Yirgacheffe town is one of the most famous coffee destinations in Ethiopia, if not the entire coffee-producing world. When we first traveled there in the mid-2000s, it was hard to believe that a town so tiny could have such a reputation. Its renown, however, is well-earned. The Idido cooperative’s main processing site is just a short drive up into the mountains on the eastern side of Yirgacheffe. The nearly 2000 producers belonging to the cooperative typically farm small plots of land around their homes, averaging 1.5 hectares, diversely planted with various crops and shade trees. While a large percentage of the area's population grows coffee as a cash crop, a majority are subsistence farmers growing an array of fruits, vegetables, and beans.
The Idido cooperative is a member of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, known as YCFCU. Since 2011, we’ve worked with both the co-op and the union to separate lots from specific communities or washing stations. We've also experimented with screen separations and special-preparation lots focused on coffee cherry ripeness and drying techniques. Aside from these explorations of quality, we’ve funded multiple grants from our Seeds program supporting a range of sustainability projects in the area.
Ethiopia can be a notoriously difficult place to source coffee through long-term relationships due to intense competition and near constant changes in government regulations regarding the coffee trade. Despite these hurdles, each year we’re proud to welcome Idido back to our menu as a core offering beloved by our customers and staff.
