OUR STORY

At the time, coffee was simply a piece of home. Nothing more. Or so she thought. As the years passed, she noticed something unusual. People were drawn to the coffee. Conversations about Uganda, its people, and its coffee became more frequent. What began as simple curiosity slowly became a question in her own mind: What makes this coffee so special? Then came 2020. Like many businesses around the world, Jacky’s transportation business faced significant challenges. The future felt uncertain, and for the first time in years, she found herself reflecting deeply on the next chapter of her life.

When the opportunity came to return to Uganda in 2021, she decided to follow that curiosity and learn more about the coffee she had shared for so many years. The journey changed everything.

Travelling through Uganda’s coffee-growing communities, she witnessed a side of coffee that rarely appears on a supermarket shelf or café menu. She met families whose lives depended on coffee. Families who used coffee income to pay school fees, cover hospital bills, and provide for their children. Families who worked tirelessly season after season to produce a crop enjoyed by millions around the world. Yet something did not make sense.

Uganda produces exceptional Arabica and Robusta coffee, yet many of the people responsible for struggle to build secure futures for their families

One question kept coming back to her:
How could one of the world’s most desired products create so little value for many of the people who grow it?
Searching for answers, Jacky decided to experience the journey herself. She invested what little she had into coffee farming and planted her first coffee garden. Two hundred trees. Only one hundred and sixty-three survived. For many people, it would have felt like failure. For Jacky, it became an education. Those trees taught lessons that no textbook could teach. They revealed the patience required to wait for a harvest, the uncertainty that farmers face every season, and the resilience needed to continue despite setbacks.

The more she learned, the more she waited to understand. So she travelled further From the slopes of Mount Elgon in Eastern Uganda, famous for its exceptional Arabica coffee, to the coffee-growing regions of Western Uganda where her own roots began, and through the renowned Robusta-producing areas of Central Uganda, she listened to farmers, traders, processors, exporters, and communities whose lives were connected by coffee.

Every conversation added another piece to the puzzle. Then, in 2024, she witnessed the first harvest from her surviving trees standing among them, she realized that coffee was never only about beans, markets, or trade. It was about people. It was about the dignity of farmers. It was about creating greater value closer to where coffee is grown. It was about building a bridge between the hands that produce coffee and the people who enjoy it. That realization became Rukundo Coffee.

Today, Rukundo Coffee operates between Uganda and South Africa as a proudly African, female-led company built on quality, sustainability, and a commitment to honoring the people behind every harvest.

The name Rukundo means “Love.” Because at its heart, this story is about love: love for community, love for agriculture, love for the people behind every cup, and love for Africa’s ability to tell its own story.

Every cup of Rukundo Coffee carries that journey—from the mountains of Uganda to coffee lovers around the world. A journey that began with curiosity, was shaped by discovery, and continues through every harvest. From Farm to Cup. From Uganda to the World.