About NBC

The Story of New Bukumbi Coffee

New Bukumbi Coffee Processors Limited is a locally owned limited liability company registered in Uganda. We are located in the foothills of the scenic mountain ranges of the Rwenzori’s at Kazingo Village in Bukuuku Sub-County of Kabarole district, 10km outside of Fort Portal where we own and operate a coffee processing facility.

From this facility we process and export organically grown Ugandan premium and specialty Arabicas. Our facility is currently the only coffee processing facility of its kind in an area covering the entire Kabarole, Bundibugyo, Bunyangabu and Ntoroko Districts which, collectively, cover more than 90 kilometers of the length of the mountain in Uganda. The Rwenzori Mountain ranges stretch 120 kilometers long and 65 kilometers wide between Lake Albert and Lake George and are renowned for producing good Arabica coffee which grows best at altitudes over 1,500 meters above sea level. When we commenced operations in this area in 2015, we did so with the primary objective of catering to the local coffee farming communities in the surrounding districts of Kabarole, Bunyangabu, Ntoroko and Bundibugyo through the provision of an opportunity for quality enhancement and value addition achieved through best agricultural practices. Our sustainable coffee model is premised on the four pillars of traceability, quality enhancement, productivity enhancement and financial accountability.

Quality & Traceability

New Bukumbi Coffee Processors Limited are processors of organically grown Ugandan premium and specialty Arabica’s produced in line with the sustainable coffee model.

Magic of the Mountain

Geography is known to have a major impact on the way that coffee tastes. One of the most distinct aspects of geography that affects a coffee’s quality and taste is elevation.

Higher elevations produce hard, dense beans that are more sought-after than beans grown at lower elevations. Hard beans, as they are sometimes called, are of a higher quality than soft beans, because they have a higher concentration of sugars, which produce more desired and nuanced flavours. Several factors contribute to the increased concentration of sugars in coffee grown at high elevations: harsh growing conditions slow the bean’s maturation process and provide time for complex sugars to develop.

Fast drainage down the mountain reduces the amount of water the coffee plants can soak up and how fat the cherries can become. Fewer plants survive at higher elevations, reducing the likelihood that disease will spread to coffee plants. Different heights produce for different flavours. Elevation doesn’t just have a generic positive effect on a coffee’s quality. Certain general flavours are associated with different elevations.

For instance, coffee grown around 3,000 feet (914 meters) will be sweet and smooth, coffee grown around 4,000 feet (~1,200 meters) may have citrus, vanilla, chocolate, or nutty notes whereas coffee grown above 5,000 feet (~1,500 meters) might be spicy, floral, or fruity.

The Rwenzori Mountain ranges portend the greatest potential for specialty coffee. When NBC commenced operations in this area it was with the intention of harnessing this tremendous potential by catering to the local farming communities in the areas surrounding our processing facility through the provision of an opportunity for quality enhancement and value addition achieved through sustainable agricultural methods. The NBC business model is designed to address some of the existing distortions that existed in the supply chain by creating better linkages and access for the farmer to the market.