Alice Nshuti - update on a young Rwandan's coffee career

 

Alice showing a bag of Sandrew roasted
coffee from within her cafe - Mulax.

One of our greatest joys as an importer is to see the impact we have on the lives of young coffee professionals in places like Rwanda. 

Artisan Coffee Imports Internship

Alice Nshuti was first selected to work as an Artisan intern in 2021. She started in October 2021 with an intense 6-week coffee professional training at Ikawa House in Rwanda's capital city, Kigali. Then, throughout 2022, she worked as an assistant high up in the mountains of Gakenke with one of Artisan's supplier women's groups, the Rambagirakawa women.

Business Data Internship 

At the beginning of 2023, it was time to move into a more professional role. She was hired as Dukundekawa Musasa's Business Data Intern -- a position funded by Root Capital. While this was a paid position, the wages were so low, Alice would not be able to cover basic monthly expenses without support. Artisan therefore funded a "career-starter" subsidy for Alice's 6 months in the Business Data intern position.

Alice spent the next half year to a year exploring her job opportunities. She had a college degree in Agribusiness, almost 2 years' experience working at a coffee cooperative and a burning passion to work in the coffee industry. Unfortunately, no positions in Rwanda's coffee industry were opening up for her. She applied for jobs outside of the coffee industry, but she could tell her heart was not into it.

Business Data Intern

Starting Her Own Brand of Roasted Beans

In her own words she told me, "one day in 2024 I asked myself, why don't you just start your own small coffee business, no matter how small? It will make you happy and you will gain experience." So she did! She used what she knew, including her networks of people in coffee and friends with entrepreneurial ideas to take the first steps of making a business plan. 

She decided she would procure green coffee beans using her skills in cupping to select the best ones. She found a toll-roaster in Kigali who had good references from others selling roasted coffee. This roaster also allows Alice to supervise him / work with him each time he roasts her beans. This way Alice can be sure she is getting the type of roast her customers have requested. She's most excited when she wins a new wholesale customer who tastes her roasted coffee next to the brand they've been buying and they say, "wow! I didn't know coffee could taste that good!"

Originally the brand name for her roasted beans was Inshuti @inshuti_coffee . But when she started the trademark process, she learned that name was taken. Now she's changed the name of her roasted beans to Sandrew, which is a blend of her parents' first names: Sarah and Andrew.

MULAX Cafe

She joined forces with a co-investor / friend to secure retail space in a busy area of Kigali called Kisimenti. Together they now operate their cafe they named Mulax  @mulax.cafe. They're attracting consumers who enjoy the green plants lining the interior, the cozy ambience and a generally light-soaked space. Mulax serves fresh-brewed Sandrew coffee, craft beers and delicious bites. They are open 24 hours!

As if that's not enough to keep her busy, Alice also travels with Ruth Ann during her trips to cooperatives in Rwanda as a translator. After several years of supporting Artisan on one or two week trips, and after accumulating four years of cumulative coffee experience, Alice was ready to step into a new role at Artisan - that of Export Logistics Coordinator based in Kigali.

Inside Mulax Cafe

Export Logistics Coordinator - Rwanda

Since mid-July this year, Alice has been going up the steep learning curve of understanding a myriad of coffee export details. Artisan has special demands related to microlots, the women's groups and paying premiums, quality control of our containers and managing the risks loading day and international shipping in general. On top of these unique parts of Artisan's business, Alice has been learning the basics of pre-ship samples for customers and for NAEB, export taxes, ICO documents, weight notes and phytosanitary certificates. Add to this the constant effort to ensure quality of the coffee from the day it arrives at the NAEB warehouse. She's met the staff who work for our cooperatives at NAEB, our freight forwarder and our three exporters in Kigali. She carefully observed the unloading, moving and storage conditions of all of the microlots as they wait for shipment day.

It's a lot! Alice seems energized, however, by the challenge. She comments, "I love learning and I love learning more about coffee the most!"

Current role with Artisan: Export Logistics Coordinator

Alice was an Ikawa House "coffee professional" student in 2021.

Graduation day with Ikawa House instructors, long-time Q Graders and international cupping judges, Uzziel Habimana and Laetitia Mukandahiro.

Alice's one year internship as an Artisan Coffee Imports intern, and traveling with Ruth as a translator has increased her range of of experiences in coffee professions.

Alice especially enjoys working with and learning from the female farmers. Her 2021 internship focused on supporting projects of the Rambagirakawa women.