Robert Kabushenga: Back To The Grind

2026-02-22 - 21:56

I am back from the world market. Back to the grind of production. But first one more time about the lessons from where the money is. On the morning of my final day in Madrid, I went to a nearby El Corte Ingles mall to pick up some Nespresso pods. It sits at the higher end of the processed instant ready to drink coffees. To distinguish their brand, Nespresso has moved away from the mass consumer shelving of supermarkets. They have their own boutique outlets. It allows them to control the consumer experience, end to end. This is how they connect, relate to & grow their market rather than outsource this to outlets or produce, deliver & hope for the best. You have to define the market & engineer backwards. This is the simple reality of the coffee consumer market. Not wishful thinking, not political bombast. After I paid for my pods, the ladies at the till offered me a taste of their special from Peru. It was not any different from our fermented Rugyeyo robusta. They have all these different special origin flavors, none of which is Ugandan. Yet our neighbors are all over their catalogue. Nonetheless, I left with a sense of self confidence that our craft is producing coffee whose final taste can compete on this level. What we need to do is be consistent & get to the market. Which is why it is great that I am back to the grind. It is here that I need to put in the work at the farm, where I control the variables. My colleagues who have been at this market interaction much longer had made this point so clearly. Focus on crafting the coffee bean and then let the market know what you have. The buyers will come. Now I am clear. The timing couldn’t be better. I have stumped most of my trees for better production. Now is the time for stem selection. In addition, I have some interesting market openings. The opportunity is there. Time to do the work An interesting one is the auxiliary element of hospitality. Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see it differently. This is where my friends @ChristelleUwacu & her husband Ralph come in. Next is to set up this part of the business potential. Out of collaboration we create new outcomes. Let us we where two new collaborations will take us. It looks promising. Who knows? One day Rugyeyo flavor will be served as a special coffee experience