A public origin/trade registry.

Every documented origin trail for Congolese coffee: region → producer → exporter → destination.

DR Congo grows specialty coffee on the same volcanic soil and altitude as Rwanda and Burundi. Almost nobody outside the trade can name a growing region, cooperative, or exporter that touches it. This registry files origin trails: region, producer, exporter, destination. Cafés and chains sit at the bottom, as proof of demand.

Every name, number, and route below links to a public source in the footnotes. Where a hop isn't publicly documented — an exporter, a destination, a GPS coordinate — we say so: to verify. We don't guess. Nothing here is invented.

The registry — unit of record: one origin trail per row

Region → producer → exporter → destination

Each row below is a documented origin trail: a named growing region, a named cooperative or washing station, the exporter or trader that moved it (when documented), and the destination or buyer (when documented). Where a hop isn't publicly sourced, the cell says so instead of guessing. Underlined names open a dedicated origin page with the full trail, flagged discrepancies, and sources.

Schema note: this registry is built to grow into plot-level geolocation and an EUDR-style lot file (polygon, GPS pin, producer consent record) as cooperatives and exporters choose to submit it. That field exists in our data model today but is always empty — we do not estimate or invent farm coordinates. Any future geolocation will be opt-in and consent-based.

South KivuSOPACDI›

Certifications: Fairtrade (FLO) · Organic · SPP · UTZ
Exporter / trader: Twin (early buyer, now part of Sustainable Harvest); Oxfam Fair Trade (Belgium, buyer since 2010)
Documented destination: Equal Exchange — Congo Coffee Project (USA)
Sources: 4 5 6 7 39 40

South KivuMuungano Cooperative›

Exporter / trader: Twin (early buyer, now part of Sustainable Harvest); Oxfam Fair Trade (Belgium, partner since 2011); Atlas Coffee Importers (USA)
Documented destination: Kaldi's Coffee (St. Louis, decade-long partner); also retailed by Clive Coffee (Portland) and Higher Grounds Trading Co. (Traverse City, MI, still on shelf, partnership since 2013); publicly sold by Oxfam Fair Trade (Belgium, Organic Congo SKU) and, as a limited release, Pact Coffee (UK, Best of Congo)
Sources: 8 9 45 47 46 59 63 71

South KivuCAEKD (Rugori washing station)›

Exporter / trader: Coffeelac (processor/exporter); Sucafina (international trader)
Documented destination: not publicly documented
Sources: 14

South KivuCAPACAD›

Exporter / trader: Sucafina (international trader)
Documented destination: not publicly documented
Sources: 15

South KivuCOACHA (Cooperative Agricole de Chanyi)›

Exporter / trader: Sucafina (international trader)
Documented destination: not publicly documented
Sources: 16

North KivuVirunga Coffee Company (7 washing stations, North & South Kivu)›

Exporter / trader: Olam Specialty Coffee Europe (operator); Covoya Coffee (Olam's US wholesale desk)
Documented destination: Olam Americas Inc./LLC — US importer-of-record, confirmed by US customs bill-of-lading records (wholesale import; not itself a named public retail/consumer destination); publicly retailed via Quantum Coffee Roasters (UK, Kahondo CWS lot, backordered) and Burman Coffee Traders (US, Kahondo natural lot)
Sources: 19 20 21 67 73

North KivuKawa Kabuya Cooperative›

Exporter / trader: not publicly documented
Documented destination: Colruyt Group (Belgium) — historical: a three-year supply deal signed March 2017 with Rikolto (Vredeseilanden) brokering the partnership, guaranteeing about 20% of the cooperative's output on Colruyt Best Prices and OKay shelves (later also Spar); not confirmed as still active. Ally Coffee (US) — a dated 2018-harvest lot, listed sold out on the importer's own page. The underlying case-study source also describes broader, unnamed European and US buyers with no single buyer named.
Sources: 10 11 12 81 82

South KivuRebuild Women's Hope (Idjwi Island)›

Exporter / trader: Coffeelac (loan financed the Hala washing station, 2017); Falcon Coffees (Coffeelac is Falcon's DRC export partner)
Documented destination: Lake Kivu Coffee Alliance relationship with Higher Grounds Trading Co. (Traverse City, MI, USA) and the Polus Center — documented from 2018, not confirmed as Higher Grounds' current exclusive retail destination (Higher Grounds' still-on-shelf lot is publicly documented as Muungano-origin instead); publicly sold today via Oxfam Fair Trade (Belgium, Women's Hope SKU) and blended into Volcano Coffee Works (UK, Rise Up Blend — not 100% DRC)
Sources: 43 44 51 52 53 59 64 65 66

