We’re back to that time of year again where colors go from bright green to warm, various shades of red, orange, and brown. While the intensity of the colors between seasons may vary, there is certainly no lack of vibrancy. As we start to settle into the fall season, our menu also takes a slight turn to match the changing shades. We say goodbye to our punchy, berry forward natural coffee from Bali, Indonesia, and welcome a juicy, winey coffee that carries more subtle fruit flavors.
Fresh picked cherries on a raised drying bed. In Ngozi, naturally processed coffees can take up to 45-60 days to dry. Photo by JNP Coffee
Our latest natural coffee comes from the Bavyeyi Producer Group in the Ngozi province of Burundi. It’s a women owned producer group with 600 members. In Kirundi, the official language of Burundi, Bavyeyi translates to parents, and this producer group is named as a way to give honor to all the hardworking parents that use their labor in coffee to provide shelter and educational opportunities for their children. The Bavyeyi group works closely with JNP Coffee: an exporter and importer of coffee that focuses on women’s empowerment. JNP, alongside some local womens’ advocates, supported the Burundi chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, which now has over 2000 members.
JNP Coffee was founded by Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, and is one of the most influential individuals in Burundi coffee today. She was raised in Burundi and received her MBA from the Kellog School at Northwestern University. After working in corporate America, she founded Burundi Friends International, a not-for-profit funding educational and economic empowerment programs for rural Burundians. When women coffee farmers they were helping and working with asked if Burundi Friends International could also help with coffee that they were not able to sell, Jeanine soon realized that she could make an even bigger impact by working within the coffee industry and started JNP Coffee.
Some folks from the Bavyeyi Group. Photo by JNP Coffee
In Burundi, women still lack full property ownership rights or equal access to education. While they are often the ones who manage the farm and pick cherries, pay will typically go to the male head of household. However, JNP pays women directly, allowing them to become more active participants in their local economies. Typically, women reinvest 90 percent of their income back to their family and communities. In addition to paying higher prices for quality coffee, JNP provides producers with a second payment under their Dushime™ premium payment program. In Kirundi, Dushime translates to let’s be thankful.
Burundi produces a small amount of coffee in comparison to the top ten producing countries, and to Jeanine, every coffee should be considered specialty. Quality is a driving force, and we can taste it in the cup. This coffee from the Bavyeyi group has an elegant structure to it, with notes of red grape, black cherry, and earl grey. It makes a lively, brisk cup of coffee that can serve as an excellent pick me up in the late morning or early afternoon!
If you’d like to learn more about Jeanine and her amazing work, take a listen to Jeanine’s episode on Sprudge Podcast Seed To Cup.