[G]reen importer Cafe Imports announced that the company is opening a new Ethiopia sourcing office in Addis Ababa. Cupping, purchasing, and developmental operations for the East African region will all take place in the new hub. Claudia Bellinzoni, Cafe Imports’ green coffee buyer for Africa will staff the office full-time during the post-harvest season, December through March. Cafe Imports is celebrating the opening by hosting a series of Open Door cupping sessions in the new location and inviting roasters from around the world to join them in co-approving offer samples or requesting samples of their own from particular lots and washing stations.
“When customers come for Open Door dates, they’re not going to just cup with me and then we’ll sit around looking at each other,” explains Bellinzoni. “It will be with the producers and other employees as well. It’s just that to travel something like ten hours over bumpy roads to the washing stations when at that point, by February the harvest is mostly over.”
Cafe Imports hopes that the new office will allow roasters and buyers to expedite contracts, and secure their Ethiopian buys for the year.
