Ugandan Coffee Attracts Russian Investors
Russian investors have expressed interest in buying Robusta coffee to produce instant coffee, a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans, enabling people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to the powder or crystals and stirring.
The investors from Russkiy Product pitched their plan during a recent meeting between Russian investors and Uganda coffee exporters organized by Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and Uganda Embassy in Moscow.
“The company has a big supply chain of coffee. They buy from several [coffee-producing] countries, including Uganda through third parties but they now want to buy directly from Ugandan producers and exporters,” said Johnson Olwa, Uganda's Ambassador to Russia.
The Director of Strategy and Business Development at UCDA David Katungi expressed Uganda’s commitment to coffee production and export through its national Coffee Roadmap which targets to produce 20 million 60kg bags of coffee annually by 2025.
“We want to assure you that we have the coffee and we have plans to produce even more. Your choice to do business with Uganda is the right decision. We assure you of volumes and quality,” he said.
Alexsei Pashkiv, co-owner of Russkiy Produkt, told the meeting that they are interested in purchasing Robusta coffee to produce instant coffee in Russia.
“The Russian market consumes instant coffee. Although Russia has traditionally been a tea-drinking country, the coffee market is increasing,” Pashkiv said.
“We are looking for good suppliers of green coffee for instant coffee production and we need volumes.”
Uganda picked up $61.43 million (about Shs218 billion) in October, made from exporting 486,534 bags of coffee weighing 60kg each, according to UCDA.
According to the Oct. report, the exports contained 426,148 bags of Robusta valued at $49.47 million and 60,386 bags of Arabica valued at $11.96 million.
“This was an increase of 13.68% and 59.91% in quantity and value respectively compared to the same month last year,” reads the report.
The Authority attributed the rise in coffee exports year over year to newly planted coffee which started yielding supported by favorable weather.
“This was also compounded by a positive trend in global coffee prices,” said UCDA.
“Coffee prices have been going up since July 2021 as Brazil faced the threat of frost and high temperatures, while Vietnam faced a challenge of shipping containers as a result of Covid19 related restrictions. This prompted exporters to release their stocks.”
Links
- 303 views
Join the conversation