A group of green coffee professionals in Ethiopia have taken a step to progressing the nation’s specialty coffee sector through the launch of the Specialty Coffee Association of Ethiopia (SCAE).
Founded by inaugural President Ashenagi Argaw (Founder of Ardent Coffee), Faysel Abdoshi (Founder of Testi Coffee), Kenean Assefa (Daye Bensa Coffee executive), and 2021 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence winner Tamru Tadessa, SCAE is launching with a new green coffee program, Best of Ethiopia.
“Our goal is simple but ambitious,” SCAE President Ashenagi Argaw says. “We want to showcase the best of Ethiopian specialty coffee, strengthen traceability and quality standards, and provide a platform for our producers to be recognised globally.”
Ethiopia is widely attributed as the generic birthplace of Arabica coffee, but the group is targeting the uncovering and documentation of more than 10,000 unique coffee varieties in the country, alongside supporting producers to build market connections.
The launch of SCAE was celebrated at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa and was attended by Director of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority H.E. Dr Adunga Debela and State Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture H.E. Dr Efa Muleta.
Ethiopia, like other coffee origins, has seen coffee price records tumble at auctions this year, while it has also seen export figures boom.
Tadessa’s Alo Coffee sold a single lot of coffee for US$1739 per kilogram at the Echoes of the Peak auction hosted by M-Cultivo earlier this year.
Trade Minister Kassahun Gofe also revealed Ethiopia exported 470,000 tons of coffee in the 2017 Ethiopian fiscal calendar year, which concluded in July 2025, worth in excess of US$2.6 billion.
The Specialty Coffee Association of Ethiopia is not directly aligned with the United Stated- and United Kingdom-based Specialty Coffee Association.
