Virunga Espresso

Mike Mwenedata and Nick Mazuroski co founded Rwanda Bean Company in 2013 in Portland, Maine, with a model built entirely around single origin Rwandan coffee and the welfare of the farmers who grow it. The company sources Red Bourbon Arabica beans directly from the Rwandan Coffee Farmers Cooperative, paying twice the farm gate price for every cherry purchased. Fifty percent of profits go back to farming communities, funding healthcare, education, and infrastructure, including annual healthcare coverage for roughly 1,200 Rwandan farmers. Mwenedata, who came to Maine from Rwanda, won first place at Maine Startup & Create Week in 2014 and later received the Maine Governor's Welcome Home Award in recognition of the company's impact. The beans are picked, dried, and sorted by hand in Rwanda before being roasted in small batches in Maine. It is a roastery where the supply chain is not just transparent but deeply personal.