The story of coffee has its beginnings in Ethiopia, the original home of the coffee plant, coffee Arabica, which still grows wild in the forest of the highlands.

More than 1,000 years ago, a goat herd in Ethiopia’s south-western highlands plucked a few red berries from some young green trees growing in the forest and tasted them. The goat liked the flavor - and the feel-good effect that followed. The province where they first blossomed - Kaffa - gave its name to coffee.

Ethiopia exports some 400,000 tonnes of coffee per annum and it is the country’s largest export.

Led by David McKernan of Java Republic Roasting Company, a group of Irish coffee industry professionals made an initial visit to the coffee growing regions in September 2006.

Since then a lot of developments have taken place within the coffee industry here in Ireland and an increasing number of Irish coffee retailers have made a commitment to have Ethiopian sourced coffee beans as part of their house blend, or as a separate blend in their range.

These beans are ethically sourced and purchased directly from the Ethiopian coffee co-operatives. By making direct purchases, the middle man is effectively eliminated, thus ensuring that Ethiopian farmers receive a fairer price for the coffee they grow.

Irish Coffee retailers supporting this initiative are:

• Abrakebabra
• Bagel Factory
• BB’s Coffee & Muffins
• Bewleys
• Insomnia
• Java Republic Roasting Company
• La Crossanterie
• O’Briens Sandwich Bars

"We have an opportunity to focus on coffee from Ethiopia in Ireland” says McKernan “We can leverage the power of the coffee industry here to make a real and practical difference to more than 100,000 Ethiopians, engaged in the Industry, by focusing on trading with them as opposed to somewhere else in the world", he added.

If you would like to find out more about buying or selling Ethiopian Coffee under our project please contact info@connectethiopia.com