Big Sam.

Last week Thursday we formed the Commercial Coffee Producers Association of Uganda. We have been Abel to do this with the technical assistance of @ITCnews & support of @UKinUganda. Membership is open to those who are in the coffee value chain for commercial purposes. Our dream is to make the most of Uganda’s coffee blessing. Our chairman is @DrIanClarke, large scale coffee farmer & exporter. @KBarigyeis his Vice, @BarbaraMugeni is our Treasurer & @MimiMutesa -Secretary. The rest are Board Members. There is a subscription fee for anyone eligible & wishes to join

Did you know you can start a coffee company with just Ugx 3M? #MyCoffeeJourney We started our company without any machinery. All I had was Ugx 8M, just contacts of coffee farmers, potential customers and Social Media. I visited @GKatabazi @volcanocoffee1 spoke to him about my idea, registered the company with @URSBHQ and that was it. It has been our home of roasting for the past 4years. It was a tough journey because each time we had a big order we had to have some delays on delivery due to the queue at the roastery. Nevertheless Gerald gave us all the support we needed. After one year without an office, we later moved from our sitting room to an office at @FraineSupermar1 Building Ntinda. Best and patient landlords. Business picked up, we became a big brand as you know but we made one mistake. In 2023 we thought it was time to expand to a cafe, with our savings close to Ugx 100M looked for a stand alone house. We renovated it, spent all the savings and when it was time to move in, the landlord notified us that he had mortgaged the house in 2020 and failed to pay the loan due to COVID impact so the Bank was taking the house. This was a blow because we had invested all our money. We basically went back to zero. I thought I would run mad but got down on my knees and prayed for strength, knowledge and favor. We felt like giving up but what would we do with our clients? We went back to our old address though it was taken so settled for cheaper space. We waited for the light at the end of the tunnel and that was when we applied for NSSF Grant. Early this year we won @nssfug Hi Innovator Women Accelerator Grant. The funds helped acquire a coffee roaster which has increased our production capacity. It arrived and we finished setting up, did our maiden roast. I’m here to inform all young people without machinery that now you can roast coffee, grind and pack from @JadaCoffee. I want to support all young coffee entrepreneurs because I know what it means to start. Learn from my mistakes and let’s grow this market. We found a new home, Plot 97, Muteesa II Rd, Ntinda. WhatsApp +256 770 779694. Thanks to the team at @JadaCoffee that never gave up. You’re forever our heroes. Thank you @nssfug for the support and believing in us. Without you, we would have taken another 3yrs to be where we are now. Thank you @GKatabazi & Hive Coffee. Thanks to our Landlord at Fraine Supermarket Building who was patient with us. Thanks to our dear 1500 customers that never gave up on us especially the big Companies that believed in a small start up from Day 1. @KiiraMotors, @UgandaBaati, @TotalEnergies @KarmodBeta, @GCICUganda @UCC_Official. To the young entrepreneur, don’t give up! Come let’s put your dream to life!