Ethiopia - Guji Megadu - Anaerobic Natural

Region: Guji, Megadu

Farm: Bette Buna

Producer: Hester Westerveld

Variety: 74112, 74158

Process: 96hr Anaerobic Natural

Elevation: 2000-2200 m.a.s.l

PRODUCER'S AND FARM STORY

This coffee comes from the community of Taferi Kela in Sidamo, Ethiopia, and is processed by Bette Buna, short for "House of Coffee." The company's roots in the village began when Dawit and Hester were entrusted by Dawit's grandparents, Syoum and Emame, with not only the family farm but also the responsibility of supporting the local community. Although Taferi Kela lies within the same mountain range as better-known Sidama coffee areas, it has long been overlooked, with no other industries present.
Bette Buna has worked to change this by creating economic opportunities through coffee, teaching farmers sustainable agricultural practices, promoting agroforestry, and ensuring careful harvesting of ripe cherries to increase both quality and income. Every year, they distribute more than 350,000 climate-adapted seedlings from their in-house nursery, helping to generate significant long-term income for farmers in a region where household earnings are typically less than $50 per month.

Bette Buna is also recognized for its inclusive employment practices, offering jobs to people with disabilities, single mothers, and other underrepresented groups. Their transparent supply chain traces each lot back to the individuals who picked, processed, and milled the coffee, ensuring fair wages and full accountability.

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

This lot comes from Bette Buna's own farm in Guji Megadu, where cherries ripen into a brilliant red, making them easy to pick. Despite the ideal conditions, the farm faced labor shortages this season, leaving many ripe cherries unharvested. For their Premiere anaerobic lots, the team uses only freshly picked, perfectly ripe cherries-so while volumes were lower, the quality remained uncompromised.

For fermentation, the team incorporated coffee pulp juice from lots 25.12 and 25.13, creating a distinctive profile that proved both unique and delicious. The cherries were fermentec anaerobically in sealed tanks for 96 hours, then dried on raised African beds until they reached the correct moisture level.

After local dry milling and hand sorting to remove defects, the coffee was transported to Bette Buna's main dry mill in Celan, near Addis Ababa. There, it underwent final cleaning, screening by size and density, and color sorting before being bagged and prepared for export.