South KivuUnnamed South Kivu smallholder cooperatives (~4,500 farmers, per source)›

Exporter / trader: Falcon Coffees
Documented destination: Starbucks Reserve — historical only: a one-time 2016 US & Canada release, not repeated since
Sources: 36 26 35 37

South KivuAMKA (Amka Mlimaji Wa Kahawa)›

Certifications: Fairtrade (since early 2016)
Exporter / trader: not publicly documented
Documented destination: Nespresso — Reviving Origins "Kahawa ya Congo" (availability varies by Nespresso market and season; documented example: Nespresso Sweden)
Sources: 38 48 49 50

Explore on a map

Growing regions, trade routes, and destination markets

The same registry, laid out spatially. Tap a layer to see who's involved at each stage — grown, traded, sold.

Layer 1 of 3 · Where it's grown

Pins mark places already named in the sourced copy below — town, region, or country level, from public map data. No farm-level GPS is shown or invented. Tap a pin for sources; the same information is always in the list beside it.

Where in DR Congo does this coffee actually come from?

Congolese specialty Arabica grows almost entirely in three eastern provinces — North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri — on volcanic soil at altitudes that rival Rwanda and Burundi next door. Robusta, the country's larger-volume crop, is grown more widely but is far less documented at the cooperative level, so this layer focuses on the traceable Arabica cooperatives.

Altitude ranges vary between sources. There is no single survey. We show the commonly cited range.

SOPACDI
Cooperative
Founded 2003. ~11,600–12,000 farmer-members around Minova/Kalehe, South Kivu. The country's first Fairtrade + Organic certified coffee cooperative. 4 5 6 7
Muungano Cooperativeapprox. location
Cooperative
Founded 2009. ~4,400 smallholder farmers (about half women) along Lake Kivu's western shore, south of Goma, South Kivu. 8 9
Kawa Kabuya Cooperative
Cooperative
Founded ~2014 (sources differ slightly on the year). ~2,500 members near Butembo, North Kivu, on Lake Edward by Virunga National Park. 10 11 12
CAEKDapprox. location
Cooperative
Cooperative des Agriculteurs et Eleveurs de Kalehe pour le Développement Durable. 150+ members; Rugori CWS washing station in Buchiro, Kalehe territory, South Kivu (per Sucafina's own location field), ~1,800–2,000 m. 14
CAPACADapprox. location
Cooperative
Cooperative Agricole pour la Promotion des actions Café de Development. Founded 2019 by 66 farmers in Kalehe; now 560+ members, ~40% women. South Kivu, ~1,717 m. 15
COACHAapprox. location
Cooperative
Cooperative Agricole de Chanyi. Founded 2000 by 22 farmers; now 327+ members. Chanyi, Kalehe, South Kivu, ~1,490 m. 16
CPNCK / SCPNCK
Cooperative
Coffee Cooperative Planters and Traders of Kivu, Idjwi Island ("Peace Island"), South Kivu — more than 2,400 former combatants now farm coffee here. 42 17
Rebuild Women's Hopeapprox. location
Cooperative
~2,100-member cooperative on Idjwi Island, South Kivu. Working with the Polus Center and Higher Grounds Trading Co. on the Lake Kivu Coffee Alliance for landmine survivors. 43 31
AMKAapprox. location
Cooperative
"Amka Mlimaji Wa Kahawa" ("Wake up, coffee grower!") — founded 2011, Minova, South Kivu. Coffee sourced by Nespresso for Kahawa ya Congo (Reviving Origins). 13 49 50 38 48
RAEKapprox. location
Cooperative
Cooperative on the shores of Lake Kivu at Kavumu, South Kivu. 13
Kawa Maber
Cooperative
Registered cooperative in Mahagi territory, Ituri, part of Rikolto's micro-washing-station network. 17
Bblo Kawa
Cooperative
Registered cooperative in Djugu territory, Ituri. 17
Kawa Kanzururuapprox. location
Cooperative
Registered cooperative on the Rwenzori side of the Beni–Lubero area, North Kivu/Ituri border zone. 17
SOCODEVAapprox. location
Association
Association Solidarité des Coopérations pour le Développement et la Vulgarisation Agricole. Formed 2014, ~3,000 farmers around Biakato, Ituri. Runs coffee-seedling nurseries. 18

