RWANDA – St Remio Coffee, an Australian coffee processing company, has opened a new state of the art coffee cupping lab in Towngere Umusaruro, Rwanda.

The infrastructure seeks to enable coffee growers and roasters to carry out daily checks and tastes on the quality their coffee beans before export.

Speaking during the launch of the facility, St Remio Founder Trent Knox noted that the idea to fund a coffee cupping lab was inspired by his experience from coffee fields in Rwanda.

“I have been involved in coffee for over 10 years and this was the first time I was challenged to really think about the people behind coffee.

“The women farmers, the communities and the families and how the struggle to grow the quality coffee that we love. ” Trent noted.

“Coffee is not only a commodity but has value to those that grow it. We thank you for all your efforts, Sustainable Growers and all the other partners along the coffee value chain” said Trent.

Christine Condo, East Africa Regional Director for Sustainable Growers, said the new facility is a great achievement.

“This coffee cupping lab is a facility that is on an international level. Today…farmers can now test the coffee and know the quality of their coffee cherries and what needs to be done to improve their quality” said Condo.

St Remio mainly sources it coffee beans from Rwanda and has partnered with social enterprise Sustainable Harvest, who currently work with Rwandan coffee farmers to empower and teach them leading farming practices.

Knox said that the infrastructure will also enable St Remio to achieve its ambitions of providing quality coffee products and positively impacting the community in which it operates in.

“We are passionate about giving consumers premium coffee without the price tag, but more importantly, we are passionate about giving back to the coffee growing community, especially in Rwanda.

“This infrastructure will enable coffee growers and roasters to producer higher quality coffee beans via giving them the tools to be able to run daily checks and tastings,” he added.

Last year, the company unveiled a range of capsules compatible with two different proprietary systems, K-fee and Caffitaly available in four blends: intense, strong, classic and decaf.