A few things you may not know about Ethiopian coffee

In a country where even a football team is named “Ethiopian Coffee” (Bunna in Amharic, pronounced Boo Nah! with emphasis on the second syllable) and you can pick up coffee flavoured condoms at any drug store, you know the bean is pretty significant. Read the local newspapers and you’ll discover that coffee is much discussed, with everything from interviews with a local coffee guru to the coffee price fluctuations on the commodities exchange, or the football team’s latest score and even a “Miss Ethiopia Coffee” contest where the winners will be sent to key exporting countries to promote Ethiopian coffee.

This is no joke – coffee accounts for about half of Ethiopia’s exports and employs about a quarter of the population, directly or indirectly. The livelihoods of millions of subsistence farmers depend on coffee sales that are at the mercy of global markets and climate change here and around the globe. Coffee is one of the biggest commodities in the world and Ethiopia is currently number 3 after Brazil and Vietnam in coffee exports.

Being a major coffee fan, I was pleased to be offered a volunteer placement here a couple of years ago, knowing I would always be able to get a good cup of coffee. I have not been disappointed. In my travels, it has often been the case that in coffee exporting countries it is difficult to get a good cup of local brew and, horror of horror, often all that is on offer is Nescafe instant. But not here. Ethiopians love their coffee and it plays a significant role in their cultural as well as economic lives. Here half of the coffee produced is used domestically. Let me take you on a “cupping” of some Ethiopian coffee facts, figures and legends that may surprise you!

Cup # 1: Ethiopia is where coffee was first discovered

They say that in the 8th or 9th century a goat herder named Kaldi discovered coffee after noticing his goats getting very frisky from nibbling red berries off some wild shrubs. He chewed some himself and enjoyed the buzz. Next someone (possibly monks) tossed some coffee berries in a fire and loved the scent. Slowly coffee as we know it today began to be drunk. Arab traders took the beans home and by the 15th century coffee had made its way to Europe and cafe society was born. For an engrossing and  detailed history of coffee check out a fascinating 3 part Canadian documentary series called Black Coffee.

Unripe coffee beans

What the goats found growing in the wilds and decided to sample!

Goats do seem to have addictive personalities – here is one chewing khat (chat) a stimulant leaf that is legal here and also a key export for Ethiopia

Ripe red coffee berries ready for harvest. Ethiopian coffee is hand picked, much of it from wild plants and is very labour intensive since not all berries ripen at once

Coffee berries for sale in the market

Sun dried coffee berries – the green beans are inside…

Green coffee beans for sale in the Woldia market. Since I arrived in September 2010, the price of a kilo of beans has gone from 80 Birr to 140, almost double in less than two years! And certainly salaries have not doubled…

The Kaldi coffee legend displayed in a small Addis cafe near La Gare, the old train station

Cup#2: The “coffee ceremony” is core to Ethiopian culture and hospitality

It is unclear how or when it originated, but the coffee ceremony is a strong cultural tradition throughout Ethiopia. Important events are opened with a coffee ceremony. As well, people traditionally gather together over coffee to just enjoy conversation on a regular basis. Cafes will have an ongoing ceremony where one can enjoy a small cup any time.

Naturally, at our VSO in-country training (ICT)  one of our introductory events was a welcome coffee ceremony

Required items for the ritual include a charcoal fire, popcorn, small cups on low serving table, sugar, mortar and pestle to pound the coffee, frankincense, clay coffee pot, boiling water, green coffee beans, water to wash the beans and a long handled pan to roast them…and if it is not done on the grass, then fresh cut grass is spread on the floor, possibly to show an appreciation of nature. A modern adaptation is a cloth with ribbon “grass” attached that looks a bit like a Hawaiian hula skirt and why not, after all, no culture is static!

Once roasted the beans are shown around so people can appreciate the wonderful aroma by inhaling the vapours

Asrebab, our landlady in Woldia, would often do an impromptu Saturday afternoon coffee ceremony in our sitting room

We  were invited to a coffee ceremony at the home of our friend and colleague Wondale when his wife Muluwerk was ready to introduce us to their new baby girl Tsionaweet. Here a cloud of frankincense can be seen wafting through the room

While the roasted coffee is being pounded to a fine powder in a wooden mortar called a muketcha with a metal or wooden pestle called a zenezena, flakes of frankincense are tossed on the charcoal to scent the room. Then the coffee powder is boiled in a special clay pot (jebena) and poured into small cups (sini). Popcorn is usually served as an accompaniment. Coffee is drunk with plenty of sugar and traditionally one has three cups. The first cups is called abol and naturally is the strongest, the second cup is called huletegna and the third, which is also suitable for children due to its weakness, is called bereka.

Here’s to Ethiopian coffee in a Haile Selassie flag cup!

Cup#3: Starbucks and Oxfam had a “dust-up” over trademarking Sidamo

I had heard there was some issue with ownership of Ethiopian coffee names and was interested to find this online: “The conflict began in March 2005, when Ethiopia filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the names of three coffee-producing regions: Yirgacheffe, Harrar and Sidamo. It was an attempt to use tools usually reserved for corporations in developed economies to wrest profit from their distributors. By seizing control of these brands, the Ethiopian government planned to force those who sell its coffee into licensing agreements, eventually obtaining a larger share of the sales.

