Rwanda Ijabo 'Youth Project' Bundle

Our relationship with export partner Tropic Coffee is one of our most treasured here at North Star, a partnership that has allowed us to bring our second origin project to light, which has now been 5 years in the making. We were delighted to sponsor the preparation of 8 hectares of land back in 2021 which was planted with 20,000 coffee trees. These trees have been distributed amongst 20 young people from the local area, with each receiving harvesting assistance, organic compost and agronomy training in an effort to establish opportunities for them in their hometown – removing the need to migrate to urban areas in search of what are thought to be opportunities that will offer a more certain and viable future than coffee. We aim to change that by developing a relationship with these young producers based on principles of trust, respect, profitability and a desire to restructure traditional buying mechanisms in favour of building an industry that works for everyone.

Fast forward to today and we're absolutely delighted to have received 3 fantastic lots from the Ijabo (ee jah bow) producer group's second harvest! This year, the group have tripled their output and produced a whopping 67 bags of exportable green coffee. Having the relationship we do with Chris and Divine of Tropic and Ijabo has allowed us to have some involvement in how this beautiful coffee is processed and we’re now able to offer high quality washed, natural and honey lots to you all. Our overall allocation from Tropic is now up at 110 bags (6,600KG) and Ijabo lots make up 61% of that number. This takes our Rwanda purchases up to an impactful 1/3 of a shipping container which is a real milestone considering we were only at around 15-20 bags when we first started working with Tropic. And what’s even more epic is that we’ve been able to shift the majority of our Rwandan purchases over from the Cyato to the more impactful Youth Project Coffee. Ijabo have already made huge strides in these two years and we can’t wait to see what the future holds!

We had the pleasure of visiting the Youth Project coffee fields, which are situated next to Chris' farm 'Muremure' back in May 2023. We got the incredible opportunity to meet all 20 of the amazing young producers during the trip, where we got to join in with the harvest and visit Cyato - the washing station where their beautiful coffee is expertly processed. We have been purchasing coffee from Cyato and Tropic since 2018 and continue to be blown away by the consistency and quality of their coffee. The bulk of the cherry processed by Cyato is collected by farmers of the Abadatezuka cooperative situated around the infamous Nyungwe forest – well known for outstanding coffee production not only because of its rich fertile soil, but also due to the large population of bees in the area which leave unique microorganisms during pollination creating a distinct flavour profile. The appreciation of the importance of bees in this area means there is no use of synthetic fertilisers or pesticides and farmers are actively educated on how to preserve the presence of pollinators utilising organic techniques.
 
We are beyond excited to share all three Ijabo lots with you alongside the very best Cyato have to offer this year. Four truly outstanding coffees that may be the same varietal but all taste different in their own delicious way. Each lot has been harvested from the surrounding hills of CWS and processed in alternate ways to really showcase the impact processing can have on developing unique and interesting flavour profiles.

Once you have placed your order, you will receive an email to confirm it is being processed and then another one to let you know when it has been dispatched.

If you place your order before 12pm, we'll dispatch it the same working day! All orders are shipped with DPD next working day delivery as standard. Fully tracked delivery, with a one hour delivery window and real time delivery updates.

DPD offers the ability to change delivery address and date, opt for delivery to a neighbour or safe place, or redirect to a DPD Pickup shop, all while it's on the way to you! DPD aim to be the UK's most sustainable delivery company.

Operating times are 9am-5pm Mon-Friday. Orders placed after 12pm on Friday will not be processed until 9am Monday morning.

Local pickups take place from the Roastery on Tong Road. Please note our shutter doors will be down for security and temperature reasons but we are always in Monday-Friday between 9 and 5pm – just ring the doorbell on arrival

If you order 1-2 x 250g bags of coffee, they will be sent in a letterbox friendly package so that you do not need to be in to take receipt of your coffee.

Our 250g bags are 100% home compostable including the valve, seal and sticker! They will degrade in 6 months in a well managed home compost.

Our 1kg bags are currently in LDPE plastic - some councils will recycle this for you, if you are unsure simply take it to your local supermarket with your other plastic packaging.