Kwararafa Coffee, the Arabica brand from Tigray Coffee Co., is now stocked at a REWE supermarket in Bremen, Germany. The beans are grown on Nigeria’s Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State, at elevations up to 1,700 metres.
The listing sits inside REWE Berliner Freiheit, a branch that already carries African goods through its Kaya-Kayo range. Richard Ali, the company’s CEO, called it the brand’s first listing in German retail and said: “Nigeria isn’t just a coffee producer.” This is one store, not a chain-wide rollout across REWE Germany.
Nigeria’s coffee sector rarely reaches shelves like this. The country exports roughly 10,000 tonnes of coffee a year, and Arabica makes up only about 4 percent of that volume. Robusta, grown mostly for instant coffee blends, still dominates production.
Tigray sources its beans from farmers registered with the National Coffee and Tea Association of Nigeria (NACOFTAN), which has spent years pushing smallholders toward higher yields and greater traceability. A specialty brand clearing quality control for European retail is a rare data point for that effort. It suggests the push is starting to produce beans that meet import standards, not just better farm records.
“Nigeria isn’t just a coffee producer.” — Richard Ali, CEO, Tigray Coffee Co.
Germany is not a natural entry point for African coffee brands competing against Ethiopian and Kenyan exporters, both with decades of established European distribution. Nigeria’s brand has neither. What Kwararafa has instead is a single shelf and a distributor willing to stock it.
Drinkabl’s coverage of Nigeria’s tea import market traced a similar pattern: niche distribution before scale. Zeva Lager followed the same route into global visibility: small placement first, brand story second.
Whether Kwararafa converts one Bremen shelf into a standing REWE order, or into other German retailers, will depend on repeat sales rather than the announcement itself. Tigray Coffee Co. has not disclosed volume or a timeline for expansion beyond Bremen.
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