How Rwanda's Specialty Coffee Got Its Start

Published: Oct 15, 2026 Author: World Gafei Last Updated: Oct/15/2026 197 views

Learn how Rwandan coffee farmers transformed their industry from C-grade beans to sought-after specialty lots through cooperatives and quality-focused washing stations.

In the late 1990s, Rwandan coffee was little more than a cheap commodity—graded below C-level and fetching just $0.33 per kilogram. Farmers worked at a loss, barely surviving on meagre returns, and the world saw their beans as worthless. Yet within a few years, those same beans would be prized by American and European roasters. What changed? The answer lies in a small farming cooperative that took radical steps to reclaim their coffee’s value.

FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou's FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。