Ethiopia Sidamo FTO G3 Natural - Shantagolba Coop

Cup notes available upon arrival

Bag Weight	60 KG BAG
Harvest Season	2026/27
Status	ETA Jul 2026
Lot Number	P615171-1

Carteret, NJ: 70 Bag(s)

Skip to the end of the images gallery

Skip to the beginning of the images gallery

About This Coffee

The Shantagolba Cooperative is a coffee-producing farmers’ organization located in the Bensa District of Sidama region of southern Ethiopia. It is part of the larger Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU), one of Ethiopia’s largest coffee unions, which represents tens of thousands of smallholder farmers. The cooperative consists of around 1,200–1,300 smallholder farmers, each typically cultivating less than one hectare of land. These farmers mainly grow heirloom Arabica coffee varieties alongside subsistence crops such as vegetables.

Beyond production, the cooperative contributes to rural development. Through SCFCU, it provides services such as training in organic and sustainable farming practices, infrastructure improvements (e.g., roads and storage facilities), and access to microcredit. It also supports social programs, including healthcare, education, and environmental initiatives, helping improve the livelihoods of farming communities. Overall, the Shantagolba Cooperative is an important example of how farmer cooperatives in Ethiopia help small-scale producers access global markets, improve coffee quality, and enhance economic and social conditions in rural areas.

Country of Origin	Ethiopia
Region	Bensa woreda, Sidama
Producer Type	Washing Station
Farm Name	Various smallholders
Processing	Natural/Dry Processed
Processing Description	Dried on raised beds
Growing Altitude	1800m - 2000m

Harvest Season	2026/27
Bag Weight	60 KG BAG
Bag Type	Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species	Arabica
Variety	Ethiopia Heirloom
Certifications	Organic Certified NOP, FLO Fairtrade Certified

History of Coffee in Ethiopia

Coffee is ancient in Ethiopia, but coffee farming is not. By the end of the 9th Century coffee was actively being cultivated in Ethiopia as food, but probably not as a beverage. It was the Arab world that developed brewing. Even as coffee became an export for Ethiopia in the late 1800’s, Ethiopian coffee was the result of gathering rather than agricultural practices. A hundred years ago, plantations, mostly in Harar, were still the exception, while “Kaffa” coffee from the southwest was still harvested wild. In 1935, William Ukers wrote: “Wild coffee is also known as Kaffa coffee, from one of the districts where it grows most abundantly in a state of nature. The trees grow in such profusion that the possible supply, at a minimum of labor in gathering, is practically unlimited. It is said that in south-western Abyssinia there are immense forests of it that have never been encroached upon except at the outskirts.”

Growing Coffee in Ethiopia

As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is home to more species of coffee plants than any place on earth, much of it still growing wild, and much of it still undiscovered. All Ethiopian coffee is Arabica and at least 150 varieties are commercially cultivated. Traditionally, these have simply been labelled as “heirloom varietals”; however, this is changing as the Jimma Agricultural Research Center works to identify species. Although there are a few estates in Ethiopia, 95% of coffee is grown by small land holders in a wide variety of environments, including “coffee forests” where coffee grows wild and is harvested by the local people. All specialty grade Ethiopian Coffee is grown above 4,000 feet and most above 6,000. In the highlands of Sidamo and Yirgacheffe, coffee can grow above 7,000 feet.