Uganda pitches branded coffee to Swiss buyers as exports hit record

ZURICH — Two Ugandan coffee companies sold their branded products directly to Swiss consumers at the 8th Swiss Coffee Festival, as Uganda made its first appearance at the event in a push to market roasted coffee under its own name.

The festival, held Oct. 31-Nov. 1, drew about 5,500 visitors and 78 exhibition stands, according to Uganda’s embassy in Switzerland. Organisers describe it as the country’s largest coffee trade fair.

The embassy secured exhibition space for Gorilla Conservation Coffee and Carico Coffee, which held tastings, met potential buyers and sold coffee on site.

“We are delighted to introduce more of Uganda’s exceptional coffee brands to Swiss consumers and look forward to building lasting partnerships with Swiss coffee traders, roasters and consumers,” Uganda’s ambassador to Switzerland, Marcel Tibaleka, said at the festival.

Tibaleka said Uganda is committed to strengthening its presence in the Swiss market.

The appearance comes as Uganda’s coffee exports hit record levels. The country shipped 8.8 million 60-kilogram bags worth $2.4 billion in the 12 months to March 2026, up from 6.9 million bags worth $1.8 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

Europe is Uganda’s biggest market, taking 58 percent of exports in February, with Italy the largest single buyer.

But nearly all of that coffee leaves the country unroasted. Uganda exports more than 98 percent of its coffee as green beans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That means Ugandan beans often end up in foreign blends with no mention of where they were grown. Ugandan officials have said Chinese consumers frequently drink Ugandan coffee without knowing its origin.

The government is trying to change that. In June, Uganda launched its first national coffee brand, “Uganda Coffee: It’s in Our Nature,” at the World of Coffee exhibition in Brussels.

The logo pairs coffee beans with the crested crane, Uganda’s national bird, in the colours of the national flag.

Officials also want more coffee processed at home. Government is encouraging investment in roasting, soluble coffee and processing while keeping existing green bean export channels open. It aims to produce more than 20 million bags a year by 2030.

At the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in March, Ugandan officials said the goal is to keep more value in the country through local roasting and Ugandan-owned brands, benefiting some 1.7 million households that depend on coffee.

Both companies in Zurich carry that kind of brand story.

Gorilla Conservation Coffee is run by Conservation Through Public Health, a nonprofit founded by Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. The company says it pays farmers near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park $0.50 per kilogram above the market price. Its blend is named after Kanyonyi, a former lead silverback of the park’s Mubare gorilla group.

Carico Coffee says it trades directly with about 1,700 smallholder farmers in eastern Uganda’s Mount Elgon region and has trained more than 500 in agroforestry.

Switzerland has been a focus of Uganda’s coffee diplomacy this year. A group of young Swiss coffee traders toured Uganda March 14-21 in a visit organised with the embassy and the Swiss Coffee Traders Association. Ugandan officials also held barista demonstrations at tourism fairs in Bern and Zurich earlier in the year.

The embassy said the Zurich festival supports its efforts to grow coffee exports, promote value addition and raise Uganda’s profile in the specialty coffee market.