Sweet Berry - Natural

Sweet Berry is a classic natural with a built in premium that the exporter uses to build wells in producer villages. This either improves or provides access to clean water, and is currently from Adame village.

Below is an excerpt from DR Wakefield's (our importer for this coffee) 2024 origin report: We started the Sweet Berry Project back in 2021 as a means of giving back to the communities from which we buy coffee. The aim of the project is to use part of the premium to fund clean water initiatives in Ethiopia. According to WaterAid, almost four in ten of the country’s 99 million don’t have clean water. Lack of this, alongside poor sanitation can lead to a whole host of preventable diseases. It is estimated that up to 80% of infectious disease cases in Ethiopia, and up to 15% of child deaths are caused by this (according to UNICEF). This year, we are happy to partner with local Ethiopian coffee exporter, BNT, to provide clean water to Idido Village in Yirgacheffe region. The Village itself sits at the top of the hill, with most villages living alongside the road on the ridge. At the end of 2023 we visited Idido village to see how we could use this project to help them. After touring their washing station and sitting in on a town hall session, we tried to visit some contributing farms but our 4×4 got stuck in the mud before we could get that far. A stark reminder of some of the issues these villagers face daily.

Cherries are harvested and picked individually by hand. Pickers rotate among trees every eight to ten days, choosing only the cherries that are a deep red colour. For the natural, the oldest method of processing coffee, the entire cherry after harvest is first cleaned and then placed in the sun to dry on tables lining the hills.