Ethiopia| Alo coffee beans in Bansa area of Sidamo region

Ethiopia is a mecca for coffee lovers. It is the birthplace of coffee and is now the largest Arabica coffee producer in Africa.

There are mainly mountain plateaus in Ethiopia, most of which belong to the Ethiopian plateau, accounting for 2 to 3 of the whole country. The East African Rift Valley runs through the whole territory, with an average elevation of nearly 3000 meters, while the average elevation of Ethiopia is 2450 meters. Such a high altitude makes the annual average temperature in Ethiopia is 16 ℃, which is roughly divided into dry season and rainy season, with annual rainfall of 1237 mm. The country is rich in natural resources, rich in water resources, high-altitude mountains and more than 50 volcanoes, which make the country an ideal area for coffee cultivation.

Ethiopia has several coffee producing areas, including Sidamo, Harald, Kaffa, Limmu, Lekempti, Tepi, Bebeka and Bale. Among them, several producing areas such as Yega Xuefei, Guji, Sidamo and Bebeca are relatively well-known.

In recent years, the Bensa area of Sidamo has gradually come into view, and recently the Alo coffee bean fire in Bansa area, a number of coffee roasters at home and abroad have put Alo coffee beans on the shelves.

It is understood that the production area is famous for its COE in 2021. Of the 30 beans awarded by COE that year, 16 were from the Sidamo region, while 6 of the 16 were from the Bansha area.

It is worth noting that the winner of Ethiopia's 2021 COE was Tamiru Tadesse Tesema, with a high score of 90.6, also from the Bansa region of Sidamo.

Ethiopia COE results in 2021

Tamiru Tadesse, who runs a coffee supplier and has been in the coffee-related business for the past decade, works with about 200 local farmers in Banza who own about 80 hectares of land to grow coffee and produce about 182000 kilograms of coffee cherries a year, while he is responsible for processing and exporting.

Tamiru Tadesse

A long time ago, there were farmers growing coffee in the village of Alo. Coffee trees were planted in areas above 2400 meters above sea level. After several years of cultivation, these coffee trees produced very small coffee cherries, but because local coffee traders did not like small coffee beans, they did not find a suitable buyer.

In 2020, Tamiru Tadesse came to Alo village, tasted these small coffee beans, felt that these small coffee beans had great potential in flavor and quality, and thought that they were seriously undervalued by the market.

A processing station was set up in Alo village to collect and process coffee beans grown by coffee farmers in Alo village, and to provide them with professional training in planting knowledge. At present, coffee beans produced in nearby villages of Elto and Gute will be taken care of. In addition to native seeds or Heirloom, digital varieties opened by Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC), such as 74158 and 74165, will be planted in this area.