East African Business Week (Kampala)
13 December 2008
Bujumbura — The world's leading retailer and roaster of specialty coffee, Starbucks, has included coffee from Burundi's northern province of Kayanza to be sold in its stores in the USA.
"This is a testament to Burundians' hard work in bringing peace to their country and Starbucks' commitment to African development," said Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of The Whitaker Group (TWG).
Whitaker Group was responsible for facilitating a Starbucks team to Burundi alongside the Burundi embassy officials in the USA in 2007.
She called the promotion a "peace dividend" for Burundi, emphasizing the benefits to the country's economy.
"Working with Starbucks will create more jobs, boost the coffee industry and bring about the kind of growth that helps raise living standards for everyone," she said in a statement from her group.
Coffee is one of Burundi's most important products, with 90% of foreign exchange coming from coffee and tea exports.
About 800,000 farmers work in coffee production, making up more than a quarter of the labour force.
Burundi's ambassador to the US, Celestin Niyongabo said: "We are pleased about the opportunities that Starbucks' investment brings to Burundi's economy and its people including improved access to health, education and job training."
Starbucks' promotion is expected to help raise Burundi's profile in global specialty coffee markets. Whitaker said this partnership is the latest example of a surge of positive US company engagement in Africa.
Starbucks is quickly becoming a major specialty coffee buyer in Africa and is the largest purveyor of Fair Trade coffee in the United States. The company has built a farmer support centre in Rwanda, Burundi's northern neighbour, to serve farmers across the region. The company has also invested millions of dollars in community development projects in coffee-origin countries in Africa and around the world, including providing support for CARE to deliver clean water and sanitation to displaced populations in Burundi since 1996.
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