From Red Fox President & co-founder Aleco Chigounis:
Yiannis Georgalis was born in Hirna, Harrar in 1940. His parents left Europe during the Nazi occupation of Europe in 1930s, moving from Greece to a country with similar Orthodox Christian roots. Yiannis grew up in and around the coffee industry and went on to found Moplaco in 1971 in the city of Dire Dawa, Harrar.
Moplaco became famous worldwide for Harrar coffee, specifically high-level sundried coffee, what we now call Grade 1 Naturals. Yiannis’s meticulous approach to sorting on the drying beds became the gold standard for natural production. Even layering of the fruit across the raised beds is critical to uniform fermentation and sound drying. Moplaco perfected the art several decades ago.
The Story Continues
Very sadly, Yiannis passed away in 2008, two years after we met for for the first time at his offices and dry mill in Addis Ababa. Yiannis was famous for his strong character and opinions and left a lasting impression on me after our very first meeting. I remember him putting one sundried natural coffee on the table next to one washed coffee and asking, “so which one is the fermented coffee? You tell me which coffee is fermented.”
Heleanna Georgalis returned to Ethiopia to take control of her family’s company in 2008 after spending many years living, studying, and working in Europe. Heleanna found my contact in her father’s rolodex; the rest is history. We’ve traveled to Harrar on a couple of occasions these past 18 years including once with my father—one of the most memorable trips of my life. Heleanna has not only continued her father’s legacy, she’s doubled down on it by acquiring farms and building out washing stations in Sheka, Illubabor, Bensa, Sidamo, Kercha, Guji, Gedeb, and Gedeo in addition to the company’s sites in Dire Dawa, Chelelektu, Kochore, and Yirgacheffe town.
Heleanana’s focus on quality is elite albeit micro in production. We have a very small volume of transcendent coffees from Moplaco to offer this summer:
Moplaco’s Cornucopia 
Chelbessa G1 washed:
Another ode to Gedeb from our offering list. Chelbessa is like a bright red flashing light of a flavor profile; a cup that screams freshly harvested strawberry, red currants, and watermelon from the rooftop.
Bensa Kokosa/Bensa Segera G1 washed:
Many moons ago Heleanna asked me where I thought she should build her first washing station. My answer was, unequivocally, Bensa. I had been chasing an elusive flavor profile from the Hache Cooperative within the Sidamo Union umbrella for over a decade at that point. A coffee that made me think green every time I tasted it. Green as is lemon-lime. Green as in grape, though with effervescence in spades a la the finest Chardonnay from Champagne. Heleanna’s unique process adds something bigger to those notes as well. I often think of black cherry soda when tasting these coffees. Whatever it is specifically, these coffees sparkle.
Kawa Kamino G1 Honey:
Kawa Kamino is Heleanna’s first foray into larger format farming. Deep in the forests of Sheka, Illubabor Kawa Kamino is simply stunning. The area feels like home for coffee. It feels like the proper canopy that we’ve continually read that coffee thrives under. A visit here will make one curious about what coffee can and should be.
Kawa Kamino honey is a vibrant, crowd pleaser of a coffee. I taste tart, refreshing green apple and juicy honeydew melon.
Kercha G1 Sundried:
Not all naturals are created equal. Tired of those artificial strawberry flavors ubiquitous in naturally processed coffee across the producing world? Had enough kombucha flavor for a lifetime? How about blood orange acidity married to mango like sweetness and ripe and cantaloupe-esque finish? This is what happens when cherry is selected properly hour after hour, day after day on the drying beds. A natural that has true sense of place: Northern Guji tried and true.
Interested in sourcing coffee with us? Reach out at info@redfoxcoffeemerchants.com. To learn more about our work, check out our journal and follow us on Instagram @redfoxcoffeemerchants.