Growing regions

North Kivu
≈1,500–2,600 m above sea level (sources vary) 1 2 3 10
South Kivu
≈1,400–2,400 m above sea level (sources vary) 1 2 4
Ituri
≈1,600–2,100 m above sea level (sources vary) 1 3 17 18

Why so many hops are marked "not publicly documented"

Eastern DR Congo's coffee belt sits inside one of the most conflict-affected regions on the continent. Farmers around Lake Kivu have historically had two options: sell locally for very little, or risk a boat crossing to Rwanda where prices were better. Cooperatives like SOPACDI and Muungano exist largely because that second option was dangerous and undocumented — a cooperative gives farmers a legal, taxed, exportable alternative. 30 29 5

Even once coffee is legally exported, it still has to physically leave a landlocked country: north through Uganda to the port of Mombasa, or south across Lake Tanganyika through Tanzania to Dar es Salaam. Every extra border crossing, every trader who blends a lot into a larger container, is a place for a named cooperative or exporter to disappear from the paper trail — which is why several registry rows above stop at "not publicly documented" rather than a guess. 32

Plot-level GPS is not in this registry yet. The Starbucks Reserve release, Nespresso's Kahawa ya Congo, and Kaldi's decade with Muungano are listed below as sourced demand.

Publicly sold — not currently stocked everywhere

Most listings we could verify are limited-run, seasonal, or tied to one cooperative. Check the source before you assume it's on a menu today.

Still on shelf / recent (19) ›

Nespresso — Reviving Origins "Kahawa ya Congo"market-dependent
Coffee chain / capsule brand · AMKA
Launched as Nespresso's first organic "Reviving Origins" capsule, sourced from AMKA; availability varies by Nespresso market and season, not a permanent global listing. 38
Equal Exchange — Congo Coffee Projectstill on shelf
Roaster / co-op retailer · SOPACDI
Fair-trade cooperative importer running the Congo Coffee Project since 2011 with the Panzi Foundation, buying from SOPACDI; still sold in the US. 39 40
Kaldi's Coffee — D.R. Congo Muunganolimited · annual release
Roaster / café · Muungano
St. Louis roaster's decade-long, annually-returning single-origin release from Muungano — a recurring release, not a permanent menu item. 8
Clive Coffeestill on shelf
Retailer (reseller) · Muungano
Portland retailer reselling Muungano-origin coffee roasted by Kaldi's Coffee, and separately by Higher Grounds Trading — Clive doesn't buy from Muungano directly. 9 58
Higher Grounds Trading — D.R. Congo Muunganostill on shelf
Roaster · Muungano
Traverse City, Michigan B Corp roaster; certified-organic, fair-trade Muungano lot from a partnership dating to 2013. 59
Counter Culture Coffee — Buchirosubscriber-exclusive
Roaster · Muungano
Single-origin-subscription-only lot from Muungano's Buchiro washing station; Counter Culture has bought from Muungano since 2013. Listed harvest window (April–June 2024) may be out of date by the time you read this. 60
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters — Muunganoarchived
Roaster · Muungano
Won this lot at the August 2025 Best of Congo auction — the roaster's second-ever Congo offering. Listing archived (no longer an active product page) as of April 2026. 61
Third Coast Coffee Roasting Companystill on shelf
Roaster
Currently listed in the roaster's catalog as "Democratic Republic of the Congo." Their own origin page names both Muungano and SOPACDI as partners without saying which cooperative is in the current bag — not publicly documented which coop this specific lot is from. 62
Oxfam Fair Trade (Belgium) — Organic Congostill on shelf
Fair-trade retailer · Muungano
Live SKU sourced directly from Muungano, an Oxfam Fair Trade partner since 2011. Oxfam Fair Trade no longer lists a current SOPACDI product. 63
Oxfam Fair Trade (Belgium) — Women's Hopestill on shelf
Fair-trade retailer · Rebuild Women's Hope
Live SKU sourced from Rebuild Women's Hope, an Oxfam Fair Trade partner since 2022 — a separate Idjwi Island cooperative from Muungano and SOPACDI. 64
Volcano Coffee Works (UK) — Rise Up Blendstill on shelf · not 100% DRC
Roaster · Rebuild Women's Hope
An espresso blend of Brazil and Rebuild Women's Hope-origin coffee — not a 100% DRC lot. Served nationally across UK WeWork locations as of 2026. 65 66
Quantum Coffee Roasters (UK) — Kahondo CWSbackordered
Roaster · Virunga Coffee Company
North Kivu lot from Kahondo Coffee Washing Station, one of Virunga Coffee Company's stations; listed as backordered by the roaster. 67
Thread Coffee Roasters — D.R. Congo SOPACDIseasonal
Roaster · SOPACDI
Baltimore roaster's SOPACDI lot, run as a featured seasonal single-origin rather than a year-round listing. 68
Thanksgiving Coffee Company — Congo Kivusubscription club
Roaster · SOPACDI
Fort Bragg, CA roaster's recurring Single Origin Coffee Club feature, credited in the roaster's own materials to the SOPACDI cooperative's Mukwinja station. 69 70
Pact Coffee (UK) — Best of Congo, Muunganolimited
Roaster · Muungano
Limited-edition release of the Muungano lot that won the Best of Congo cooperative competition, which Pact has hosted and judged in London. 71
Ethiquable (Belgium/France) — Congo Kivuout of stock
Fair-trade retailer · SOPACDI
Fair-trade blend from SOPACDI and CPNCK (Idjwi Island — not yet its own page here); listed "rupture de stock" (out of stock) by the retailer. 72
Burman Coffee Traders — Kahondostill on shelf
Green coffee retailer · Virunga Coffee Company
Green-coffee retailer's Kahondo natural-process lot, most recently arrived August 6, 2026. 73
Sweetwater Organic Coffee — SOPACDIstill on shelf
Roaster · SOPACDI
Gainesville, Florida roaster's SOPACDI single-origin listing. 75
She Grows Coffee — SOPACDIstill on shelf
Roaster · SOPACDI
SOPACDI lot listed with the cooperative's own Fairtrade ID (FLO ID# 26275-D). 76

