Hambela Wamena – Ethiopia

Mekuria Merga is one of three washing stations with this name. This particular washing station is located in Hambela, Guji, and buys cherries from around 500 farmers.

The three washing stations are named after their owner, Mekuria Merga, a highly respected coffee professional with 23 years of experience in the industry. Mekuria Merga decided to establish his own export company “Wete Ambela” in 2018 to export coffees from his washing stations, which are renowned for their high-quality coffees. The company has three washing stations out of which two are in Yirgacheffe and one is in Guji. The washing stations are supplied with around 500-600 farmers.

Before establishing their own export company, the Wete Ambela washing stations served as bridges between the community and exporters, and they assisted exporters in their social responsibility programs. Now that they are established as an export company, they are taking on social responsibility actions on their own. They always register the farmers that supply to the washing stations along with their kids. They use this information to supply school materials for the children of the farmers.,

Coffee cherries are harvested by family members, then hand-sorted to remove unripe and overripe cherries before they are delivered to the washing station for processing. This lot is naturally processed. Cherries are dried on African raised beds and at these altitudes can take up to 20 days. Slow and consistent drying ensures that there is no unwanted fermentation. The final profile is fruity, sweet but also very clean.