Bekele Belacho, Bombe, Lactic Natural, Grade 1

Bekele Belaycho is the de facto leader and organizer of a loose collective of independent smallholder farmer-exporters around Bensa. We’ve been buying his coffee since 2019, and Crop to Cup was his first direct-export customer. With 11 children across two households, Bekele runs his farms and drying stations with significant help from his family. His son Beleteno, who recently graduated from Hawassa University with a degree in economics, now manages the Hora Ganet ('Spring paradise') farm in Bombe.

In addition to his farm in Bombe and a smaller five-hectare farm in Kokose with its own drying station, Bekele also purchases cherry from more than 100 neighboring smallholders, producing roughly 1.5 containers of coffee per season. Though financing, especially during periods of cherry price volatility, remains Bekele's biggest challenge, he continues focusing on quality improvements and processing diversification, from well-dried traditional naturals to ample experiments with anaerobics and inoculations.