Japanese UCC Ueshima Coffee Ltd. announced that it would organize coffee quality contest in Ethiopia in the middle of March, 2016. Director of Supply-Chain Management Department of UCC Ueshima, Tetsuya Seki, said “we are working to hold the first contest in Africa with a view enhance the business relationship between UCC and Ethiopia.
The goal behind UCC Coffee Quality Contest is “supporting coffee farmers by giving them the opportunity to participate in seminars on improved technology in cultivation and sorting process of coffee berries, Tetsuya said.
He added that such competition will contribute to improvement of quality of coffee which in turn will contribute to increase income of farmers. 24,000 producers from Sidama Zone are expected to take part in the contest of which six producers will be chosen.
The coffee of the winner producers will be purchased by UCC with an addition of 10 to 30 percent to the premium regular prices, Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Kazuhiro Suzuki, said on his part this contest will help technology transfer in the area of coffee production and manufacturing.
He said “I am sure that it also provides good opportunity to improve export of coffee in Ethiopia as well as to expand Ethiopian coffee market globally.” Ethiopia’s Ambassador to #Japan, Markos Tekle said this contest will contribute to the promotion of the quality of Ethiopian coffee at international level. He urged UCC to invest in Ethiopia’s growing coffee sector.
According to historical accounts the Japanese UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd is a manufacturer of coffee and tea products in Kobe, started as a store under the name of “Ueshima Tadao Shoten” in 1933 and is now part of the UCC Group. It became a limited partnership in 1940 and in 1951, became “Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd.”.
The company introduced the world’s first canned coffee, “UCC Coffee with Milk” in April, 1969, which started the trend for canned coffee in Japan. It formally became “UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd.” in 1991.
