Welcome letter

Coffee has played an eminent role socioeconomically for our country since the 1930s as a main source of income for its people. Burundi is blessed with an ideal topography for growing Arabica Bourbon and a robust system of mills and exporters, but its exceptional coffees are still relatively unknown within the global coffee sector. A newly created governmental regulator, Agency for Regulation of the Coffee Sector (ARFIC), works hand in hand with InterCafé, National Confederation of Coffee Growers of Burundi (CNAC), and the Institute of Agronomic Science in Burundi (ISABU) to set high standards of production, quality control, and trade.

Representing 600,000 small-hold coffee farmers across 48,000 ha, Café du Burundi is focused on leading the way in sustainable coffee production and practices in order to improve the welfare of both coffee producers and consumers. Burundi’s government, urged by stakeholders in the coffee industry, is determined to expand its specialty coffee production significantly in the next five years. This projected increase in production will be achieved by planting 16.5m new seedlings, rejuvenating 18.75m existing coffee trees, equipping mills with labs, and implementing robust systems for traceability and data collection.

Through these recent government initiatives and increased funding from the World Bank, Burundi’s coffee – described as “clean [and] elegant, with high levels of sweetness” in recent Cup of Excellence juries – is set to become more well-known and appreciated.

We are honored to be this year’s Portrait Country in Boston. The pleasure is therefore ours to welcome all of you to this year’s Specialty Coffee Expo to taste and discover “the undiscovered origin of coffee,” Burundi! We’re confident this year’s event will be the best one yet.

Burundi Portrait Country Welcome message 2019