On a mission to get more Ugandans to drink coffee

Gerald Katabazi of Volcano Coffee Traders shows how a good cup of coffee is made. Photo by Edgar R. Batte.

What you need to know:

Though familiar with coffee, he hardly knew the consumer side. But with his first job at a cafe and later going into the business, Katabazi now knows the value of the crop.

Gerald Katabazi is a social entrepreneur, passionate about coffee, its farmers and bettering their livelihoods. Having been raised in a coffee-growing family, he was naturally drawn to knowing more about the crop and earning from it.

Katabazi owns Volcano Coffee Traders, under which he runs a coffee shop, deals with farmers in different parts of the country and manages a coffee-roasting plant.

But before going into the business, he was an employee at Café Pap, a coffee shop in Kampala. He was one of the pioneer employees when it opened shop in 2004, and this is also where he first tasted brewed coffee.

“We tasted the coffee before we served it to our customers. It was the first time I tasted good coffee,” Katabazi recalls.

A lot of value
At Café Pap he began as a barista, someone trained in the making and serving of coffee drinks. His first salary was Shs100,000 and his eyes were not on the money but on the bigger picture of running his own company.

“I do not regret because the owner, Jolly Ngabirano, treated her employees as one family. She invested heavily in us on capacity building,” he says.

He was able to learn more about coffee, guest relations and product management.

“I only got my coffee experience through on-job trainings and heavily investing in research,” he adds.

Coffee is regarded as an ordinary cash crop, so few people pick interest in it. He felt this had to change, so when he rose through the ranks he began showing customers that frequented the café that it was beyond just beans.

Katabazi was determined to show that there is a lot of value that can be added to it. Now, as a businessman, he speaks passionately about coffee. “Every coin to me is heavily valued. I respect each coin I earn in my daily coffee activities,” he says.

The first serious payment as an entrepreneur was a contract to supply UN mission in Southern Sudan, based in Juba, which earned him $10,000 (about Shs25m).

“I used part of it to acquire a coffee-roasting machine, which I put up on my land in Bweyogere,” he says.

Today, his travels are between his coffee shop at Garden City in Kampala and Bweyogerere. Many times, he will be travelling upcountry to maintain contact with farmers that supply his businesses.

Steps to good coffee
He actively plays his role in running the place as the coffee goes through a number of stages.

“Coffee goes through many diagnostic stages in order to have the best quality,” as Katabazi remarks.

“After picking red cherries, we either ferment, wash it or sun dry it. Thereafter, we get what we call clean parchment or clean coffee. After this process, we pack and take the coffee for green processing. We then grade, sort and roast it.”

He makes sure he goes out to the villages where farmers grow this coffee. His only worry is that Ugandans do not drink coffee in amounts they ought to drink it.

Benefits
The 30-year-old is happy that the number of people drinking coffee is rising.

He observes: “As players, we urgently need to do a lot. Research shows that though coffee shops are open, many consumers opt for non-coffee beverages. I do not blame the consumers in this case. The blame is shifted to the poor brewing methods that some coffee shops apply.”

At Volcano, he has engaged what he describes as the crop-to-cup methodology, of educating consumers about the product and the benefits of taking coffee.

As an entrepreneur, his daily earning average range from Shs300,000 to Shs400,000. He runs retail shops in different parts of the country and he pays rent of between Shs200,000 and Shs1m.

But he has also made some losses.

“It was last year around March 2012, when I made a loss of a half tonne of roasted coffee beans to a Sudanese client. That deal opened my eyes more and gave me a good lesson especially on overseas trade. It was a real turning point in my life.”

After the loss, he picked the few bags left in the store and started afresh. “Of course as an entrepreneur, you need to always have two plans. In case, one fails then you have a way out,” he states.

Slowly, the business was able to stabilise again and today he handles purchases of sorted coffee that earn him between Shs6m to Shs10m on the stock, a move that has helped him capture the domestic market as most players prefer specialty blends.

Best methods
“At Volcano Coffee, we spend time diagnosing the bean to produce the best gourmet coffees, which is good for consumers and attracts better prices,” he says.

He deals in Arabica and Robusta, and lately, bourbon coffee. While chasing profits remains the main focus, he aims to get more Ugandans to enjoy coffee.

“Together with my partners, we are shifting to a new strategy of every individual on the value chain. We need to drive the sector as an agribusiness not more as developing sector,” Katabazi points out.

“We are promoting the best brewing methods through hotels, restaurants, cafes, universities and canteens, changing tactics in brand promotion campaigns using traceability approaches.”