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The Story:
Located in the Sidamo growing region, the
SCFCU Cooperative began representing small-scale farmers
in 2001 and has since grown to become the second largest
coffee producing cooperative union in Ethiopia. The majority
of its member coops are organic and Fair Trade certified
and nearly all their coffee is grown in the shade of diverse,
indigenous trees. Approximately 5,000 tons of sidamo coffee
is produced per year, 95% of which is washed.
Harvest time occurs between September to December
depending on the coffee's altitude and rainfall. After the
families harvest the cherries, they sell them to the primary
cooperatives for wet processing. There are approximately
220 wet processing centers, 92 of which are owned by members
of the coops. The dried parchment is then stored in a warehouse
until delivery to the central market in Addis Ababa where
the husk is removed and the clean beans are packaged for
export.
This coffee is from the 5% which is unwashed, also known
as natural or dry-process. In this method, the cherry is
dried whole in the sun, and then hulled to reveal the dried
green beans inside. Coffee processed with the natural method
tends to be unpredictable and challenging.
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