Published 05 February 2019 • Inter IKEA newsroom

Growing opportunities for Uganda's coffee farmers

IKEA is happy to announce that 5000 more coffee farmers are engaged in the social business initiative in the White Nile region in Uganda: an increase of over 60%. Today almost 13,000 coffee farmers supply the Arabica coffee beans for the IKEA PÅTÅR single-origin White Nile coffee. In autumn 2017, when IKEA started the engagement, about 8,000 farmers participated in the project.

A little more than a year ago, IKEA introduced a special edition coffee: PÅTÅR single-origin and 100% Arabica coffee from the White Nile region in Uganda.

Despite being the biggest coffee exporting country in Africa, the Ugandan coffee industry is primarily made up of a vast number of smallholder farmers that often face harsh business realities. It is not easy to run a profitable farm with small resources. Through the PÅTÅR single-origin coffee IKEA supports a local social business project working closely together with coffee farmers and communities to improve farm and financial management, coffee sourcing practices, and therefore family livings on the long run.

IKEA is the first global retailer to make a single-origin coffee from the White Nile region broadly available. By committing long-term to single origin Arabica coffee from this specific region in Uganda, IKEA supports the initiative’s efforts working closely with local coffee farmers. Together with the IKEA supplier for this special edition coffee and through the global network of IKEA stores, high-quality coffee from the White Nile region can reach the 680 million customers that enjoy the IKEA food offer globally every year.

“When I visited the local team in Uganda, I learned that it’s a great motivation for them to know that their beans are now being sold at IKEA globally. Our commitment contributes to coffee farmers being able to earn a stable income and have access to the global market, which in turn opens up new opportunities for their families and communities. It’s a win-win project. I am proud that we can offer our customers this special, high-quality and really tasty brew from the White Nile region,” says Azaliah Mapombere, social impact specialist at IKEA Food Services AB.

Driven by the IKEA vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people IKEA has been partnering with social entrepreneurs that focus on vulnerable communities and minority groups for the past six years. IKEA currently has partnerships with social entrepreneurs in 26 countries, from India, Thailand, Romania and Jordan, to Sweden and USA. Through these partnerships IKEA is today contributing to economic empowerment of more than 15.600 people, improving the livelihood for them and their families, over 60.000 people impacted.