The auction of 26 highest-scoring specialty coffee from Burundi in East Africa’s Great Lakes region has been rescheduled to 8 December. The decision was made in early November to allow ample time for prospective bidders to receive and roast samples of the 26 coffees on offer.
All net proceeds from the Grand Cru Burundi, a JNP Coffee auction will ensure more training and certifications for coffee farmers, more educational programs for young people starting their coffee careers, and the creation of post-processing solutions for clean water.
The auction is led by Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, who in 2012 founded JNP Coffee to empower coffee farmers in her homeland, Burundi, with a particular focus on women, who invest their earnings back into their communities. A certified Q grader and Q processor, Niyonzima-Aroian is one of the only Burundi natives to hold both certifications.
“When you empower women in places like Burundi, you are empowering the entire community. This auction has special significance for us because every purchase will support development initiatives for Burundi’s farmers,” says Niyonzima-Aroian.
“We have seen the transformative power of coffee and we are eager to do more.”
The high scores in the Grand Cru Burundi auction selections, ranging from 87.5 to 91.5, reflect JNP Coffee’s past investments in training farmers on best practices in growing, harvesting, and processing their cherries. JNP Coffee is known for its award-winning specialty coffees and its gender equity focus in Burundi. According to JNP Coffee, these scores demonstrate the economic potential of specialty coffee in the small country and the transformative impact it can have on the more than 10,000 coffee growers who work with JNP Coffee staff members at origin.
Burundi farmers also benefit from the industry’s first Dushime premium program, a second payment from JNP Coffee sourced from global sales of the prized specialty Bourbon coffee grown in Burundi’s high-altitude volcanic soil. Women farmers also access financial literacy education provided through JNP Coffee so they can invest productively in their communities.
To see full auction details and coffee lot descriptions, visit www.grandcruburundi.com.
