Ethiopian Coffee Sector: An Interview with Emebet Tafesse of Zebad General Export and Import

Emebet Tafesse, CEO of Zebad General Export and Import, explains what makes her coffee trading company different from the competition in Ethiopia.

“The difficult part is to make yourself unique. We are traders. We have a trading company which purchases coffee from auction, adds value, and exports to our clients. From the buyer side, there is an issue of traceability and sustainability. To evolve into a specialty market, you have to have your own specific area, specific quality, and sustainable delivery. That was really hard for a company like ours. The price was not attractive for a commodity market. On the traceability issue, by law, the traders were allowed to purchase coffee only from the Exchange, not from the farmer center or somewhere else. But after 2017, there were no laws issued because of this and the problem was escalating. That is why I have tried to develop my business model which was accepted by the African Development Bank and they supported me for the feasibility study to be conducted. The idea was to go to the grassroots, organizing farmers, developing a business model, and truly develop quality coffee, supporting the farmers with their agro economic practice, supporting them with processing, maintaining the quality, and delivering the coffee to the world market. My plan was to work with smallholder farmers and to support the women in the rural area who really did most of the backbreaking jobs in farming. This is my plan and I have the study and I want to move in that direction and I want to look for some people who have interest to get the best coffee and work with a woman like me in coffee”, says Emebet Tafesse.

ABOUT ZEBAD COFFEE

• Vision: Zebad envisions to expand its existing premium coffee export business and add its weight to further assist in transforming Ethiopian coffee by partnering with smallholder farmers.

• Mission: Zebad’s mission is to export high quality, organic, washed and sun-dried coffee to the international market. Zebad seeks to serve the farmers at grassroot level and coffee importers by exceeding minimum acceptable quality standards and by providing the highest quality product at the lowest possible price. Zebad values that the farmers are at the core of business transaction and get maximum benefit out of the transaction. Zebad’s commitment to the farmers and the country will be reflected through honest and responsible business.

• Competitive Comparison: In order to differentiate its product from the products offered by competitors, Zebad’s beans are traceable, fresh and are shipped within few days of preparation. In addition, all of the farmers and associations from which Zebad purchases coffee adhere to environmentally sound farming practice and do not use pesticides and chemicals in their coffee production.

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