Tesfaye Bekele, the head of the Suke Quto Farm in the Guji region of Ethiopia, saw an opportunity to start his own farm after a wildfire nearly destroyed a nearby forest. Bekele distributed shade trees and coffee seedlings to roughly 150 locals so as to replant the forest and begin his dream of owning an environmentally friendly coffee farm and providing sustaining income to his community. Trabocca, an Amsterdam-based importer and longtime partner with Metropolis, began working with Bekele in 2009 after receiving a hand-delivered sample. As we are now aware, the quality and complexity was exceptional and the relationship between farmer and importer flourished into a true partnership. Trabocca covers the cost of the farm’s organic certification and offers premiums for outstanding quality to further boost their local economy. Metropolis is happy to welcome back this coffee to our menu as an outstanding example of the beautifully complex coffees we’ve come to expect from Ethiopia.
