Coffee in Ethiopia
Since its first discovery, coffee in Ethiopia has transcended its’ beverage status. It has become an almost inseparable part of daily Ethiopian life. Ethiopia grows what accounts to just 3 percent of the global coffee market, this provides over 15 million jobs locally. When we started our business in 2015, we set out with a vision to innovate in an industry that we felt represented more than just an export commodity. We see coffee as one of life’s little luxuries; the catalyst to meaningful social interactions, and inspiration for millions of people across the globe.
Since Romina Coffee’s inception, we have been diligently working to not only keep Ethiopia’s earned name in the coffee world, but to transcend it.
The beans that make great cups of coffee.
We have 22 wet mill stations in the biggest coffee producing regions around the country, located in optimum altitudes that allow for coffee beans to flourish. Each location specialises in a type of coffee that produces its own flavour profile. We work with over 22,600 farmers that grow beans with varying degrees of flavor and profile across the 22 wet mill stations. Our sites are fully equipped with coffee processing and washing machinery and other innovative infrastructure to ensure our coffee processing is productive, efficient and of the highest quality.
Once the coffee is purchased, processed and delivered to our stores, we make sure to cup test each batch to determine ideal customers for every flavour profile in our liquoring unit. We follow rigorous standards and procedures that allow us the security to say that each batch we provide is actually the best for our specific markets. We apply global standard quality assurance in our plants along with hand picking to ensure the imperfect beans are removed.
Traceability is what separates us. We know everything about our coffee’s journey from farm to cup. We have systems in place that allow us to track where our coffee goes and the travel conditions. We can access tracking data anytime and record every essential detail until delivery.
Wet Mill Stations
Romina specialises in different types of coffee each showcasing a unique flavour profile. With 22 wet mill stations in some of the biggest coffee producing regions of the country, favourable in altitude, the sites are equipped with coffee processing and washing machineries, and other necessary infrastructures including standard stores, accommodation and office buildings.
Furthermore, Romina has partnered with more than 3,170 smallholder coffee farmers to help them produce specialty coffee in Oromia regional state at Anfilo and Nansabo. With the coffee produced in Nansabo area graded equivalently as the Sidama coffee. Out of the 22 wet mill stations, four produce a specialty coffee which earned various certifications ( Cafe Practice, Organic, Rainforest, Fair Trade and UTZ certificates).
- BY Goda Yamasira Eshel Buna Pulping Enterprise PlcSeptember 4, 2017
BY Goda Yamasira Eshel Buna Pulping Enterprise PlcGrade 1 Sidama coffee from 650 small holder farmers
- Zenebe Simret & Esatu Coffee Preparation PlcSeptember 4, 2017
Zenebe Simret & Esatu Coffee Preparation PlcHigh quality Sidama Grade 1 coffee
- Hagire Buticha Eshet Bunna PlcSeptember 4, 2017
Hagire Buticha Eshet Bunna PlcHigh quality Grade 1 Sidama coffee
- Michael Girma wet mill stationSeptember 4, 2017
Michael Girma wet mill stationHigh quality Grade 1 Sidama coffee
We aim to increase the production capacity of each wet mill stations we work with. We work with farmers in Sidama (Chiri, Bensa, Bona Zuriya, Aroresa and Wensho Wereda), to ensure every coffee bean we produce is of the best quality. Each site (see table below) is financed at different capacities to further control the quality of the beans. These investment guarantee that farmers focus on the quality of the output.
List of our partner milling stations
| Station | Location | Source Farmers | Volume of Coffee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astatke Menafesha Site | Region–Sidama, Woreda-Wonsho, Kebele–Menafesha | 300 farmers | 456,000 Kg of red cherry (Hand-picked High-quality coffee) |
| Belete Tanga Site | Region – Sidama, Woreda – Bona, Kebele – Odahe | 500 farmers | 350,000 Kg of red cherry (Hand-picked High-quality coffee) |
| Astatke Abebe Site | Region – Sidama, Woreda – Hoko Girja, Kebele – Jengelo | 2,700 farmers | 750,000 Kg of red cherry (Hand-picked High-quality coffee) |
| Astatke Zemed Site 2 | Region – Sidama, Woreda – Hoko Girja, Kebele – Sadeka | 2,700 farmers (they have a common supplier with Astatke Abebe because they are almost in the same place) | 500,000 Kg of red cherry (Hand-picked High-quality coffee) |
| Tamirat Tafese (Jangalo Tadota) | Region – Sidama, Woreda – Hoko Girja, Kebele – Jangalo | 2500 farmers are supplying a coffee and there are 50 registered model farmers who are working with the site | 850,000Kg of red cherry (Hand-picked High-quality coffee) |
| Zenebe Dikicha Site | Region – Sidama, Woreda – Aroresa, Kebele – Dikicha | 400 farmers | 300,000Kg of red cherry (Hand-picked High-quality coffee) |
| Shumbulo Site | |||
| Astatke Abebe (Arabe) Site | |||
| Asnake & His friends site | |||
| Ashenafi Dika site | |||
| Zenebe Rike site | |||
| Gashu Tafese Site | |||
| Oddi Boku Site | |||
Corporate Social Responsibility
We also see coffee as the biggest opportunity to make positive impact across the farming community. Ethiopia produces only 3 percent from the world’s coffee market. This is partly because, while the Ethiopian lands are favourable for coffee cultivation, we still have a long way to go in terms of production volume. This is something that can be remedied with the proper training and accreditation that can enhance the average Ethiopian coffee farmer’s capacity.
Part of what hampers development in the Ethiopian Coffee market is the lack of proper knowledge transfer. It’s what keeps our country from increasing production capacity and quality. Training is also something Romina believes in and something that has to be accessible to the small holder farmers. This is why when we partner with farmers, we ensure that each farmer goes through several trainings. In addition to training, we provide farmers disease resistant variety coffee seedlings and shade trees free of charge to allow them to have constant business across the agricultural year. Similarly, we buy the beans with higher pricing schemes that safeguard the farmers earnings. This is in addition to a percentage once sales have been completed.