Advertisement

Coffee sales on Alibaba to rise

Wednesday February 20 2019
coffee

Rwanda coffee traders who sell their coffee on Alibaba are upbeat about the proposed move by the government to open up a Rwanda pavilion on the e-commerce platform. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

By MOSES K. GAHIGI

Local coffee traders who sell their coffee on Alibaba are upbeat about the proposed move by the government to open a Rwanda pavilion on the e-commerce platform, where buyers can easily locate Rwandan products from one place.

This comes five months after the government and the e-commerce giant launched the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) with the aim of connecting local small and medium-sized enterprises to the 1.3 billion Chinese market.

The roll out was a success and coffee exporters started selling their coffee on Alibaba’s Tmall international marketplace, where Rwandan coffee is enjoying good sales.

“The National Agricultural Export Development Board told us they are planning to open the pavilion on Alibaba, which will be a big relief for small companies going forward. It is very expensive for a small company to pay for a store on Alibaba,” said Benjamin Nkurunziza, sales and marketing manager of Rwanda farmers coffee, the makers of gorilla coffee, one of the products sold on Alibaba.

Tmall Global, the division for foreign companies, requires that verified gold members provide a security deposit of up to $25,000 and pay annual seller fees totalling up to $10,000, and give Alibaba between two to five per cent commission on each sale, which retailers find prohibitive.

Thanks to the eWTP project — signed by President Paul Kagame and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma — Rwandan coffee sellers are not currently charged for selling on the platform.

Advertisement

The head of Special Economic Zones and Export Department at Rwanda Development Board Diane Sayinzoga said Rwandan coffee emerged as one of the most sought after products on the Tmall platform in November 2018.

Mr Nkurunziza said they last shipped products to China in December 2018 and that in that shipment they sent 2,000 small and big packages of small Gorilla coffee, which have all since been bought, and that the next shipment is due this month.

Other Rwandan coffee brands sold on Alibaba’s Tmall international platform include West Hills coffee and Land of a Thousand Hills.

Mr Nkurunziza said they are ready to increase their supply when orders increase.

The government is planning to expand the portfolio of products sold on Alibaba to include processed beef, crayfish and other horticulture goods like avocados, French beans and chilli pepper, which will be sold on a single pavilion.

The traders are also banking on RwandAir’s plans to launch flights to China for a cheaper transport option for their products.

Advertisement