COFFEE PROFILES AND QUALITY

40. What are the quality characteristics of Ugandan coffee?

Uganda grows two types of coffee (Arabica and Robusta). These two types have distinct characteristics that separate them as shown below:

Location Altitude Location Type/Variety Processing method Analysis results

Kasese 1,734m (5,692ft) 01º11´N 30º05´E Arabica/SL14 Natural

Rukungiri 1,585m(5,203ft) 00º47´N 29º56´E Arabica/SL14 Natural

• Fragrance& Aroma: Chocolate, caramel and fruity • Flavour: Lemon, Caramel & Winey • Acidity: Phosphoric

• Fragrance& Aroma: Caramel& Fruity • Flavour: Complex with lemon and vegetable taste

Location Altitude Location Type/Variety Processing method Analysis results

Kisoro 2,335m(7,729ft) 01º17´S 29º41´E Arabica/SL14 Natural

Bushenyi 1,569m(5,150ft) 00º32´S 30º11´E Robusta/Nganda &Erecta Natural

• Fragrance& Aroma: Caramel, Fruity & Nutty • Flavour: Salty, lemon, buttery & cedar • Acidity: Medium and well balanced • Fragrance& Aroma: Caramel & spicy • Flavour: Chocolate, caramel & buttery • Body: Heavy • Acid/salt: Low salt High acid • Bitter/sweet balance: Low bitter high sweet

Uganda Arabica Coffee profile- Moderate to heavy body with lots of citrus, chocolate and moderate acidity.

Uganda Robusta Coffee Profile – • Washed Robusta: mild, olives, cinnamon, milk, chocolate • Robusta Naturals: fruity, dark chocolate, molasses, anise, cinnamon • Wild Naturals Robusta: blueberry, honey, spicy, cocoa, nutmeg, aromas, and flavors

41. What are the grades that Uganda exports?

Uganda exports various grades as shown in the table below:

Arabica Grades Robusta Grades Washed Natural Washed Natural

AA Drugar Washed Robusta Screen 18 A+ Triage Screen 17 A Screen 15 B Screen 14 AB Screen 13

Arabica Grades Robusta Grades

PB

C UG Triage Wugar Specialty Arabicas Fine Robustas

*BHP – Broken and hand picked (Under-grades) Screen 12

BHP* 1199

BHP 10:13

42. How does UCDA carry out quality assurance in Uganda?

UCDA is mandated to ensure that the quality of coffee produced in Uganda meets the national and international standards.

At nursery level – UCDA ensures that planting materials with the following attributes are distributed to farmers for planting: • Clean and free from pests and diseases • High yielding lines • Pest and disease resistant • Big screen size and high quality liquor At farm level – Training of farmers in good agricultural practices to ensure good yields with high outturn • Training in good post-harvest practices i.e. selective picking, drying off the ground, storage in clean stores.

At primary processor level – Training processors, test running the hulleries, approving and registering only the approved factories. • Ensuring that the coffee cherry (kiboko) is below Moisture Content 14% at the point of hulling. • Ensuring that the stores are well constructed in well drained locations, well ventilated, well roofed and only store coffee. • Making sure that the factories are fitted with dust chambers to store all rubbish from coffee. • UCDA registers all coffee processing factories and stores annually after they have met all the procedures.

At Exporter level – UCDA trains all quality controllers in exporters’ factories on physical grading, defect identification, coffee roasting, cup tasting and export procedures.

• The exporters’ factories are inspected, test run and registered annually. • Exporters register all their contracts with UCDA. The information that is capture includes the name of the exporting company, the details of the buyer, coffee grade, coffee quantity, price, destination and shipment period. • The exporter applies for inspection by filling in and submitting the pre-shipment inspection form. All the coffee exports are inspected by UCDA prior to export to check for moisture content, physical defects, screen size distribution, roast identification and cup quality/ liquor. Every exportable grade has quality standards that it has to meet prior to export. (Refer to the Coffee Regulations 1994). The coffee lots that do not meet the standards are referred back for reprocessing, reinspected before export. • The coffee exports are sealed after loading and issued with Quality Certificates to confirm that the quality of coffee meets the UCDA quality standards. The coffee is transported to the seaport and final destination sealed and documented. The documents are sent to the overseas buyers to process the payments. • UCDA keeps the reference samples at the point of inspection and loading for a period of six months. In case of any quality claims, the samples are used for comparison with the buyer’s reference sample to check for consistency.

