Kageyo washing station sits in Rwanda’s Ngororero District, high in the hills along the southeastern shores of Lake Kivu. Originally founded as a smallholder farmer cooperative, Kageyo quickly earned recognition as the second-place winner of Rwanda’s 2011 Cup of Excellence just one year after building its mill. After financial constraints made loan repayment difficult, Rwanda Trading Company stepped in to purchase and renovate the wet mill while preserving the cooperative’s farmer-owned structure, helping create a more direct, transparent path to the specialty market. Today, the station works with smallholder farmers growing at around 2,000 meters above sea level, producing a vibrant cup with notes of tangerine, black tea, & currant.