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Matt

Male

Kigali

Rwanda

Profile Information:

What is your position in the coffee industry?: barista, barista trainer, coffee enthusiast, industry professional, consultant
Where are you located? ( City and Country ): Kigali, Rwanda
How many years have you been in the industry?: 9
If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?: yes
About Me:: most recent update, working as a volunteer consultant to TechnoServe on the East Africa Coffee Initiative. I will be here for at least 6 months helping to develop a training program designed to help farmers looking to improve the quality of their coffee.

The project is working in Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia and aims to reach 180,000 farmers. As part of the quality platform, our goal is to make cupping labs available, and accessible to those farmers.
About My Company:: TechnoServe helps entrepreneurial men and women in the developing world to build businesses that provide jobs, income and economic opportunity. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or expand more than 2,000 businesses, benefiting millions of people in more than 30 countries. TechnoServe has been recognized as one of the world's "Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs" by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2007, Charity Navigator also once again awarded its highest Four Star ranking to TechnoServe.

TechnoServe employs a bottom-up process that brings business advisors together with small-scale farmers earning less than $2 a day whose farms enjoy the unique agroclimatic conditions to produce coffee sought out by the world’s most discerning buyers.

“Producing gourmet wine requires the right soil, rainfall and altitude. The same is true for coffee,” says Browning.

TechnoServe has 40 years of experience working with small-scale coffee farmers. Over the past 10 years they have helped thousands of coffee farmers in Africa and Latin America to increase their incomes by improving the quality of their coffee.

TechnoServe provides the technical and business expertise farmers are looking for, and the farmers invest their own funds to upgrade quality and build a strong, reliable business that satisfies customer expectations. This has enabled farmer groups to sell directly to some of the world’s most demanding coffee buyers, and offers the potential for small-scale farmers to double their annual coffee income.
What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?: the coffee, the community and the commitment to each other!
Website:: http://thejavajedi.blogspot.com

Comment Wall:

Coffee Kids

Thanks for adding Coffee Kids Matt!

Saludos!

Mar 31, 2008
Tina Muia

nice to meet you this weekend. glad you are doing well at peets and congrats on your new digs.

Mar 31, 2008
5.0 Reasons

thanks boss!

Apr 1, 2008
Mike Strumpf

howdy howdy. it was great to meet you, too bad we didn't get to judge together.

May 4, 2008
darleen scherer

thanks, matt. you, too. we'll have to swap hoodies next time we meet up.

May 6, 2008
Heath Henley

hey man! hope you made it back safe. I'm dreaming of a CA coffee trip... who knows when that'll happen, but if it does I'll have to swing down your way.

May 6, 2008
5.0 Reasons

I made 'em...I got a few left. Shoot me an email. baca@ritualroasters.com

May 9, 2008
Tina Muia

So Matt if I think I am going to be in Berkeley in July, can I get a tour?

Jun 14, 2008
Steve MacDowall

hello Matt, greetings from the east coast of Canada

Dec 7, 2008
Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting

Good to hear from you. I did never make it up to see you. I am busy and may go on a trip to Guatemala in Feb. Still Roasting and am training a new guy to help out. It sounds like you may be moving on, well keep in touch and Maybe I will see you at the SCAA.

Dec 11, 2008
scott conary

thanks Matt...it was definitely intense, even with past WBC experience...its important though, and will no doubt get fine tuned over time....

Dec 14, 2008
Heath Henley

Yo! Well, I'm not sure about the USBC... I'd like to go, but since it is separate from conference this year it's going to be a little more difficult. I will, however, be at the mid-west and south-east regional. What's up with the job?

Dec 17, 2008
Arthur Karuletwa

Hello Matt,
That is Great news! You are going to the right place and right company. Those guys are moving mountains and valleys with the work they are doing and the team they have built. If I was not doing what I am doing, I would be working with them!
I am currently in Boston but probably be in Rwanda mid January. When do you leave? We can chat anytime bud!

Jan 1, 2009
Arthur Karuletwa

Looking forward to seeing you there...I am in Boston building a store. (coffee store.; Bourbon Coffee) in the Cambridge area.
Are you based in California?
You still at PEETS?

Jan 2, 2009
Arthur Karuletwa

Nice...Well, let me know if there is anything I can do to assist you with your move.
Was wondering about Peet's as I am working on a whole lot of green to get into good hands.
Will surely be in touch.

Jan 2, 2009
Miguel Zamora

Hi Matt, searching for info on kigali in the bx I noticed that you plan to attend eafca and provide a cupping training. is this open to the public or part of your job supporting producers?

i plan to attend eafca and i an super excited about it. if your training is open to the attendees, i would love to learn more about it.

cheers

Jan 9, 2009
Miguel Zamora

oak-town, yeah. thanks for the invitation!

i used to work with hillary mw (she is one of the heads of tns in tanzania), i'm not sure if you have met her yet but you probably will at some point when you get to africa (smart lady).

it is my first time in africa in general and i am super excited. i am going with other 2 bay areans. my other 2 colleagues will go to tanzania before rwanda.

i can be reached at mzamora@transfairusa.org
c u soon

Jan 9, 2009
Miguel Zamora

I am arriving on the 8th/9th, right before the conference. see you there, maybe we'll have a coffee at Cafe Bourbon...

Jan 26, 2009