Ethiopia Duromina Espresso - Organic

Duromina, which means "to improve lives" in the Afaan Oromoo language, is a coffee cooperative in southwestern Jimma Zone.

Cofee has grown here for generations but was traditionally processed using the dry, natural method.  Farmers paid little attention to quality control.  Despite an ideal climate and altitude for coffee growing, the area's coffee was known for its poor quality, resulting in low prices received by the farmers and having a negative effect on quality of life in the growing communities.

In 2010, around a hundred of local coffee farmers banded together to form Duromina. As the name suggests, their goal was simple: to improve their lives.  With technical support and business advice and access to finance through TechnoServe Coffee Initiative, the members acquired and installed a wet mill and began processing fully washed coffee for the first time.  These improvements helped Duromina produce high quality coffee and bring new prosperity to the community.  Two years after the cooperative was formed, an international panel of professional judges would select Duromina's coffee as the best in Africa, awarding the cooperative the top prize in the leading regional cupping competition.