Bags 0
Warehouses Oakland
Out of stock
Selected coffee producers organized around Faysel Yonis | Testi Ayla Washing Station | Testi Trading
1900 – 2100 masl
Kurume
Vertisol
Shenta Wene Kebele, Bensa District, Sidama Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia
Coffee cherries are meticulously sorted and floated and then sealed in grainpro bags for 6 days and then placed on drying beds for 21 days
November - January
Organic
Changes in the Ethiopian export rules have opened new opportunities to develop relationships with vertically integrated suppliers. Royal seized on the opportunity just a few years ago to work directly with Testi Trading PLC and founder Faysel Yonis. Royal’s perennial relationship with Testi Trading has leaped to a new level, from several years of receiving exquisite traceable mico-lots to this year’s cutting edge of processing innovations. This winey fermentation processed lot, impossible to imagine just a few years ago, is now here thanks to the curation of an exceptional supply chain. The journey started in typical fashion, in which nearly 1000 coffee producers with average plots of just a few acres deliver their ripe cherries to Shenta Wene where Faysel owns and operates a washing station. At the station the cherries are meticulously sorted and floated and then sealed in grainpro bags for 6 days and then placed on drying beds for 21 days. Raised beds are carefully constructed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control, for optimal drying. The beds are inclosed to prevent harsh drying in the intense sun. Faysel also operates his own warehouse and dry-mill where the same focus on sorting and quality control is executed through to the final export stage. As a family owned business, Testi Trading emphasizes social impact throughout the supply chain. On a regional level, Testi has invested in more localized cherry collection sites to reduce the transportation cost for small producers. Testi also established a program called Project Direct, which funds community projects, the most recent of which was construction of two primary schools. Project Direct’s next step is to create direct scholarship funding opportunities for roasters to support higher education for students.