ETHIOPIA GERBA DOGO LOT 02

Shonora was established 30 years ago by Mr. Shonora Gata, with a wet coffee processing station in Sakicha and a farm near the town of Gerba. Gata's two sons, Adugna and Morkata, took over the station three years ago and have since been in charge of overseeing numerous changes and improvements, including station expansion and equipment modernization. Currently, the station processes coffee cherries from up to 150 local farmers who operate farms between 2,100 and 2,300 metres above sea level, ranging in size from 0.5-8 hectares.

Over the past few years, the producers in this region have encountered a number of difficulties, including rising labour costs that make the conventional method of cherry harvesting more expensive and a lack of fixed cherry prices that makes transportation and forward planning challenging. Shonora has dealt with these issues by making improvements to the transportation system and by giving larger farms interest-free advance payments to help with harvest expenses. Farmers who provide the best cherries to the station are rewarded annually by Shonora, providing motivation for them to improve their connections. The names of the producers are on the lot.