CQI has been involved in this incredibly important coffee origin since 2003 when Coffee Corps volunteers visited Ethiopia to train cuppers. Through Coffee Corps, USAID funded projects with ACDI/VOCA, DAI, Fintrac, SNV and private companies, CQI has done well over 50 trainings and events with over 80 individuals participating.
When the Ethiopia Commodity exchange (ECX) took Ethiopia by storm, many buyers were set to abandon Ethiopia coffee. CQI got involved in the trenches with ECX and re-defined arrival coffees and the 12 warehouses and enabled ECX to us Q graders and SCAA standards to differentiate the coffees. To this day, this process is used.
CQI has worked at the field level in Ethiopia to write production and processing manuals and to highlight advances internationally through trade shows and exporter forums. As a result of the level of activity from CQI and strong ties with the Ethiopian coffee sector, Ethiopia has established certified SCAA campuses; One is at ECX and another at METAD, a private company poised to execute specialty coffee exports and quality.This gives many opportunities for buyers to find outstanding coffees.
CQI more recently designed a profiling approach similar to Colombia and Guatemala with a group of scientists at the Jimma research station. This plan is still pending due to political issues within the coffee sector, but we are hopeful for its application in the near future.
Ethiopia will always be a key focus country for CQI and the strong relationships will continue.
