We are very excited to bring this coffee to you!

Mate Matosa and his wife, Tsehaynesh Girma, are one of them. Mate, Tsehaynesh and their ten children -three of whom are adopted- have been cultivating coffee on their 6ha farm near Doko, Bensa, in the famous Sidama coffee growing region of Ethiopia. Mate is doing an excellent job preparing his land for growing coffee and selecting and planting improved coffee cultivars to improve coffee quality, yield and disease resistance. As a single farm lot producer, Mate and four of his children hire seasonal, and daily labourers to hand-pick ripe coffee cherries once harvest time arrives. 5Ha of Mate Matosa’s farm is currently planted for coffee.

The cherry-picking process is very labour intensive; pickers must often return to the same tree multiple times over the harvest season. Catalyst and Mate’s family teamed up with Asnake Bekele, a key player in the Ethiopian market, to encourage single producers such as Mate Matosa to process their coffee for better income and a more direct relationship. As such, cherries are brought to Asnake’s washing station, and he is helping Mate and his family with processing. Coffee is brought to the station, hand-sorted laid on raised drying beds where they are spread out in thin layers. The cherries are turned up to 6 times per day. It can take 15 to 21 days for Mate’s lot to reach optimum moisture content, depending on the sun access and temperature. This is determined by traditional knowledge and craftsmanship: skin brightness is closely monitored, and moisture level is assessed using your teeth to crack a sample of dried cherries. Mate and his family are very quality focused and his working hard to expand his coffee farm business in ways that can help him produce award winning coffees.