economics" which reviews Rwanda and Burundi and research related to potato taste defect in those countries.

IWCA Breakfast - Saturday, April 11, 7:30 - 9:00am
With the theme: Inspiring Change: Make it Happen, this breakfast event will recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate the work and achievements of women in all aspects of the supply chain within the coffee industry. (Ticketed - $60)
I have just joined as a volunteer board member and co-chair of the Research & Education Relations committee, so I'm "all in"!

Roasters Guild Party:

Saturday, Apr. 11, 7pm - 1am -- Gameworks (World Sports Grille), 1511 7th Avenue

If you haven't been before, go! This is a great mixer and fun way to finish off the conference. I will look for you.

Hope to see you in Seattle!