Coffee Delays in Ethiopia

Every year brings its own issues with sourcing green coffee. It always requires flexibility and the ability to turn on a dime. Everyone expected that COVID-19 would brings certain challenges to the coffee industry. Consumers would need to save expendable income, retail locations would slow down, and many businesses would struggle to survive. This, of course, also impacts coffee producers around the world. 

A pandemic, naturally, is different from an international recession because it also caused social distancing and closed businesses around the world. This can, naturally, be difficult for coffee producers who are used to working closely with one another, and are selling a raw product that must be harvested at particular times. 

But, combine this pandemic with an environmental crisis, economic crisis, political crisis, and human rights crisis, and it can lead to enormous effects.  Recently, Hachalu Hundessa, a singer and human rights activist, was murdered in Ethiopia. This was followed by mass riots and protests, and the Ethiopian government shutting down the internet nationwide. As a result, exporters and importers are unable to communicate with coffee producers. Sprinkle in low precipitation that inevitably delayed the coffee harvest, transit issues related to the coronavirus pandemic which delay products from one country to another–you can see how this adds up. 

Coffee will be strange this year. We all know that. But we are grateful for every producer, every exporter, every importer, every shipping company that helps us receive a product that we know you’ll love. 

Our staple Ethiopian lot just arrived! Get you some Wild Horse!