Odola TebeArowacho, Ethiopia

THE PRODUCERS:

Outgrower farmers from the Uraga area bring their ripe red cherries to the washing station, where coffees are accepted or rejected based on quality and then sorted by hand before pulping. Like in most of Ethiopia, growers in the Uraga district are smallholders, aka “garden farmers,” so called because most of them are producing coffee in the “garden” areas around their homes, and often harvesting cherries from coffee occurring naturally on the surrounding land where they live. Farm sizes tend to be between .5 to 2 hectares in size on average, though occasionally can reach upwards of 10 hectares. The average yearly yield in green coffee from one of these smaller farms is around 2 to 4 bags.

THE WASHING STATION:

The Odola TebeArowacho washing station, built in 2016, is situated at 2095- 2022 MASL, and the community of farmers in the area been growing coffee for generations, and their cultivation and harvesting know-how shows up in their coffees and in their willingness to learn new ways to improve. Maintaining a good relationship with the washing station is key, which thanks to the hard work of the farmers is able to produce an average of 15 containers of processed coffee a year, 60% of that is washed process and the balance, natural process. As the cherries begin to ripen in October- December, producers begin picking and transporting their ripe cherries. It is not unusual to see them carried in baskets or bags on their own shoulders, or loaded on a donkey or even by handcart.

THE IMPORTER:

One of the largest hurtles to over come when starting a coffee company is in procuring truly exceptional coffee sourced in a sustainable and forward thinking way. Thats why knowing people who are actively involved in finding high quality coffee and ensuring the continued viability for all those involved in the coffee supply chain is so important. Catalyst Trade is a coffee importing company that is doing just this. Given their experience and dedication to the coffee industry over the years, owners Emily and Michael McIntry and Zelalem Girma Bayou have created an import company specifically focused on Ethiopian coffees. With this focused attention to Ethiopia, they have forged lasting relationships with the farmers and production across regions in an effort to bring about transparency and equality to the entirety of the coffee supply chain. Since I also don’t have the ability to travel directly to these regions, they also give a vital insight into those who produce the coffee, the processing methods and even include things like the sound bite you see above, giving you a correct pronunciation of the coffee. It is the attention to detail with things like this that make me excited to be working with such dedicated and hard working individuals.