Ethiopia Chelbesa

Like a previous favourite Gedeb, Chelbesa comes to us from Yirgacheffe, in the south of Ethiopia—in fact, Chelbesa is a smaller “kebele” within the larger Gedeb “woreda”, or administrative district.

The lot that makes up Chelbesa is collected from smallholder farmers and brought to the Chelbesa washing station for processing. The best cherries are chosen, floated to remove quakers, and pulped. The coffee is then fermented in tanks without water and dried for 10-15 days, which ensures the highest quality of coffee. Once dried and stored, the coffee is transported to Moplaco in Gerji, Addis Ababa, and then moved to Djibouti via train for export.

Ephtah Specialty Coffee handles the collection, processing, and export. A woman-owned business, Ephtah Specialty Coffee is dedicated to social and environmental projects. The company provides initial payments to farmers upon receipt of their coffee and supports them with quality premiums, second payments, and assistance with school fees.

Ephtah is especially focused on empowering women in the communities in which they work, providing training programs around production and quality analysis to help improve women’s knowledge and confidence. This often leads to an improvement in their access to finance which can lead to dramatic improvements in their standard of living. Ephtah also collaborates with local groups to encourage women in the community to become involved in local decision-making processes and leadership positions.

Ethiopia is widely regarded as the birthplace of coffee, and continues to be one of the most sought-after origins for speciality coffee. Legend has it that a 9th century goatherder named Kaldi discovered coffee when he noticed his goats dancing after eating the berries.

Although it was harvested from the wild for centuries and consumed within the country, coffee was probably first exported from Ethiopia in the 17th century. However, competition from Yemen, Java, and eventually the Americans meant it didn’t become a world coffee power until much later.

In 1974 the Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by a coup and for nearly thirty years Ethiopia was ruled by a socialist military junta which established large-scale collective farms that were required to sell coffee to the government at low prices. After the junta’s overthrow in 1991 the industry began to liberalise and gain access to international markets.

In 2008 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange was created with the aim of centralising trade and protecting both growers and buyers from the vagaries of the commodity markets. Coffees delivered to the exchange are sorted by region, cup profile, and quality and then auctioned. This has led to more consistent coffees—and more reliable payment for farmers—but coffees bought through the exchange lack traceability, and over the past few years the rules have loosened to allow more coffee to be traded directly.

Coffee remains hugely important to the Ethiopian economy, with upwards of 15 million people relying on the crop for their livelihood. There are three main categories of coffee production: forest coffee, where wild-growing trees are harvested in their natural environment; garden coffee, involving smallholder-style cultivation around a homestead; and plantation coffee which entails large-scale, intensive production. Garden coffee makes up the vast majority of Ethiopian coffee production.

Did you know?

• Ethiopia’s fame as the birthplace of coffee has never been categorically proven, and both South Sudan and Yemen can lay claim through genetic testing and storytelling to the title.
• The Ethiopian government has trademarked specific regional names such as Yirgacheffe, Harrar, and Sidamo in order to protect their place in the coffee market and hopefully achieve higher prices.
• At least half of the coffee produced in Ethiopia is consumed within the country, with coffee ceremonies playing an important role in the country’s culture.

Our speciality coffees are 100% traceable and ethically sourced. We work direct with farmers, or through trusted partners, to bring you the best coffee from around the world.

Sourced in partnership with: Falcon Coffees
Producer relationship length: 1 year