We are passionate about producing superb tasting coffee, working with the highest quality beans we can personally source. It is really important for us to be able to “put back� into those communities to help them flourish and improve not only their own lives but also their crops. Our love for coffee & provenance goes well beyond the beans in the bag; it embraces the whole essence of the aroma, taste and the simple enjoyment of just relaxing and drinking a cup of very special coffee. The fusion of two different cultures coming together to blend a coffee that is unique and magical.
Background to Our Caffe Praego blend The Caffe Praego philanthropy of sourcing coffee direct from the growers then putting funds, support and help back into those very communities, developed back in 2007. Rwanda was chosen as our primary product source due to the very high quality of their coffee, as well as the uniqueness of supply. Known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, Rwanda is a beautiful country, with the perfect climate and terrain for producing fine coffee. Coffee trees flourish in the high altitudes and temperatures, nourished by rich volcanic soils and mountain spring waters.
In 1994, one of the worst genocides known to man tore the country apart. For the last 20 years the Rwandan people have strived with proud determination to work hard restoring their country from the ashes. But the legacy of the genocide left over 400,000 orphans.
Caffe Praego & Point Foundation in Partnership
Since 2007, the Point Foundation has worked tirelessly to improve the welfare of Rwandan children, becoming a primary source of life changing projects. The Point Foundation is an accredited charity managing the Caffe Praego community projects.
Today Caffe Praego is proud to directly work with the coffee farmers, their Co-operatives, and our community projects, all located close to where the coffee is sourced. Our teams regularly travel to Rwanda maintaining strong links with the projects. We visit the farms to agree tonnages, check on quality & discuss present & future projects.
The Coffee Co-operatives growing for Caffe Praego Single Source Origin – Our Lake Kivu Blend Caffe Praego’s Lake Kivu blend coffee contains the finest grade A Arabica Bourbon variety, cherry beans carefully selected from two of the finest Co-operatives in Rwanda. The award winning beans from Ingoboka are grown high up in the lush hills at an altitude of 1800m, overlooking Lake Kivu and the Virunga Mountains, home to the famous and rare mountain gorillas. The second Co-operative, Cocamu is located to the East overlooking the mountainous terrain of Tanzania. Regular rain fall, high altitudes and warm temperatures are perfect growing conditions for Arabica beans.
To enhance the full bodied taste of our coffee, we add a small amount of an equally high quality Robusta cherry bean grown in neighbouring Uganda to create a perfect Espresso with thickness, body and delicious taste. Our coffee graders description of the taste profile is “sweet, clean & with a hint of berry” producing a smooth, wellstructured coffee with a rich crema and maximum flavour.
SINGLE ORIGIN INGOBOKA CO-OPERATIVE COFFEE The Ingoboka Co-operative is located in the Rutsiro district of Rwanda’s Western District. It nestles in a picturesque valley beside the shores of Lake Kivu, 3 hour’s drive from Giseyni town and close to the Congo border. The plantation & Co-operative was started back in 2004 & is made up of a group of 135 farmers, maintaining around 10,000 coffee trees, which is relatively small by Rwanda’s standards.
Coffee trees grow quickly once planted as saplings, with a life expectancy of around 20 years. The plantation surrounds the washing station so after the daily picking, cherries are swiftly carried up to the flotation tanks ready for sorting and cleaning. Ingoboka produces around 200 tons of fully washed, finest grade 1 & 2 Arabica Bourbon Coffee per year at an altitude of around 1800m and nourished by rich volcanic soil. Ingoboka are a Fair Trade certified plantation with very high standards of growing, cleanliness and organisation. For the last twelve months they have been working hard to get the farms fully certified as 100% organic.
Ingoboka Co-operative won the 2011 prestigious award for “Coffee Cup of Excellence”
SINGLE ORIGIN COCAMU CO-OPERATIVE COFFEE The Cocamu Co-operative is located close to the Tanzanian border near Agakera and 3 hours from the Rwandan capital Kigali. The plantation & washing station is located in a scenic mountain range overlooking hundreds of miles of African landscape. Cocamu is a large plantation with around 600,000 coffee trees owned by 584 member farmers, including 226 woman-only owners. Many of the trees were already in existence when the Cocamu Co-operative was formed in 2006. The Co-operative has a reputation for producing excellent quality Arabica Bourbon beans. Their season for picking is early April to mid-June with around 500 tons being available for export. Cocamu Co-operative is different to other plantations in that they have an excellent training programme, allowing 10,000 trees to be used for training new farmers and for monitoring quality. They are able to produce both top grade and standard coffee beans for different markets. Cocamu Co-operative has won many awards for their coffee bean and are fully Fair Trade accredited.
Packaging – Our Coffee Bags & Packing Cases
Caffe Praego does not use aluminium packaging, meaning our bags are more environmentally friendly and easy to recycle. Bags are designed to maximise the freshness of the roasted beans with a special patented seal. Caffe Praego cardboard boxes are made from recycled material and can be used again. Boxes contain no bleaches and the ink is from a sustainable source.
ÂŁ3 per case goes direct to the Point Foundation.
Coffee & Art – a great combination Historically, coffee and art have always been linked. As part of our community projects, we support 170 university students including 22 year old art student, Frank SETTO. He grew up in the Noel Orphanage having lost all adult family members during the 1994 genocide.
Despite traumatic memories, institutional childhood and poverty, Frank has a natural born artistic talent that deserves credit. He’s now had to leave the orphanage with his 4 younger siblings and become their sole provider. Frank is in his second year at university in Kigali, on the only art and graphic design course available in Rwanda. He is sponsored through the Point Foundation and artwork commissions from Caffe Praego are supporting him to feed his brothers and sisters.
Caffe Praego Coffee Company Limited 2 Quadrum Park. Old Portsmouth Road. Peasmarsh. Guildford. Surrey GU3 1LU
Tel: 01483 458054 Email: sales@caffe-praego.com www.caffe-praego.com