Sourcing

Ethiopia’s Early Start

Ethiopia season is off to its earliest start in Red Fox history. We spent December in country booking our first chop and are going back for round two. First containers are already on the water and will be here in the coming weeks.

First offerings are different than usual. Instead of our usual G1 Agaros, we have a mixture of G1 and G2 from Guji, Sidamo, Kochere, Yirgacheffe, and Limu including both washed and natural lots. Despite record cherry prices in Ethiopia (90+ birr per kilo where 28-30 birr was a really good price a few years ago and 16-18 birr 5-6 years ago), the coffees we sourced are priced and profiled for a range of menu positions.

Ethiopia's early start 2025Now that it’s January we’re going back for more, including the washing stations you know and love from Agaro.

Unlike in Kenya where the crop itself is early this year due to climate, the Ethiopia crop is arriving on time and early sourcing is due to trade factors. Usually, we’re the ones pushing trade and producing parters to see how early we can come buy coffee, but this year, they wanted to coordinate earlier buy-in to help finance their purchasing, which is our ideal. As a result, we get to look forward to a diverse array of first arrivals in mid-January.

Interested in sourcing coffee with us? Reach out at info@redfoxcoffeemerchants.comTo learn more about our work, check out our journal and follow us on Instagram @redfoxcoffeemerchants.

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