Gilbert Gatali is an entrepreneur in specialty coffee, renown internationally for his sustainable work in coffee exports from Rwanda. He owns coffee shops in the capital Kigali and has recently bought a washing station where he just produced his first coffee: Intango. He is on the board of directors of the Africa Fine Coffee Association and won the Most Notable Producer Sprudgee award in 2012. With his accomplishments and incredible knowledge base, we obviously could not resist working with his own production.
The value chain
The infographic below shows what the monetary value chain with this producer roughly looks like. This changes slightly per year based on volume and quality but is usually reliable over the years.
Key achievements
2018
First production of their own washed coffee.
2019
First natural produced.
The microlots
Intango started with a regular washed coffee, but in their second producing year they also did a natural processing. We decided to take on both as the differences are quite interesting.
The story
Intango (pronounced “Inango”) is a small washing station on the edge of Lake Kivu. On a clear day, you can actually see Idjwi Island in the lake on which our Ngula coffee is made. Once part of a cooperative that won the 2014 Rwanda Cup of Excellence, it became run down as the cooperative dissolved. However, in 2018, Gilbert Gatali and his best friend Gervais decided to fulfill their dreams by taking over Intango and running their own specialty coffee washing station.
The washing station works with only 400 supplying farmers, but this gives Gilbert the oversight to make lasting impact for all of them. ‘Intango’ itself is Kinyarwanda for “beginning”: Gilbert’s intention was to create a communal starting point for farmers, staff and community to come together, grow and change their lives positively. Gilbert invests in both quality and environmental sustainability (organic fertilization and shade trees), with a special role for women in managerial positions.