Ethiopia Ayele Tulu
Coffee Roots
Ayele Tulu got into the coffee business later in life after a 45-year career in Awassa where he worked for various government agencies and organizations, establishing government offices after the region transitioned into the SNNPP. After he retired, he began a washing station in his ancestral home in Bona Zuria as a way to establish something to pass on to his children (he has six children from two wives—three with each). Tsegab, his second child from his first wife, is involved in his washing station at Bona Zuria, as is his brother, Yohanis, where they buy cherry from 300 smallholders in the area, processing them as naturals, anaerobic naturals and washed coffees.