Ethiopia- Dumerso (Red Honey)

Our friends at Catalyst Trade have this to share with you.

"Led by the dynamic sister team of CEO Hirut (Beti) Birhanu and Manager Mahder Birhanu, Dumerso is a family endeavor anchored in Yirgacheffe and extending its reach to several other areas of Ethiopia. The flagship washing station is Dumerso, acquired by Beti 12 years ago and named for the village where it is located in the Yirgacheffe District. The family has lovingly worked in coffee for more than 20 years, and through enormous challenges has stayed smart and consistent.

One of the greatest challenges they faced was one we documented for the global coffee world before we met Hirut and Mahder. (You can read that article at Daily Coffee News: “A Year of Turbulence and New Hope in Ethiopia’s Critically Important Gedeo Zone”) Piggybacking on racial tensions, agitators incited the local people to destroy dozens of washing stations owned by Ethiopians of other tribal backgrounds than Gedeo. Dumerso’s site was looted and destroyed. The family lost a lot of money in the process but remained hopeful that they could do good for the area and rebuild.

In the same season, nightly low temperatures that hadn’t been seen in more than fifty years caused frost to strike the area and decimated the harvest. In spite of these challenges, with great fortitude, the family has continued to forge ahead. Ever since that time, they have been rebuilding with a focus on specialty coffee and process control, which makes them a great collaborator for Catalyst and our roaster partners!"