Ethiopia
Yirgacheffe
Smallholder Contributors to Chelchele Washing Station
Smallholder Farms
Heirloom
Natural
December–February
Blackberry, Blood Orange, Honey, Lemon
2000 meters
Organic
60 kg w/ GrainPro
SOLD OUT
The Chelchele washing station is named for the kebele, or village, where the coffee is harvested. The growers from the surrounding community bring their cherries to this washing station at METAD’s farm in Gedeb, Yirgacheffe for further processing.
Our partners at METAD developed their Out-growers Program in 2013. METAD is a family run business, with coffee at their roots for generations. They wanted to invest and support nearby coffee growing communities through this program, which has grown to over 6,500 memberships across both regions in Hambela and Gedeb. There are currently 14 farmer associations, named after their kebele, with 7 in each region. Growers who are part of the program receive training from METAD’s team from the start. They are provided free seedlings and professional guidance at every stage of production, as well as pre and post harvest training to continue their professional development.
This coffee from the Chelchele kebele is grown at an elevation between 1950 and 2200 meters. An Organic coffee, METAD has certified not only its own farms and processing plants but also the farms of those participating in the out-grower’s program. This lot underwent Natural processing at METAD’s Gedeb Halo Beriti washing station. Coffee cherries were dried on raised beds for 16–20 days in full sunlight. After reaching the ideal humidity of 11–11.5%, cherries are rested for 4–6 weeks to stabilize. The coffee is finally milled and packaged for shipment at METAD’s mill and warehouse facility near Addis Ababa.
METAD’s values are driven by the community and environment. They reinvest a portion of their profits back into the community for initiatives that include building clinics, funding the local elementary school, and constructing wells as a source for drinking water. They are committed to environmental sustainability, practicing protection methods in wet processing to avoid ground and water pollution and including intercropping farming techniques and crop pollination.
Learn more about Ethiopia’s Coffee Regions.
Gedeb is one of the districts, also called woredas, of the Gedeo zone, with the Kochere woreda to the west, Yirgacheffe woreda to the northwest, Bule woreda to the north, and the Oromia region to the south and east. The nearby Yirgacheffe woreda gives this coffee region its name.
Literally translated as “Land of Many Springs,” Yirgacheffe has the ideal topography, elevation, and water sources to produce and process exceptional coffees. This region is located inside of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia, which is home to 45 distinct people groups. Coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe are typically multi-generational small-scale landholders, sometimes farming only a few hectares. Most coffees in Yirgacheffe are sold as cherry to centralized washing stations that help further separate flavor profiles.
Yirgacheffe is considered by many to be the birthplace of coffee and the coffee trees grown in the region are a naturally occurring mix of heirloom varieties cultivated among other species in coffee gardens and coffee forests.
