Satisfying Global Appetite for Coffee, Gorilla Highland Owner dreams big for Kisoro

By Julius Nkunda and Alex Gahima

If you are a coffee lover, like I know you are, then this just might be for you!

The average Coffee lover mostly likely starts off their morning with a well brewed cup of Coffee.

Another cup comes in handy the afternoon and probably one or two more, in the evening till well into the night.

The average coffee lover will admit, this does wonders for the body and mind and after a while, it becomes the only way to live life.

We would like to admit from the onset, that both Nkunda and I were never much of coffee drinkers.

But that all changed one afternoon, when we got to spend time with Richard Rugaya, Founder of Gorilla Highland Company.

Entering the World of Coffee

Richie, as he likes to go by, welcomed us at the door and invited us in.

A cozy little place, right in the middle of town with everything you would expect from a modern coffee shop.

Plainly elegant furniture fills the fore space, a barrister counter and Kitchen at the back, are what meets the eye, the moment you step into the establishment.

A rustic aroma of coffee fills the air, quickly premating into the lungs, in a pleasant kind of way.

This was quite tantalizing at first time, but we got used to it.

Gorilla Highland Coffee Shop, located in Central Division, Kisoro Municipality is a one stop center for all things Coffee, processed and packaged, you can easily find it at the coffee shop.

It is also the meet and greet spot in town, mostly for the up-and-coming class, the millennial and visiting tourists.

Frustration turned Passion births Something Special.

Nkunda and I quickly admit about our limited knowledge of the plant, everyone is taking about including the President and boy, did we get schooled.

“I totally understand what you mean, until I had the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures, I too was a tea drinking man, myself”, Rugaya explained.

Having worker in Kigezi region as a radio anchor back in 2005 and eventually moving on South Sudan, largely doing Marketing, Rugaya says, his prospects in business quickly run out, forcing him to return home.

At this point in our interview, two small flasks of African Coffee, served with the gentlest touch, awaited us.

“Did you know that Coffee has over 132 natural favors?” Rugaya said right before returning back to his story. We were yet to learn more interesting facts about coffee.

Rugaya says he got back to his home in Kisoro, (Mwaru Village, Kalambi Parish, Nyarubuye Sub County) hoping to find coffee, that had been planted, years before he left for the ‘real world’.

“My mom had cut it all down. She did not see its value, she thought beans might serve her better than Coffee, a plant nobody wanted, and nobody cared for, Rugaya says

Luckily, Richie says he managed to get a kilogram of Arabica Coffee.

“I sold this Coffee to an Eritrean gentleman in Kampala, and he offered 10,000 Ugandan shillings. He says it was the best Coffee he had ever tasted and asked me to look for 100Kgs. He was willing to pay good money”, Rugaya recalls.

Today, the price of Coffee is increasing and will continue to do so at $5 per Kg.

The biggest suppliers of Arabica Coffee including Brazil, Colombia and Honduras have recession fears, war and the energy crisis in Europe.

Rugaya says this is the best thing to happen to Kisoro and the African Continent. He admits, this was not the case back then.

“I got back home, looking for just 100 Kgs of Coffee and I failed to get them. Everyone I knew who had planted coffee had either cut it down or simply abandoned it, it was terrible”, Rugaya recalls.

Since that time, Gorilla Highland Coffee has managed to consolidate 500 farmers in Kisoro and another 1,500 across the Kigezi region.

Rugaya says the company does not operate as on a business model of profit but as a social enterprise that seeks to connect Kigezi to the rest of the world, through Conservation of the Mountain Gorilla and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs)

Benefits of Coffee

Rugaya says Coffee has changed his life for the better.

He admits that there is room for more players in the sector and advises that more people need to embrace growing Coffee because the global demand is enormous.

“The beauty about Coffee is that you can harvest it all year round but as you wait, you can intercrop with Avocado and Matooke. It’s such a great plant to have on hedges of your compound or garden”, Rugaya said

Gorilla Highland Coffee can be found across leading supermarkets in Kisoro, Kabale, Mbarara, fort portal and Jinja.

The Coffee is also highly sought after in the USA, Ireland, Japan and Australia.

Coffee and the Industrial Park

The Industrial Park presents a great opportunity for many small and medium enterprise owners, just like Rugaya.

According to Richie, the Industrial Park will help cut costly in terms of transportation to Kampala and will also allow for more produce to be collected at one center point.

“We still have a major challenge of machines that can allow us to completely retain all the money from the garden right up to the cup, if Government, through the industrial park is willing to support Coffee farmers in the region, the future will truly be bright, Rugaya said.