Feature Filter: Chelbesa | Ethiopia

More about Chelbesa & Ephtah Coffee:

This coffee is named after the Chelbesa “kebele” - the smallest administrative unit within the larger Gedeb “woreda”. The coffee is composed of cherry harvested by small-holder farmers in the area and delivered to the Chelbesa washing station where it is processed. The station is operated by Ephtah Coffee - a community focused exporter established and headed up by Wubit Bekele.

Ephtah is committed to delivering outstanding quality coffee whilst improving the lives  within their communities, with particular focus on promoting the role of women as being the main drivers of positive social and economic change in Ethiopia.
As Ephtah explains:

The majority of low paying seasonal labour is provided by women but very few farms are women owned. In addition, those farms are often less productive as women have less access to resources – primarily inputs, finance, and training. Our approach has two main pillars:

1. Providing women with the skills and knowledge to enhance economic empowerment - Ephtah provides training programs around production and quality analysis to help improve women’s knowledge and confidence. This often leads to an improvement in their access to finance which can lead to dramatic improvements in their standard of living.

2. Strengthening women’s voice and participation in decision making and leadership - Ephtah helps to create safe spaces for women in the communities we source from. We collaborate with local groups to encourage women in the community to become involved in local decision-making processes and leadership positions. Ephtah further supports women through the AMA Commitment with initiative including diversifying sources of income and running daycare centre for growers’ children during harvest time.

Chelbesa station is rented and managed by Ephtah’s team. It is a key processing station in the area with capacity of 150 drying beds. It employs 17 permanent staff and 150 additional workers during the harvest season from late November to January.

This particular lot is washed processed. The delivered cherries are initially floated to remove quakers and underripes. Then they are de-pulped and dry fermented (without any additional water in the fermentation tanks) before being washed laid out to dry on raised beds over 10-15 days.

After an initial introduction to Ephtah’s coffee last year, we are delighted to have been able to purchase four different lots form this socially driven exporter this year. This washed lot is an absolute classic with its fragrant floral jasmine like aroma and lots of juicy tangerine and peach in the cup.