Location: Jimma Zone, Oromia, Western Ethiopia
Owner: Duromina Farmers Cooperative
Process: Washed
Varietal: Heirloom
Altitude: 1900-2000masl
In the cup:
Coffee drying at Duromina Cooperative
We are delighted to be working with Duromina Cooperative once more this year. We have worked with them before and the coffee was outstandingly good and continues to be so!
Duromina, which means "to improve their lives" in the Afan Oromo language, is a coffee cooperative in south western Jimma zone, Ethiopia. Coffee has grown in this area for generations where it was traditionally processed using the dry or natural method. Farmers paid little attention to quality control and despite an ideal climate and altitude for coffee growing, the area's coffee was synonymous with poor quality. On paper, these farmers had it all - very high altitude, rich and fertile soils. Ethiopia's incredibly complex heirloom varietals and good rainfall. Year after year, farmers received low prices for their coffee earning little income as a result because the quality was poor. The missing link was quality control.
in 2010, around 100 local coffee farmers banded together to form Duromina Cooperative. As the name suggests, their goal was simple - to improve their lives. The Coffee Initiative - a project established by Technoserve and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - was influential in establishing and developing fledgling cooperatives like Duromina. With technical support, business advice and access to finance, the members acquired and installed a wet mill and began processing fully washed coffees for the first time. As part of the Coffee Initiative, Falcon, our importer, acted as guarantor for 17 farming groups representing 100,000 people so that they qualified for bank loans which were integral to the project. These improvements helped Duromina produce high quality coffee and bring prosperity to the community.
Two years later, an international panel of professional judges would select Duromina's coffee as the best in Africa, awarding the cooperative the top prize in the leading regional cupping competition. This is support at its best and we are proud to be able to offer this beautiful coffee once more.
information provided by Falcon Specialty