When many people are enjoying a cup of coffee, few thinks about what happens to the leftovers. For UMUBYEYI Grace’s founder of Greece Fav Cycles, those coffee residues were not waste they were an opportunity to change lives, protect the environment and create something beautiful

“I used to see people drink coffee and throw away what was left,” Grace Umubyeyi “I began to ask myself what happens to this residue? What damage does it cause? And could it actually be useful?”

Her curiosity soon turned into a mission. After realizing that unmanaged coffee waste can harm the environment and even farmland, she decided to turn this challenge into an opportunity. From her small idea grew a company that now transforms used coffee residue into eco-friendly products such as:

 Bars of soap and body wash (shower gel), Liquid soap and hand wash, Body scrub for massage, Jerry skincare products and lipgloss

All of them made from recycled spend coffee grounds.

In 2023, she was doing research before venturing into her business and by 2024, she was already reaching the market proudly made in Rwanda, from what others saw as waste" My aim is to produce quality and quantity products from coffee residue not only here in Rwanda but all over the world," she asserts confidently. "Wherever there is coffee waste, there is potential for new life."

Grace looks forward over the next five years to creating jobs for youth, opening a training school that will teach others how their can create their job not only recycle coffee waste but also. recycled materials into useful products that will help them build their businesses and create sustainable communities.

Of course, it has not been an easy journey. It was tough starting with limited capital-and convincing people to believe her idea was quite difficult. "Sometimes people couldn't imagine that soap or body wash could come from coffee waste," she smiles. But Grace wasn't  discouraged; she took it further, investing in quality production, and many skills about manufacturing ,with a lot of training.

For her, agriculture is not simply about farming-it is innovation and transformation. "Farming does not stop at the field," she explains. "It includes agro-processing, creativity, and finding value in everything nature gives us.”And my slogan is desire to excel which is Nourish your skin,soothe your soul “

Umubyeyi Grace is proving that what many people call waste could actually become wealth through Greece Fav Cycles. She is a hallmark of this green economy's progressive Rwanda, in which sustainability meets creativity and hope.

RYAF Communication Team