For
the 8,000 attendees at the Specialty Coffee
Association of America’s (SCAA) 20th
Annual Conference & Exhibition it was all about
the coffee - and Ethiopia.
From May 2-5 in Minneapolis,
Ethiopia and its legendary coffees were on full
display during the SCAA Conference, which is the
largest gathering of coffee professionals in the
world. Ethiopia was featured prominently due to
its role as the Portrait Country Sponsor - the
first time an African nation has been selected
for that honor.
From the
opening ceremony, which featured Ethiopian
musicians and swirling dancers in colorful
attire and keynote presentations by Ethiopian
dignitaries, to seminars, exhibits, a
sophisticated exhibitor booth and a traditional
coffee ceremony, Ethiopia was everywhere. It was
simply impossible for conference participants to
ignore Ethiopia - tremendous banners in the
colors of the Ethiopian flag featuring the
traditional jebena coffee pot hung from
the convention center floor to the upper reaches
of the building’s skywalk.
Recognized as the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia
saw the SCAA gathering as a major opportunity to
build upon the momentum its surging coffee
industry has been experiencing, helped in no
small part by Ethiopia’s partnership with coffee
giant Starbucks.
Evidence
of just how seriously Ethiopia took its role as
the featured country could be found in the
60-person delegation that it sent to Minnesota.
In addition to 40 coffee exporters and 10
farmers’ cooperative representatives, Ethiopia
also sent 10 official representatives, including
high-level government officials.
Yacob
Yalla, State Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, and Dr. Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s
Ambassador to the U.S., made the rounds at this
year’s conference discussing the latest advances
made by the government to boost Ethiopia’s
coffee industry. Joining them was Getachew
Mengistie, the Director General of the Ethiopian
Intellectual Property Office and the brains
behind Ethiopia’s campaign to trademark its
luxury coffee brands, including Sidamo,
Yirgacheffe and Harar.
Tadesse
Meskela, the head of the Oromia Coffee Farmers
Cooperative Union was also present, and was
recognized by a number of conference-goers who
were first introduced to him on-screen in the
coffee documentary Black Gold.
A major
highlight of the SCAA fete was the series of
addresses delivered by Ambassador Assefa, State
Minister Yalla, and Mengiste. During his speech,
which brought some in the audience to tears,
Assefa explained how Ethiopia’s trademarking and
licensing of its luxury coffees is improving the
lives of famers who harvest the nation’s “black
gold.” (Click
here to read the full text of Ambassador
Assefa’s speech)
Assefa
said that Ethiopia was “delighted to have been
chosen as the portrait country sponsor at such a
preeminent global coffee event,” and described
the SCAA conference as “an unparalleled
opportunity to present the fruits of our efforts
to produce the world’s finest coffees.” The
event also enabled Ethiopia to “share the unique
culture and heritage that help make Ethiopia
such a fascinating country,” he added.
In his
remarks, State Minister Yalla, dressed in
traditional Ethiopian attire for the occasion,
touched upon the rich history and traditions of
Ethiopia. He also explained the lengths to which
the Ethiopian government is going to ensure that
Ethiopia’s coffee beans remain the finest in the
world.
Mengistie, the Director
General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property
Office in Addis Ababa, said, “Ethiopia grows
some of the world’s matchless single origin
coffees with their most unique range of flavor
and aroma profiles. As the Portrait Country of
the SCAA conference, the land that introduced
this gift to the world showcased its
millennium-long love affair with coffee before
the ultimate coffee connoisseurs.”
During
the conference’s welcome reception, the sights,
smells and sounds of Ethiopia were on full
display. More than 15 members of the Ethiopian
cultural band provided the soundtrack as
dazzling Ethiopian models in traditional dress
and dancers wowed conference delegates as they
feasted on traditional Ethiopian cuisine.
Adding
to the excitement generated by its delegation
and the various activities at the conference,
Caribou Coffee’s organic-certified Ethiopian
Yirgacheffe won the top honors during the
Conference’s Roasters Choice competition for
best coffee.
Ethiopia
recently inked a licensing agreement Caribou
Coffee, having previously signed a similar deal
with Starbucks. Ethiopia now enjoys strong
relationships with both of America’s top two
coffee companies.
During the SCAA Conference and Exhibition,
Ethiopia signed more than a dozen new licensing
agreements with coffee companies taking part in
the conference. Ethiopia has already
trademarked its fine coffee brands in 28
countries and has signed licensing agreements
with more than 70 foreign coffee companies,
roasters and distributors and 50 Ethiopian
coffee exporters including three coffee farmer
and producer unions.
During
the SCAA conference, Ethiopia also attracted
thousands of visitors to its booth, which
featured information about its coffee industry
and trademarking and licensing initiatives.
On-hand at the booth at all times was a wide
range of Ethiopian coffee exporters and
experts. Delegates also were drawn to the
Ethiopian booth in order to experience a
traditional coffee ceremony, which were held
throughout the duration of the conference.
The
Ethiopian coffee ceremony typically begins with
a young woman dressed in traditional garb
roasting coffee beans in a flat pan over a small
charcoal stove as incense burns. The woman
conducting the ceremony washes coffee beans on
the heated pan and visitors are invited to
inhale the aromatic scent. The beans are
stirred, the husks shaken away, and the coffee
beans are then ground by hand in a mortar and
pestle.
The
coffee grinds are slowly stirred into a clay
coffee pot known as a jebena, which is
rounded at the bottom, has a long, thin neck and
is topped by a straw lid. Once the coffee has
been brought to a boil and the grounds have been
given a chance to settle, the coffee it is
poured into tiny china cups and served to the
guests.
The
impression that Ethiopia left on
conference-goers will not easily be forgotten.
Both the coffee and the country itself combined
to create an experience and impression of the
country that appears destined to last for years
to come. Many of the delegates were overheard
commenting that the efforts by Ethiopia helped
to make this the best SCAA conference ever.
Coming
off the success of those efforts, senior members
of the delegation then traveled to Seattle for
meetings with top Starbucks executives,
including CEO Howard Schultz. The purpose of
the discussions was to discuss ongoing
cooperative efforts and to follow-up on a series
of meetings held last November in the Ethiopian
capital Addis Ababa.
-- Eyob
Tekalign Tolina is the head of the
economic and business section of the
Ethiopian Embassy in Washington. He can
be reached via email at
eyobjobt@yahoo.com or by phone at
202-274-4562 or fax at 202-587-0195.
Facts about
Ethiopia’s Coffee Industry
---Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee,
is Africa’s leading arabica coffee
producer and exporter.
---Coffee derives its
name from the Kaffa region where the
coffee plant is believed to have
originated.
---Ethiopia grows some of
the finest coffees in the world,
including Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe.
---In January, the price
of Ethiopia’s finest coffees rose by as
much as 16 percent and exports more than
doubled. Over the next five years, the
government hopes to boost coffee
production by 20 percent.
---Ethiopia has
trademarked its fine coffee brands in 28
countries and has signed licensing
agreements with more than 800foreign
coffee companies, roasters and
distributors and 50 Ethiopian coffee
exporters including three coffee farmer
and producer unions.
---Ethiopia produced
330,000 tons of beans in 2007-2008.
Sources: Embassy of Ethiopia and the
Ethiopian Intellectual Property
Office.