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Ato Mohamed Lalo is the founder of Fahem General Trading PLC and is very involved in Ethiopia’s specialty industry, along with his wife, who co-runs the couple’s private coffee estate in Limu Seka. Like a lot of private estates, they make the most of their processing capacity by buying cherry from surrounding smallholders—in this case almost 3,000 of them—to use the estate like a washing station, processing centrally and selling the coffee separately from farm’s.
Fully washed coffee is produced by intaking cherry from registered smallholders daily at Fahem’s collection sites in the area. The coffee is weighed and transported to the estate where it is immediately depulped and fermented underwater for an average of 12 hours, then soaked in fresh water for another 12 hours, and finally washed and spread across raised screen beds to dry. Drying takes 7-10 days, after which the parchment coffee is bagged and moved into a ventilated warehouse for longer term storage.
Fahem consists of over 500 staff during harvest months, including all farm work, certification, training for farmers, marketing for their international sales (and local roasted brand), and apiary management. A portion of the company’s profit is annually reinvested in the local community, including schools, grain mills, pruning tools for smallholders, a local bridge, and expanding the national electric grid.
Ato Mohamed Lalo is the founder of Fahem General Trading PLC and is very involved in Ethiopia’s specialty industry, along with his wife, who co-runs the couple’s private coffee estate in Limu Seka. Like a lot of private estates, they make the most of their processing capacity by buying cherry from surrounding smallholders—in this case almost 3,000 of them—to use the estate like a washing station, processing centrally and selling the coffee separately from farm’s.
Fully washed coffee is produced by intaking cherry from registered smallholders daily at Fahem’s collection sites in the area. The coffee is weighed and transported to the estate where it is immediately depulped and fermented underwater for an average of 12 hours, then soaked in fresh water for another 12 hours, and finally washed and spread across raised screen beds to dry. Drying takes 7-10 days, after which the parchment coffee is bagged and moved into a ventilated warehouse for longer term storage.
Fahem consists of over 500 staff during harvest months, including all farm work, certification, training for farmers, marketing for their international sales (and local roasted brand), and apiary management. A portion of the company’s profit is annually reinvested in the local community, including schools, grain mills, pruning tools for smallholders, a local bridge, and expanding the national electric grid.