Ethiopia Girma Sentayehu

Coffee producer Girma Sentayehu has been involved in his family’s coffee business since 1970 and established his own export license in 2019. Today, he operates a 6.46-hectare farm in Kochere, Yirgacheffe, alongside 11 family members, and employs seasonal workers during harvest to ensure careful, selective picking of fully ripe coffee cherries. The farm is located near the Biloya River, which provides a reliable source of fresh water for processing at the on-site washing station. With its rich red-brown loam soil and abundant shade from native trees, the area offers ideal conditions for producing high-quality coffee. Girma focuses exclusively on washed coffees. Cherries are meticulously hand-picked, then fermented, washed, and dried on raised beds for 6 to 8 days. During drying, the coffee is turned frequently, typically 4 to 6 times per day, to promote even moisture reduction and preserve cup quality. This coffee is one of three single-farmer selections sourced through Trabocca’s Operation Cherry Red (OCR) Smallholder Series, an initiative designed to highlight exceptional producers while advancing traceability throughout the supply chain. In Ethiopia, where coffee is traditionally delivered to centralized washing stations and sold as regional blends, single-farmer lots like this are relatively rare. This marks our first offering from Girma Sentayehu, and we’re pleased to share his work.