The cultivars:

Dega

Our partners

Wete Ambela was established in 2018 by Mekuria Merga, a well known coffee professional. Mekuria has been working in the industry for 23 years and is renowned for his high quality washing stations that have been supplying to several exporters over the last ten years.

The company has three washing stations out of which two are in Yirgacheffe and one is in Guji. The washing stations are supplied with around 500-600 farmers. The washing stations have a track record of supplying the highest quality coffee to the most known exporters in Ethiopia.

Before establishing their own export company, the Wete Ambela washing stations served as bridges between the community and exporters, and they assisted exporters in their social responsibility programs. Now that they are established as an export company, they are taking on social responsibility actions on their own. They always register the farmers that supply to the washing stations along with their kids. They use this information to supply school materials for the children of the farmers. “This is our first year as an export company, we started very basic, but we plan to engage in community support projects in a way that is not generic and a way that actually addresses the most practical problems,” said Ato Elias Yifter, the export manager of Wete Ambela.

Mekuria Merga decided on establishing his own export company to take advantage of his prevalent reputation in the industry as a supplier. Many exporters were able to export great coffee due to his supply. He decided it’s about time he uses that trait to his own advantage, hence Wete Ambela.

Wete Ambela produces about six containers a year, three to four of these are washed coffees. The company employs about 65 people in its washing stations and export office.

Tropiq has been buying Mekuria Merga’s coffee through different exporters for years and we have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of the coffee. Naturally, when Wete Ambela became an exporter, we began working to export coffees directly.

The farmers:

• Vegetation: Forest
• Average lot size of farmers: 1-2 hectares
• Soil type:
• Number of trees per hectare: 1200
• How much cherries per tree on average: 2-3 kgs
• Average selling price of farmers per kilo of cherries for 2019/2020 harvest year: $0.80/25 birr

Post-Harvest Processing – Naturals

Harvest and cherry selection

Coffee cherries are harvested by family members, then hand-sorted to remove unripe and overripe cherries before they are delivered to the washing station for processing. Israel generally pays a higher price for good quality cherries, normally 2-4 Birr/kg on top of the general cherry prices.

Soaking and pre-sorting

The cherries are soaked in water. The healthy cherries will sink, while the diseased and damaged cherries will float and are skimmed off and removed. The cherries will then be moved to the drying beds. Underripe and defective cherries will be sorted out by hand during the first days.

Fermentation

When producing naturals the level of fermentation will be determined by the thickness and layer during the first days of drying in combination with temperature. Fermentation is slower at higher altitudes as temperatures are generally lower.

Drying and handsorting

The cherries are dried in a relatively thin layer at about 3-4 cm the first days. They will build up the layers to 6-10 cm after a few days. The coffees are moved frequently and they will be covered during the hottest hours of the day to protect the cherries from intense sunlight, then again at night to protect against humidity. This will also help improve quality as the coffee is rested and the drying more homogeneous. Drying naturals at these altitudes can take up to 20 days.

Warehouse and Supply Chain Management

Warehousing at the washing station

After drying the coffees will be packed in jute bags and stored in the local warehouse onsite, separated by process and grade. Lot sizes can vary from 100 – 300 bags. This process helps condition the coffee and achieve a more uniform humidity. They will normally be stored 1-2 months before they are moved. In some cases the parchment will be hand-sorted in the warehouse.

Transport and logistics

After the harvest season is over the coffees are moved to warehouses and dry mills in Addis. Trucking is expensive in Ethiopia. The coffee trucks must pass a local ECX checkpoint where its contents are graded and registered as an exportable product, before it continues to Addis Ababa.

Warehousing and dry milling

The coffee will sit in parchment in a warehouse in Addis. This is when our team will go to the warehouse and collect the samples from the specific stocklots. It remains in parchment until it is contracted and the destination for shipment is confirmed.

Tropiq Lab and quality control.

Our team on the ground in Addis personally collect samples which we cup and grade, and measure humidity and water activity. When the specific lot is selected for purchase we register the contract with a shipping destination and approve it for milling and shipment. We are present at the dry mill during processing, grading and bagging, and we immediately take a PSS sample for approval.

Container stuffing and transport

We generally try to get our containers stuffed in Addis at the dry mills and moved to the port and straight on a vessel in Djibouti. This way we reduce the risk of delays or mistakes at port that frequently happen when moving coffee by truck for stuffing in Djibouti.

The Impact

Before establishing his own export company, Mekuria’s washing stations served as bridges between the community and exporters, and Mekuria assisted exporters in their social responsibility programs. Now Wete Ambela manages its own social programmes. For example, the exporter registers the farmers that supply to the washing stations along with their kids. The company uses this information to supply school materials for the children of the farmers. “This is our first year as an export company, we started very basic, but we plan to engage in community support projects in a way that is not generic and a way that actually addresses the most practical problems,” said Ato Elias Yifter, the export manager of Wete Ambela.

Tropiq Ethiopia

There is a lot of coffee in Ethiopia, and many good lots. But things are not always as straightforward as they seem. What you cup is not always what you get. With most washing stations, this really depends on the relationship to the suppliers, at what stage you draw the sample and the local warehousing and dry milling facilities used.

Tropiq is a Nordic Approach company providing supply chain management services for transparent and traceable coffees direct from origin. Our team in Addis Ababa visit producers, washing stations and warehouses throughout the season. In the peak of the season we are daily in dialogue with the millers and exporters. Having people on the ground gives us early and direct access to samples, first-hand information on coffees, immediate entry to warehouses and timely quality control.

Nordic Approach – How we purchase and select coffees:

We plan our selection at the beginning of the harvest and will usually pre-book most of our coffees.

Working alongside our sister company, Tropiq Ethiopia, the Nordic Approach team is in Addis several times a year. We plan the season with our suppliers and develop relationships and a mutual understanding on our priorities and strict buying criteria.

When it comes to the season for making decisions, we are there to cup with our team, and we receive samples in Oslo on a weekly basis. After cupping through hundreds of samples this coffee is from our selection of Grade 1 rated coffees.

The coffees we buy are cupped and assessed in a way that gives us good insight into the cup profile and quality, as well as the consistency of that particular lot.