Hirut (aka Beti) bought what had been a defunct washing station and warehouse building in 2010 in the small community of Dumerso, located in Ethiopia’s renowned Yirgacheffe region, known for its high quality coffee. About 700 small family farmers grow and harvest coffee cherries in this area. The washing station had been built in 1998 but never operated. Beti upgraded it and has been running it since 2013.
The coffees that have been grown for centuries in small plots in this region are world-famous, but drying and sorting the coffee requires more space and equipment than most people have available. Beti's efforts created a centralized space where coffee growers can wash, sort, and dry their coffees, using both the washed method and traditional in-the-fruit or "natural" method. The resulting coffees are everything you could wish for in a Yirgacheffe coffee - fruity, complex, but also crisp and without any taint or musty funk, thanks to scrupulous attention to detail in the sorting and drying processes.

During the harvest season, the Dumerso washing station now provides employment for nearly 400 people from the community. Beti worked hard to acquire a coffee export license, once Ethiopia started allowing direct export licenses in 2017. This allows Seattle Coffee Works to get fresh crop Ethiopian coffee to the US months ahead of other coffee importers and roasters.

It is exciting to see the success of Dumerso, and especially inspiring to see a woman spearheading this incredibly challenging effort. In an industry that has far too few women leaders, Beti is a real-life role model!

We are proud to be the first direct-trade partners of this incredible farm. Orlando Gaviria bought the first portion of Finca Villa Laura in 1993 with only a small section dedicated to coffee cultivation. Over the years, Orlando and his wife Maria expanded their coffee production until it became their primary crop.

During his life, Orlando made strides in creating equity and opportunity in his community. He invested heavily into improving the housing on his property for his coffee pickers and established a nonprofit called Cerro Bravo, which united local coffee producers to share knowledge and expertise, thus strengthening the region’s coffee production and quality as a whole.

Today, the farm is run by Orlando’s youngest son Mauricio. Previously a business manager in Medellin, Mauricio decided to take over full-time care of the family farm after his father’s passing. Since assuming this role, Mauricio has focused on maintaining unmatched coffee quality while maximizing efficiency on the farm. He’s established an innovative and water-efficient processing system as well as built a mechanical transportation system for the beans, thus alleviating stress on the pickers. We are excited to continue working with this farm and to enjoy the phenomenal coffees they bring to us from the beautiful Andes mountains of Colombia.

Emilia Barahona started in the coffee business in 2002 with her husband Edwin, securing a loan when they were just 23 years old. Through their hard work, perseverance, and ingenuity, they have paid off their loan, even in the face of devastating coffee leaf rust disease. Emilia has since diversified the varieties of coffee planted on the farm to try to increase the coffee plants’ resistance to disease and pests.

As a result of their success, Emilia and Edwin, with their extended family, formed the Cafesa Association to support producers in the area with training in the management of their farms and specialty coffee processing. The land for the Cafesa has a warehouse and a coffee cupping lab where they provide services to other coffee producers in the area, as well as advising them on how to improve their processes and connect to coffee buyers.

The addition of a cupping lab provides for a more standardized and regular evaluation of the crops of coffee produced by the members of the Cafesa Association and allows for more negotiating power with potential buyers. Finca Emilia has also employed a unique solar powered drying system for their coffee that helps with quality and uniformity.

Emilia is also very proud of the fact that the farm has achieved Certified Organic and Certified Fair Trade status. All of these advancements are reasons why we at Seattle Coffee Works are happy to partner with Emilia as she continues to innovate and improve the coffee at Finca Emilia and in the La Paz region of Honduras.

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