Belco Ethiopia agency

Forest Coffees® occupy a unique place.

Launched a few years ago with the active support of all our Belco teams and roasters, the concept has now matured and grown in solidity. Ethiopia has two great strengths, not found anywhere else: a rich environmental heritage and farming practices that have been perfected over time. The Forest Coffees® brand was our Ethiopia branch’s first major venture.

Our coffees begin their journey in Ethiopia’s highlands. The country boasts not only a vast reservoir of wild coffee varieties, but also the necessary environment, with its famous high-altitude forests. The coffee agroforestry systems as we know them emerged from this combination of plant heritage and local Ethiopian know-how. With the help of people on the ground, the coffee industry has made these forests productive, effectively ensuring the preservation of their heritage. 

We are encouraging producers to continue down this path by educating them on active canopy management. For example, we have begun setting up nurseries to renew shade trees more efficiently. These projects are already in place in Goma and Gera, thanks to Mustafa Mohamed Ali and Khalid Shifa, as well as at the Tatmara farm in Kaffa. We are working to further develop this type of initiative and to give roasters a more active role.