From the birthplace of Arabica coffee – Ethiopia – comes a particularly captivating speciality coffee. This coffee is grown by family farmers in Yirgacheffe, who we’ve been working with since 2003, on small plots of land across the lush Ethiopian countryside. The conditions across these plots on the wetlands couldn’t make for more perfect conditions in producing speciality coffee. Consequently, Yirgacheffe coffee has a premium reputation and is characterised by a distinct flavour profile (intense and clean taste, and complex floral notes) which is hard to find outside of the area.
The Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) is comprised of over 23 different member co-operatives, which includes a count of over 40,000 farmers. Working with YCFCU allows the co-operative to export directly to roasters all over the world, instead of going through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX).
Union have been working with a specific co-operative, Konga, which was founded in 1975, who over the years have become highly skilled in producing both washed as well as natural coffees. The co-operative has approximately 2,523 members, of which approximately 225 are women. Konga has three washing stations where farmers bring cherries to be processed. The presence of multiple washing stations facilitates farmers access to the co-operative and assures cherries are processed as quickly as possible after being harvest, a key element in producing high-quality coffee.
April 05, 2019