43. What has UCDA done to ensure farmers only harvest ripe coffee cherries?

UCDA trains farmers in harvest and post-harvest handling of coffee. The trainings include modules on selective harvesting, proper drying methods (on drying racks, tarpaulins, cemented surfaces), drying coffee within 24 hours after harvesting, protecting coffee from contamination, covering coffee to prevent it from getting wet again and storage of coffee in clean places.

44. What are the key parameters that determine the quality of coffee?

The key parameters that determine the quality of coffee are: • Moisture content: 10-12.5% • Colour: Bluish –Green, Grey –brown. • Smell: Clear of all off smells. • Out turn: This is the recoverable coffee from one form to another usually expressed as a percentage e.g. dried

cherry to fair average quality (FAQ) is >50%, Parchment to FAQ is >80%. • The defect percentages: Each grade has a maximum allowable defects – (Refer to Coffee Regulations 1994) • Roast colour: the best coffees attain even roasts.

Uneven roasts are a sign of defects or immature beans. • Cup quality (liquor): High quality coffees attain balanced cups in terms of body, flavour and acidity.

These cups should also be free from cup defects.

45. Which programmes has UCDA implemented to enhance the quality of Uganda coffee both domestically and internationally?

• Continuous Quality Improvement • Quality Assurance • Coffee and Youth

The programs include trainings, tours and competitions as follows: • Training of all quality controllers in the coffee industry and internship attachments of students from university coffee clubs. • Training of coffee processors and traders in green coffee grading and basic cupping. • Farmer sensitization in the good harvest and postharvest handling of coffee. • Roasters and brewers training to enhance skills in value addition. • Awarding best performers in the coffee industry in terms of quality. • Training youth in barista skills (preparation and serving of different types of coffee). • Training of experienced quality controllers in coffee tasting (cupping skills). • Holding national competitions in barista and cupping to select representatives for the International competitions e.g. World Cup Tasters, Africa Barista Championship, Fushan Barista Championship and World Barista

Championships. • Conducting a competition code named “National

Taste of Harvest”. This is an annual event for selecting the best coffees produced in the year. These coffees are selected according to their cup quality. The best coffees are chosen with expert knowledge from a head judge. The farmers who present the best coffees are recognized. The best 5 coffees are presented to Africa Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) for auction in their annual conference and exhibition.

• Conducting the Coffee Origin Tour. This is a tour of potential buyers in the localities where coffee is produced. UCDA presents to the buyers the best coffee lots the country has to offer. These coffees are evaluated and given scores by a panel of cuppers from

UCDA with an aim of marketing them. The buyers can choose the coffees from these lots and purchase them at a specialty price.

46. What is the level of domestic consumption in Uganda? What are the factors which have hindered growth of domestic coffee consumption in Uganda?

Domestic Coffee consumption in Uganda is at 5-7% of the total exports. There has been a noticeable increase in domestic consumption with the establishment of cafés in major towns.

The factors that have hindered domestic coffee consumption are:

• The poor grades of coffee roasted and served in coffee shops. When a survey was conducted, it was found out that people were avoiding coffee drinking because it was of poor quality. • The negative perception that coffee consumption is hazardous to health. Many people still think that coffee consumption may lead diseases. • A historically strong tea drinking culture. This was implanted by our colonial masters. Many people still prefer tea to coffee as a beverage. There is a deliberate effort to popularize coffee drinking by programs like “Coffee on the Road”. • Costly and sophisticated coffee making machines. • Coffee is perceived to be more expensive than other beverages.

47. What is UCDA doing to address this?

• UCDA trains baristas, quality controllers, roasters to ensure quality coffee is produced • UCDA promotes the health benefits of coffee consumption • Access to finance for purchase of coffee making machines through an MOU with UDB

48. What is the current global coffee production and consumption?

The global production for 2019/20 was 169.3 million bags and the Global consumption for 2019/20 was 168.49 million 60 kg bags (http://www.ico.org/prices/newconsumption-table.pdf).

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