Ethiopia Habtamu Goro Washed

The Habtamu Goro site sits high in Uraga, one of the most celebrated growing areas of the Guji zone. The washing station was first built in 2013 and changed hands a few times before Habtamu Fekadu Aga took it over in 2020. In 2022 the team installed a Penagos pulping machine, giving them tighter control over processing and a noticeably more homogeneous lot. Today the site runs with 7 permanent staff and more than 100 seasonal workers during harvest. Each year the station receives around 900 tonnes of red cherry, yielding roughly 153 tonnes of parchment. Two dedicated quality control managers oversee the lots from start to finish, measuring moisture content and managing the timing of fermentation and drying. Water for the station is drawn from a deep gravel-rock well, and the team takes real care with what leaves the site: waste water is treated according to its pH and is never returned to the surrounding environment. Processing combines machine sorting, pulping and mucilage removal, leaving roughly ten percent of the mucilage on the bean. The coffee is then fermented for 24 hours, hand-washed, and laid out to dry on raised beds for 9 to 12 days. The beds are kept out of direct sunlight, and the coffee is turned and inspected every few hours, with moisture readings taken and any remaining defects removed by hand before the parchment is bagged and stored. Traceability runs through every step. Each cherry purchase is recorded on a receipt signed by the farmer — already registered with the station to confirm they belong to the correct growing area — and cosigned by several members of the team. Records of these sales, and of every change of ownership after the coffee leaves the site, are kept to maintain full transparency from tree to bag. The station’s work reaches beyond the wet mill. Farmers receive basic agronomy education covering organic practices, shade-grown cultivation and regenerative crop suggestions, and the site has supported the renovation of the nearby elementary school. Growers are also offered interest-free advance payments ahead of harvest and a collection service for their cherry — practical support that helps the surrounding community deliver consistently excellent coffee.