Export process
From a Rwandan plot to a European cold store in seven days.
Nothing in the chain is improvised. Eight steps, each with a written standard and a person accountable for it.
- 01
Programme agreed
We confirm product, grade, weekly volume, packaging and the season window in writing before a single seed goes in the ground.
Nothing is speculative. A programme is a commitment on both sides, with an agreed price mechanism and a named contact on each end.
- 02
Planting & agronomy
Contracted growers plant the agreed variety on a staggered calendar so supply lands weekly rather than in one flush.
Our agronomists visit through the cycle, and only EU-approved inputs are used, recorded plot by plot.
- 03
Harvest
Hand-picked in the cool hours of the morning, crated in the shade and moved to the packhouse the same day.
Field heat is the enemy of shelf life. Everything after this step is about removing it fast and keeping it out.
- 04
Grading & pre-cooling
Intake inspection, grading to specification and pre-cooling within four hours of harvest.
Product outside specification never enters the export carton — it is redirected to the local market, not blended in.
- 05
Packing
Packed to the buyer's format: bulk vented cartons, retail punnets or flow-wrap under the buyer's own label.
Each carton is coded so it can be traced back to the plot, the harvest date and the grading shift.
- 06
Documentation & clearance
Phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, packing list, invoice and airway bill issued per consignment.
Documentation moves ahead of the cargo so nothing sits waiting on paperwork at destination.
- 07
Air freight from Kigali
Cold-chain transfer to Kigali International Airport and departure on RwandAir Cargo.
Air cargo only. Sea freight does not protect a fine bean or a habanero over the distances involved.
- 08
Arrival & feedback
Landed in the UK or EU within a seven-day order-to-delivery cycle, with an arrival report closing the loop.
Arrival condition data feeds straight back into the next week's grading standard.
From plot to packhouse.
A few moments that explain why the cold chain and the paperwork matter as much as the seed.
Freight & terms
Air cargo only. Kigali to Europe overnight.
Fine beans and fresh chilli do not survive a sea crossing in the condition a European buyer expects. We fly everything, and we build the price around that from the first conversation.
Gateway
Kigali International Airport (KGL)
Carrier
RwandAir Cargo
Mode
Air freight only
Lead time
7 days order to delivery
Incoterms
FOB Kigali · CIF destination airport
Cold chain
Unbroken from packhouse to aircraft