Ethiopia Bette Buna

Bette Bunna, meaning “House of Coffee,” is based in the highlands of Taferi Kela, Sidamo, where coffee production is closely connected to community life and local opportunity. What began as a family responsibility has developed into a wider effort to produce high-quality coffee while supporting long-term development for farming communities. The company works with a skilled team that manages each stage of production with careful attention to quality, traceability and consistency.

At the Taferi Kela farm, freshly picked cherries are delivered to Bette Bunna’s wet mill, where they are processed alongside cherries supplied by surrounding community farmers. Further south-east, in Megadu, Guji, Bette Bunna works with local chiefs and farmers to manage and harvest coffee from shared land, with cherries processed at the Megadu wet mill. This structure is designed to keep knowledge, responsibility and value within the producing communities.

Bette Bunna operates within the specialty coffee sector with a focus on traceability, quality and long-term responsibility. The company approaches specialty coffee as a commitment to careful production rather than simply a label or processing style. Its work is centred on how coffee is grown, selected, handled and processed, with an emphasis on building transparent supply relationships and understanding the expectations of the market it serves.

In addition to its own production, Bette Bunna works directly with independent farmers who process their own cherries into parchment. These relationships maintain traceability while respecting the autonomy and craftsmanship of each producer. Farmers including Sentayu, Duba, Saffay, Hassan, Haji Bule and Birkeneh form part of this broader supply network, which is built around trust, quality and shared growth.

Bette Bunna’s wider work connects coffee production with farm renovation, knowledge development and entrepreneurship. Central to this approach is its “living classroom,” where farmers learn through practical demonstration, experimentation and direct observation. Through demonstration plots, training and shared experience, the programme focuses on improved farming practices, agroforestry renovation and stronger decision-making at farm level. Over the next two years, Bette Bunna’s programmes aim to reach more than 3,500 farming families.

A key part of this work is Bette Bunna’s nursery, which produces more than 350,000 new varietal coffee seedlings each year, alongside a range of regenerative shade trees. These seedlings are used to encourage practical change at farm level. Farmers are supported not simply for attending training, but for applying the knowledge in practice, improving their farms, adopting better techniques and investing in long-term quality and resilience. Bette Bunna also supports entrepreneurship programmes designed to help farming families develop additional income streams and strengthen community resilience beyond coffee.

Lot 201, Signature Washed, is produced by Hassan Ware in Megadu, Guji, and is sourced through Bette Bunna’s independent farmer network. The coffee is processed as a classic washed lot, following a controlled approach designed to separate the seed from the fruit before drying.

For this process, ripe cherries are selected before pulping. After pulping, the coffee is fermented and washed to remove the remaining mucilage from the parchment. The washed parchment is then dried according to the required lot specifications, with regular handling used to support even drying and maintain separation from other lots.

Once drying is complete, the coffee is rested and prepared for further assessment and export preparation. Lot 201 reflects Bette Bunna’s work with independent producers in Megadu, maintaining traceability while supporting farmer-led production and classic washed processing.

Ethiopia is widely regarded as the birthplace of coffee, and continues to be one of the most sought-after origins for speciality coffee. Legend has it that a 9th century goatherder named Kaldi discovered coffee when he noticed his goats dancing after eating the berries.

Although it was harvested from the wild for centuries and consumed within the country, coffee was probably first exported from Ethiopia in the 17th century. However, competition from Yemen, Java, and eventually the Americans meant it didn’t become a world coffee power until much later.

In 1974 the Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by a coup and for nearly thirty years Ethiopia was ruled by a socialist military junta which established large-scale collective farms that were required to sell coffee to the government at low prices. After the junta’s overthrow in 1991 the industry began to liberalise and gain access to international markets.

In 2008 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange was created with the aim of centralising trade and protecting both growers and buyers from the vagaries of the commodity markets. Coffees delivered to the exchange are sorted by region, cup profile, and quality and then auctioned. This has led to more consistent coffees—and more reliable payment for farmers—but coffees bought through the exchange lack traceability, and over the past few years the rules have loosened to allow more coffee to be traded directly.

Coffee remains hugely important to the Ethiopian economy, with upwards of 15 million people relying on the crop for their livelihood. There are three main categories of coffee production: forest coffee, where wild-growing trees are harvested in their natural environment; garden coffee, involving smallholder-style cultivation around a homestead; and plantation coffee which entails large-scale, intensive production. Garden coffee makes up the vast majority of Ethiopian coffee production.

Did you know?

• Ethiopia’s fame as the birthplace of coffee has never been categorically proven, and both South Sudan and Yemen can lay claim through genetic testing and storytelling to the title.
• The Ethiopian government has trademarked specific regional names such as Yirgacheffe, Harrar, and Sidamo in order to protect their place in the coffee market and hopefully achieve higher prices.
• At least half of the coffee produced in Ethiopia is consumed within the country, with coffee ceremonies playing an important role in the country’s culture.

Our speciality coffees are 100% traceable and ethically sourced. We work direct with farmers, or through trusted partners, to bring you the best coffee from around the world.

Sourced in partnership with: Falcon Coffee
Importer relationship length: Since 2015