Ethiopia Sidama 1 Natural Chire Kumburta Dubaro Buko – 28448-2 – GrainPro Bags – SPOT RCWHSE

Coffee Background

The climb from the southern end of the Great Rift Valley, through Shashamene and past Awasa is gradual, and coffee trees slowly increase in frequency, large, lanky, and dusty by the roadside, many so tall they lean on the roofs of houses for support. Coffees here are earlier than in the far south, and the vast majority are fully washed, sought after for their delicate fruits, herbaceousness, and buoyant citric acid. Sidama has one of the most robust cooperative unions in the country with 53 member cooperatives, as well as a thriving local industry of independent washing stations and the occasional estate.  

This coffee from Dubaro Buko, however, is a rare exception to the Sidama coffee norms for three big reasons. First, it comes from a private, small estate managed entirely by Dubaro, from tree to export. Next, the coffee is naturally processed, which is not extremely rare for Sidama, but much more so than neighborhing Gedeo and Guji zones. Finally, Dubaro’s various farms total 6.5 hectares in size, considered very large for this part of Ethiopia, where 0.5-1 hectares is the norm per farmer. 

Dubaro is the first in his family to grow coffee. His father kept livestock all his life, and it wasn’t until Dubaro observed opportunities available in the coffee industry that he decided to try planting trees of his own. 25 years later he manages 5 different plots simultaneously and has homes built in both Awasa, a nearby large city, and Bensa, a local town near his farmland. 

Dubaro’s farms are located in the Chire district, in far eastern Sidama Zone, on the outskirts of the Harenna Forest National Park. Naturals on Dubaro’s farm are all processed identically: coffee is harvested, inspected for imperfections, and then moved immediately to raised beds for drying the same day. Raised beds are predominantly constructed from local bamboo and hardwood trees. Cherry dries for three weeks, during which it is regularly rotated, and also covered during the searing hot mid-day hours to prevent sun damage to the coffee’s skin. Once coffee is completely dry it is transported to nearby Bensa town for primary milling, where the coffee seed is stripped of its pod, and then samples are sent to buyers. Once the coffee has been sold, it continues to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, for final milling and bagging for export.  

Changes in the Ethiopian export rules have opened pathways to develop relationships with vertically integrated suppliers. Royal has seized on the opportunity over the past few years to work with emerging small businesses looking to sell their coffee direct. Small producers like Dubaro, prior to having an export license, historically had little choice but to sell to local consolidators representing independent washing stations, or join a regional cooperative.