About This Coffee
Part of the Kata Muduga Union, the Sedi Loya cooperative has over 810 farmers who live and farm in Gera, Ethiopia. As an umbrella cooperative, Kata Muduga brings together 20 cooperatives in the Agaro region, a promising coffee-region in Ethiopia. Some of the most well-known cooperatives in this area of Biftu Gudina, Duromina and Nano Chala.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
The farms are semi-forest systems ranging over areas from 1 to 20 hectares. Once delivered to Sedi Loya’s collection point, the cherries undergo a visual inspection to remove most of the underripe fruit. Next, the coffee is pulped with an eco-friendly pulper, which reduces water usage and hence the production of wastewater. This machine removes most of the mucilage already, without needing fermentation. Next, the beans are dried on raised beds for up to 10 days.
About Kata Muduga
The Duromina cooperative is part of the Kata Muduga Multipurpose Farmers’ Cooperative Union. Kata Muduga is the umbrella organization supporting some of the biggest and best coffee-producing cooperatives in Ethiopia today. It’s also one of the most farmer-focused inions. It consistently generates some of the highest prices paid to farmers in the country. The Union’s General Manager, Asnake Nigat, has been part of the story of these coffees from the beginning. Asnake was a business advisor with the Technoserve Coffee Initiative, a development project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, before joining Kata Muduga.
Ethiopia Grade 1
Grades in Ethiopia depend on visual inspection for defects and on cup quality. Grade 1 is considered the highest quality coffee. Grade 1 and 2 are considered specialty coffee, grades 3-9 are classified as commercial coffee. Grade 1 is free of cup faults and taints and has zero quakers.
Coffee in Ethiopia
While Ethiopia is famous as coffee’s birthplace, today it remains a specialty coffee industry darling for its incredible variety of flavors. While full traceability has been difficult in recent history, new regulations have made direct purchasing possible. We’re partnering directly with farmers to help them produce top quality specialty lots that are now completely traceable, adding value for farmers and roasters, alike.
The exceptional quality of Ethiopian coffee is due to a combination of factors. The genetic diversity of coffee varieties means that we find a diversity of flavor, even between (or within) farms with similar growing conditions and processing. In addition to varieties, processing methods also contribute to end quality. The final key ingredients for excellent coffee in Ethiopia are the producing traditions that have created the genetic diversity, processing infrastructure and great coffee we enjoy today.
Most producers in Ethiopia are smallholders, and the majority continue to cultivate coffee using traditional methods. As a result, most coffee is grown with no chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. Coffee is almost entirely cultivated, harvested and dried using manual systems.