Historical (7) ›

Starbucks Reserve — Eastern D.R. Congo Lake Kivuhistorical
Coffee chain
Launched in more than 1,500 US & Canada stores on March 22, 2016, via the Eastern Congo Initiative with USAID and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation — a one-time limited release, not repeated since. Green coffee for these lots was traded in part through Falcon Coffees; no single cooperative is named by the source. 35 36 37 26
Burman Coffee Traders — SOPACDI, Pygmies' Coffee Projecthistorical
Green coffee retailer · SOPACDI
Earlier SOPACDI lot supporting Pygmy farmers in Kalehe territory; this specific lot arrived April 2022 and is not part of Burman's current arrivals. 74
Square Mile Coffee Roasters — Muunganohistorical
Roaster · Muungano
First stocked Muungano lot in January 2016, followed by a 2017 fundraising campaign for the cooperative's drying tables; not a current listing. 77 78
Café Grumpy — D.R. Congo Muunganohistorical
Roaster / café · Muungano
Reviewed by Coffee Review in May 2020; not part of the Brooklyn roaster's current retail lineup. 79
Roast House Coffee — SOPACDIhistorical
Roaster · SOPACDI
Spokane roaster's first US retail release of SOPACDI coffee, in January 2013; not on the roaster's current menu. 80
Colruyt Group (Belgium) — Kawa Kabuyahistorical
Supermarket retailer · Kawa Kabuya Cooperative
Three-year supply agreement signed March 2017 with Rikolto (Vredeseilanden) brokering the partnership, guaranteeing about 20% of the cooperative's output on Colruyt Best Prices and OKay shelves (later also Spar); not confirmed as a still-active listing. 81 82
Ally Coffee — Kawa Kabuyahistorical
Green coffee importer · Kawa Kabuya Cooperative
A 2018-harvest lot, listed sold out on the importer's own coffee page; not a current listing. 11

We only list a seller here if we found a citable, dated public source — usually the roaster's own product or blog page. Stock status changes constantly; check the linked source in the footnotes strip before assuming anything here is available today.

Kahawa 1893 markets a "Congo Women Blend" and describes DRC farming partners on its impact page, but doesn't name a specific cooperative or lot — so it isn't listed as a row above. 41

Sources & footnotes

Every name, altitude, route and figure on this site links back to one of the public sources below. Trade press, cooperative and importer sites, an NGO project page, a newsroom, and one government trade database. We didn't independently audit each publisher — treat this as a starting map for further reporting, not a verified registry.

Show all 80 sources ›