About the process
This coffee comes from the Dimtu outgrower network, where 766 smallholder farmers grow coffee at around 2,210 meters. The cherries are hand-picked at their peak ripeness, which helps bring out the natural sweetness and clarity in the cup. Once harvested, the cherries are processed at our Tero dry mill. They’re dried on raised beds, turned hourly during the day for even drying, and covered during peak sun to avoid uneven drying. While still red on the beds, the coffee is hand-sorted, removing overripe or defective cherries. After that, it’s carefully stored in an organic-certified warehouse to maintain its quality.
About the farm & producer
Although coffee takes a central role in Guji culture, it took years before the Guji people started to use coffee as a cash crop. But in the early 2000s, the founding fathers of Guji’s rich coffee culture, Haile and Tesfaye, started to farm coffee. The young Getachew Zekele lived through the transformation and, when growing up, became part of it. Although choosing a career in coffee, Getachew grew up in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. The Zekele family moved to the South because of career opportunities for Getachew’s father. A decision that would pave the way for Getachew’s work in coffee. Getachew remembers how his parents introduced him to a coffee-loving community.
«Coffee is a respected crop in the area where I came to live. The community uses coffee as food in rituals and ceremonies, and it is also used as an instrument to bless traditional leaders, Abba Gadaa.», Getachew explains. As the Zekele’s settled in, Getachew considered the Tero Kebele his new home. His plans for the future started to take shape and, although being a city-boy, he chose to stay in Tero because of coffee. «I came with the idea to invest in the area and to work with the community.», says Getachew. After studying and attaining a degree in Economics, Getachew returned to put his entrepreneurial spirit to the test.
In 2010, he entered the coffee market through the ASB Coffee Exporting Company. Two years later, Getachew opened a washing and hulling station in the Dimtu Tero and Uraga districts. Two new coffee production sites that quickly gained reputation in the community. But his final step came in 2016 when he opened the Dimtu Tero Farm.
Dimtu Tero, otherwise known as Dimtu Plantation, is a 151-hectare semi-forest farm. It’s hard to notice where the farm begins or ends, because it is one with the forests of Guji. Getachew makes efforts to keep nature untouched. His organic coffee production gave the farm many certifications. A unique feature for Ethiopian coffee farms. While taking a tour through the farm, Getachew will proudly show the 74110 and 74112 varieties. The Jimma Agricultural Research Center developed these disease-resistant cultivars in 1974.
