Rwanda Gitesi

We try not to keep coffee on the shelves for long, so if we don't have a particular coffee in stock, we have to replenish the order after the roasting day. We roast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, pack the coffee and send it out on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Gitesi is a privately owned washing station located in Karongi district in western Rwanda, run by father and son duo Alexis and Aime Gahizi. The station was built in 2005 and production started a year later. The beginnings were difficult - a lack of financial support, competition and operational challenges almost led to the closure of the project. Thanks to the Gahizis' determination and consistency, profitability was achieved in 2010 and Gitesi has evolved into a stable and respected coffee processing outlet.

The Gahizi family has been growing coffee in the region for generations, and Alexis' experience in agriculture is combined with his son's modern approach. Aime, an engineer by training, designed his own system to purify the water used during the processing operations. He has made the Gitesi station a model in sustainable water management, and the solutions developed are being copied in other stations across the country.

The station works with more than 1,800 small farmers in the region, who have complete freedom to choose where to sell their coffee cherries. Gitesi maintains competitive prices and good communication with the local community, which allows it to attract stable volumes of fruit during the harvest season.

To ensure quality at every stage, strict procedures for receiving the fruit have been implemented. Farmers are required to sort the cherries before delivering them to the station - if they fail to do so, Gitesi staff take over the task. Before pulping, the cherries go into a water tank where the floaters - lower quality fruit - are separated and then processed separately.