Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1545212
48 STiR coffee and tea | 2026 Quarter 2 Summer (Jun/July/Aug) E By Bhavi Patel East Africa's Coffee Renaissance ast Africa has long held a revered place in global cof- fee culture. Ethiopia, the birthplace of arabica, and Uganda, a cornerstone of robusta supply, are beginning to reshape how the world sources, values, and talks about cof- fee. Alongside Kenya, these origins are entering a new chapter defined not just by exceptional flavor but also by supply chain transparency, farmer economics, and climate resilience, and the world is finally paying closer attention. From Heritage to High Performance: How East African Coffee Built Its Reputation East African coffees have earned a global reputation built on cup quality. Ethiopia's floral, complex arabica profiles and Kenya's bright, citrus-forward character set early benchmarks for the specialty industry. As Joe Hage-Chahine, head of Af- rica at Sucafina, puts it: "Ethiopia has long been viewed as the birthplace of arabica coffee and a global benchmark for quality, known for its floral, complex, and often tea-like profiles." Uganda's story, however, has been more complicated. De- spite being one of Africa's largest coffee producers — exporting a record 8.2 million 60-kilogram bags in the most recent financial year and earning a historic $2.3 billion (Uganda's Ministry of Ag- riculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries) — it was long associated with volume over value. In an interview with STiR Coffee and Tea, Kenneth Barigye, managing director of Mountain Harvest, explains that this was never fundamentally a quality problem: "Experience from com- panies working closely with farmers on the ground is beginning to reshape that narrative. Ugandan coffee can consistently reach specialty-grade performance, with average cup scores of 84.75 and top lots reaching as high as 92 points." Manisha Mathai, associate at Scaled Impact, whose research focused on Kenya and Uganda, adds nuance: "East African cof- fees have usually been seen as distinctive, high-quality origins with strong cup character. The broader regional picture is one of strong quality reputation, but branding and market positioning remain uneven across countries." East African coffee has long been known for exceptional quality — now, improvements in processing and infrastructure are finally driving higher production volumes as well. Photo credit: Mountain Harvest Growing investment in quality control and assessment allows for repeatable quality at a larger scale. Photo credit: Mountain Harvest