But in the case of Sidamo, Starbucks had got there first, with an application the year before to trademark Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo. Until that application was resolved, Ethiopia’s claim could not go forward. The country asked Starbucks to drop its claim but received no answer for more than a year, says Kassahun Ayele, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the U.S. at the time: “They said, ‘You have to talk to our lawyers.'”

Hope the lawyers don’t see this one!

Eventually Oxfam got involved in supporting the Ethiopians and there was some rumbling about a boycott of Starbucks. Starbucks backed off. After all about 2% of all Starbucks coffee comes from Ethiopia and they have invested in some development projects here for poor farmers. The whole thing could become a public relations mess. They still disagree with the idea of Ethiopia trademarking their coffee, suggesting instead geographic designations. However Ethiopia has trademarked Harrar, Sidamo and Yirgachaffe and offers royalty free licensing agreements to those wanting to distribute these specialty coffees, with the hope that branding will increase demand and raise prices to benefit farmers.

Cup#4: No Starbucks here but Kaldi’s coffee shops abound in Addis Ababa

“Miss Marian, what are you up to this afternoon?”  Amare, my neighbour asked when he saw me walking down Togo Street toward the Haya Hulet intersection.

“I am writing a blog about Ethiopian coffee and am going to Kaldi’s to take some photos” I answered.

“Get in and we will go together”, he said, indicating the passenger seat. So I hopped in!

We enjoyed a pleasant hour on Kaldi’s deck sipping our tall Americanos amidst the busy crowd whilst discussing the blog. He helpfully confirmed some of my facts and added that the word coffee originated in Ethiopia as coffee was discovered in a region in the south that was known as Kaffa way back in time.

Kaldi’s is frequented by the young urban Ethiopian professional crowd willing to pay way more then the prices charged in traditional coffee shops. I imagine a lot of newcomers to Addis are as surprised as I was to find these successful Starbucks knock-offs. It certainly shatters a few stereotypes people may have about Ethiopia…

The story goes that an Ethiopian woman approached Starbucks to set up a franchise and was told they were not interested. She set up her own shop, naming it Kaldi’s after the original discoverer of the coffee bean and she now has her own very successful chain of coffee bars in the capital city. The difference between Kaldi’s and Starbucks is that Kaldi’s has attentive and efficient table service and a very popular car service as well as a cafe menu featuring breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers, a big selection of cakes and ice cream. Staff in smart green aprons serve all the usual coffee variations (latte, cappuccino, Americano, machiato, espresso, etc.) but they are made exclusively with Ethiopian coffee.

Cup#5: In 2008 the Ethiopia commodities market began trading in coffee

For four decades coffee had been sold at auction but for the last four years, since 2008, coffee has been traded on the commodities exchange (ECX). While the new system seems to still have some kinks to iron out, it is making progress, especially in the more lucrative specialty coffee markets that have the greatest potential to increase profits for the farmers.

A woman named Elani  Gebre-Mahdin (PhD.) is the CEO of the Ethiopia Commodities Exchange (ECX). I often see her picture in the paper and am pleased that there are at least a few female role models around. The most recent photo of her accompanied an announcement that a memorandum of agreement had been signed on how to establish a commodities exchange with the Nigerian government. While this was lauded as a great feather in the cap of Ethiopia, she did hint at what one faces in a developing country: “Though the ECX has become a champion of the modern exchange market on the continent, its operation is hampered by the lack of infrastructure. Poor road accessibility to many ECXs warehouses and a patchy telecom network are among the challenges that beset the day-to-day activities of the exchange”. (Reporter, May 12, 2012)

“Ethiopian Coffee Production Exceeds Expectations” read the headline in January 19,2012 Ethiopian Business News. It claimed that with the current production of 9.8 million bags, Ethiopia now ranks third in global coffee production after Brazil and Vietnam. Since then the global markets have slumped and some issues with hoarding until prices rise, etc. have appeared in the news.

I don’t pretend to fully understand the complexities of the coffee market, but I do know that it is a key factor in the livelihoods of many people here. What strikes me when I read about it is the interconnectedness of the world markets, how complex and competitive this business is and what a key factor it is in the development of the economy. And certainly, despite the many challenges, the country is capable of producing some of the best coffees in the world.

Here are some facts about Ethiopian coffee

• 95% of Ethiopian coffee is produced by over 2 million smallholder farmers
• About half of the coffee produced is for domestic consumption
• About 25% of the population is directly or indirectly involved in the coffee industry
• Coffee is Ethiopia’s #1 export
• Almost 2% of the world’s coffee comes from Ethiopia
• About half of the coffee is exported to Europe, 1/4 to Asia and the rest to North America

So here’s your challenge dear reader – if you are not already familiar with it, search out some Ethiopian coffee where you live and give it a taste . If it’s not available ask if they can get some. If you already drink Ethiopian coffee, good for you! Please keep on sipping to support Ethiopian coffee farmers and help grow the economy.