Uganda is now Italy’s second-largest coffee supplier, behind Brazil, but overtaking Vietnam in August, for the first time.
Uganda’s coffee exports have increased to their highest level in three decades thanks to the espresso-loving country. Approximately a third of total shipments – which rose by 21% to 6.5 million 60kg bags in the year to end-September – were sent to Italy.
Uganda is Africa’s biggest coffee exporter and the continent’s second-largest coffee bean producer. The country is planting millions of new trees recently in an attempt to increase annual output to 20 million bags by 2030.
Since Brazil and Vietnam, two of the biggest coffee exporting countries, have had issues with shipping as well as supply chain problems, European buyers are becoming more flexible and looking elsewhere to increase their uptake, which included growers in Uganda.
Uganda has been a surprise over the past couple of years, it’s a successful case of production, expansion and promotion.
Head of agriculture commodities markets analysis at Rabobank in London Carlos Mera
Ugandan coffee has been capturing the attention of many big names recently – an example is Nestle’s announcement in 2020 to produce and market coffee from the Rwenzori mountainous region in Uganda. This growth is great for both the country and coffee farmers as Uganda climbs up the coffee ladder.
