On the western border of Rwanda, the Great African Lake Kivu sits 1,460 meters high within the Albertine Rift Valley.

As humid air rises off the lake, it condenses in the coffee studded landscape above, creating an ideal climate for growing some of the world’s best coffees.

The Rwanda Agaseke Women’s Group – formed from the women producers of the Kopakaki Dutegere cooperative – farms in this region and have organized to keep their coffees processed and milled separately at the cooperative. By doing this, the hard work of the women’s group can be preserved all the way to us, rather than being lost in a larger green coffee lot blend. With the profits from the sale of their coffee, these women engage with their community, providing technical support to those in need and offering financial support for a community where the money handling is historically reserved for men.

Here, Ritual pays a quality bonus to complement the premium paid by our sourcing partner – the proceeds going back to both the producer owners of the cooperative at large, with additional premiums supporting Agaseke.