Ethiopia’s Specialty Coffee Drawing New Market Destinations

ENA,February 20/2020 As Ethiopia set out a major overhaul of its coffee production and export, specialty coffee is catching the interest of new international market destinations, Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority said.

Ethiopia has since been known as an agricultural country with leading export of variety coffees, but there is a new produce that is getting lots of attention-specialty coffee.

Specialty Coffee is a new variety of bean exporting trend that would boost enticement for Ethiopian Coffee at the international market, mainly to enter new market destinations.

In an exclusive interview with ENA Director-General of the Authority, Adugna Debela said that the country is working to double its revenue from coffee export and eyeing new destinations through its specialty coffee production.

He said that new demands from U.S, China and South Korea are picking Ethiopian specialty coffee, where the country goes on quest to build these countries as new market destinations.

Beyond the customary destinations Europe, the US and some Middle East countries, Ethiopia is now focusing on the Chinese market for the export of its specialty coffee, he stated.

“In addition to the existing market, our market for specialty coffee is increasing in the U.S and about 60 percent of US market is very interested in specialty coffee than the other coffee verities. Japan is also our second destination to our export of specialty coffee. However, the very recent market destination to Ethiopian coffee is China. We are penetrating the market in China through our specialty coffee production,” he said.

Researchers showed that Ethiopian coffee renowned globally for its level of quality and taste, which ranges from winy to fruity and chocolaty, making the country's coffees exceptional single delicious players in blends.

Initiatives by the government of Ethiopia have been a boost to coffee farmers to fully comply with global standards and regulations beyond encouraging farmers to produce additional high-quality beans. 

Accordingly, the current coffee reform that focused on improving specialty and value added coffee production has created big capacity for the coffee sector.

“We are encouraging our farmers to produce specialty coffee. The other thing is, previously our coffee development proclamation does not have any regulation regarding value added coffee but the new reform has put an article about promoting value added coffee. So, now our work is supported by proclamation and regulation,” he said.

Ethiopia is one of Africa’s principal producers of coffee Arabica, where the country garnered over 1.2 billion USD in revenue from the exports of coffee together with oilseeds during in the last Ethiopia fiscal year.

The Director-General said Ethiopia’s coffee export shows big change, where the country managed to export about 150,000 tons of coffee only in the last seven months which was unfeasible some years before.

Moreover, by increasing specialty coffee and value added coffee export, the country has managed to achieve about 81 percent of its plan, which helps to secure 407.53 million U.SD from the planned 505.84 million USD.