Bekele Kachara- Murago Natural, Ethiopia
Bekele Kachara- Murago Natural, Ethiopia
Bekele employs a meticulous approach to coffee farming, using shaded pre-drying beds on-site and nurturing specific coffee varieties. he uses organic methods, fertilizing his farm with compost or agricultural residues. His expertise in coffee processing comes from years of experience, including work at stations in the Bensa and Bona districts of the Sidama region.
Bekele Kachara is a single producer and farm owner/operator located in the small area of Murago within the Sidama region.
ORIGIN Murago, Sidama, Ethiopia
VARIETIES 74158, 74112, 74110
PROCESS Natural
ELEVATION 1,881 masl
Our flavor notes: Creamy blueberry, stone fruits, milk chocolate
Net Wt. 12oz / 340g
100% SPECIALTY GRADE ARABICA COFFEE
ROASTED AND PACKED AT HEARTWOOD ROASTERY, CHAGRIN FALLS, OH
Bekele works in partnership with ZEM Coffee, a vertically integrated coffee company founded by Ethiopian and American trio Zele, Emily, and Michael. ZEM’s team and founders have been pivotal in the development of Bensa, Sidama area as a globally-recognized quality origin, beginning with the 2013/14 harvest and really deepening with each year as they first introduced “Bensa” coffees to their clients and then began, with their partners, to isolate first by area and then to the village, such as Boekelman, and Shantawene.
International recognition followed, including numerous awards including multiple Good Food Awards, several top Gold Bean Awards, and various other coffee competitions due to the distinctive flavor, high density, and unique qualities of these coffees.
In the 2017/18 harvest year, the ZEM founders further deepened their partnerships with these producers by isolating individual farms and supporting these producers to export coffees through their own export licenses, bringing them enormous financial benefits despite the very high workload required to pull it off.
In 2019, the ZEM team introduced Ethiopia’s first Two-Way Transparency Project to the producers in Bensa as part of the annual, all-expenses-paid, conference they’ve held to support communications and strategy since 2018. This groundbreaking project was led by Emily McIntyre and took private financial data from 14 North American roasters in categories such as their personal take-home pay, the cost to roast and ship a pound of coffee, and other critical metrics, and correlated these numbers to the traceability information usually requested by buyers.
This was also the year the ZEM founders distributed 17% of the profit from their enterprise, Catalyst Trade, back to the producers in Bensa as part of their consistent give-back projects. With the advent of the Cup of Excellence program and increased visibility, other players have supported Bensa to its current desirable position, and the ZEM/Ethio-Catalyst team remains proud to be such an integral part of this progress.
This lot was imported by Ally Coffee