GLOBAL STAGE: Uganda Unveils Historic National Brand at World of Coffee Brussels

BRUSSELS, Belgium — In a major move to transform from a raw bulk supplier into a certified premium global origin, Uganda has officially launched its first-ever unified national coffee brand at the World of Coffee expo in Brussels.

The high-stakes strategic rollout aims to permanently elevate Africa’s leading volume exporter into Europe’s highly lucrative specialty coffee markets.

The landmark identity, “Uganda Coffee: It’s in Our Nature,” was unveiled on Thursday at the opening of the three-day international showcase at the Brussels Expo, running from 25 to 27 June 2026. Uganda secured maximum global visibility at the event by serving as the Specialty Coffee Association’s (SCA) prestigious official Portrait Country.

Heavyweight Delegation Storms Belgium

Demonstrating the absolute national priority placed on the sector’s growth, a powerful team of senior Ugandan government administrative and financial architects led the charge on the ground.

The launch was spearheaded by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Desire Muhooza, who delivered the opening address detailing the country’s aggressive value-addition directives.

Crucial backroom support and diplomatic coordination were anchored by Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), alongside Major General David Kasura Kyomukama, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

Signaling the state’s deep financial commitment to global trade infrastructure, the delegation crucially included Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Secretary to the Treasury.

On the commercial front, Ambassador Richard Kabonero, MoFA’s Head of Economic and Commercial Diplomacy (ECD), actively drove enterprise-level networking, emphasizing that the mission serves a dual purpose of expanding trade volumes while cementing international partnerships.

Bilateral host operations were managed by Ambassador Mirjam Blaak Sow, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to Belgium and the European Union, whose team coordinated the direct engagements at Booth 7504, supported by technical specialists from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and senior policy expert Margret Kafeero, MoFA’s Head of Public Diplomacy.

Strategic Multi-National Deals Struck on Sidelines

The immediate commercial relevance of the brand launch was made clear through a series of high-level sideline partnership meetings with executives from the global coffee conglomerate SUCAFINA.

The discussions, led directly by SUCAFINA CEO Nicolas Tamari, focused on scaling direct investment into Uganda’s domestic processing value chain. SUCAFINA is the parent multinational of UGACOF, one of Uganda’s most established coffee processing and export entities operating out of Bweyogerere.

Mr. Tamari, joined by Cory Bush, the CEO of Beyers Coffee Roastery, discussed extensive scalable opportunities within Uganda’s green bean sector and hosted the high-powered government delegation on an exclusive tour of their state-of-the-art industrial roasting facility in Brussels. To cement these commercial prospects, SUCAFINA hosted an exclusive tasting and cupping session, allowing international buyers to sample fine Ugandan Robusta and high-altitude Arabica specialty lots.

Capitalising on Boom as Deforestation Rules Loom

The aggressive marketing push comes during an unprecedented economic boom for the sector. According to official data, Uganda exported a staggering 8.78 million 60kg bags of coffee worth $2.38 billion (approximately Shs8.81 trillion) in the 12 months leading up to April 2026—a massive 23 percent surge in value earnings year-on-year.

With Europe consuming more than half of Uganda’s entire production, Minister Muhooza explicitly noted that the country has invested over Shs35 billion in comprehensive national traceability systems to ensure full compliance with the strict new European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The newly minted national identity balances modern trade compliance with deep-rooted culture. The visual identity incorporates the iconic Crested Crane and national colors, while the slogan draws inspiration from traditional Ugandan customs where coffee beans have historically symbolized trust, friendship, and family pacts.

By anchoring this unified launch at Europe’s premier specialty event—featuring lively cultural processions and live cupping led by award-winning baristas—the government is making a calculated play to insulate over 1.7 million smallholder farming families from volatile global commodity price shocks, ensuring direct and highly traceable trade pipelines into the future.