SLU Startup Aims To Directly Connect US Roasters With Ethiopian Coffee Farmers – CoffeeTalk

Firaol Ahmed, a St. Louis University student, is a coffee connoisseur and startup co-founder of Moii Coffee, a company aimed at improving the supply chain for Ethiopian coffee farmers and producers. Ahmed’s startup, Moii Coffee, involves a multiday process of cupping high-quality Ethiopian coffee, starting with light roasting several batches of green coffee beans 48 hours in advance. The coffee is then tasted, given a score, and a tasting note to make it easier for customers to make a decision in purchasing from Ethiopian producers.

Ahmed weighs each sample of beans on a food scale, grinds them separately, and pours them into a cup. He then uses his nose to smell the fresh grounds and steeps the samples in hot water to brew the coffee. This process gives the coffee a complex flavor and fruit-forward taste that many roasters love.

Mourii Coffee aims to fix a broken supply chain that leaves coffee farmers and producers in Ethiopia with little to no selling power. Ahmed started the company from his SLU dorm, driven in part by his family’s story of no longer being able to rely on the profits from their coffee as their sole source of income.

Coffee farmers in Ethiopia often fall prey to middlemen who only agree to buy their coffee well below its value. Ahmed’s startup aims to help fix this issue by providing a better alternative for farmers, ensuring they don’t have to wait for another buyer to give them the right price or risk their families’ financial stability.

Ethiopia, the largest coffee producer in Africa, is heavily dependent on the coffee supply chain for its livelihood. A 2023 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service found that 25% of Ethiopians depend directly or indirectly on the coffee supply chain to survive. This led to the creation of Moii Coffee, an online platform that connects Ethiopian coffee farmers and producers with independent roasters in the U.S. The platform aims to help producers access the international market and roasters by allowing them to buy directly from the source.

Cofounders Andy Irakoze and Firaol Ahmed have taken steps to safeguard their platform from greedy middlemen vying for access to the international market. Each farmer and roaster who creates an account on Moii’s website goes through a background check to ensure they are trustworthy. The platform charges a service fee to buyers, collecting coffee beans from Ethiopian producers and farmers, bringing them to the U.S., and distributing them to independent roasters.

The prices are set by the farmers and producers themselves, and everything the farmers and producers earn goes directly to them through the platform. Ahmed says their company puts the selling power back in the hands of farmers and producers, allowing them to give price to their coffees themselves.

Moii Coffee’s goal is to expand beyond Ethiopia, as the broken coffee supply chain goes well beyond Ethiopia and is global. The platform charges a service fee to buyers, and the prices are set by the farmers and producers themselves. The platform puts the selling power back in the hands of farmers and producers, allowing them to determine the value of their coffee.

In the past three years, Firaol Ahmed co-founded a startup called Moii Coffee in his dorm room with coffee beans from his family’s farm in Ethiopia. He decided to share the beans with his SLU track coaches and teammates, believing it was a part of being Ethiopian. The idea of sharing coffee with others was a hit, and Ahmed quickly sold out of the coffee he had roasted. He even tried to sell the coffee in St. Louis coffee shops, which they declined. This rejection sparked Ahmed to keep going, believing he had a competitive advantage compared to big companies just going to Ethiopia to import.

Samson Zi, a coffee producer and cofounder of And Coffee, and Firaol Ahmed sort through coffee fruits in Bensa Sidama, Ethiopia, to help build the startup’s digital platform. Ahmed witnessed the time, labor, and dedication that goes into a single cup of coffee when visiting Ethiopia during peak harvest season. He heard about the devotion to his trade, the importance of coffee trees, and the dedication of Ethiopian farmers to their craft.

Ahmed visited Alo Coffee’s Bona Station, a coffee site in Sidama, where coffee cherries are grown from coffee trees and cherries go through a vigorous wash in a machine that separates the cherry from the seed. A group of young women in a shed scooped out fermented coffee cherries out of large blue plastic drums and added them to one of the many long wooden beds to dry out in the sun. They did this work singing, leaving a strong impression on Ahmed.

Ahmed also connected with Samson Zi, the cofounder of And Coffee, as well as a coffee producer. His business works with roughly 400 farmers, including Yure, who comes from a long line of coffee farmers. Zi is working to change that for them and future farmers by partnering with Moii Coffee because its vision perfectly aligned with his.

Zi said that farmers in Ethiopia are finally securing a win of their own by selling coffee at a better price, building schools, partnering with roasters, and changing the livelihood of farmers.

Moii Coffee is a platform that amplifies the voices of Ethiopian coffee farmers and producers, putting humanity back into coffee. Ahmed witnessed the dedication and hard work put into producing coffee, and he believes that people who buy their coffees should learn more about the effort and care put into producing these coffees.

In conclusion, Moii Coffee is a platform that aims to put humanity back into coffee production by empowering Ethiopian coffee farmers and producers. By sharing their stories and providing a fair market for coffee, Moii Coffee is working towards a more sustainable and equitable coffee industry for all.

Firaol Ahmed has secured partnerships with independent roasters like St. Louis’ Northwest and Sump, showcasing the value of Moii’s mission by carrying high-quality Ethiopian coffee. Ahmed’s company, Moii, is a non-profit, member-supported public media organization that supports local journalism and ensures the news service remains strong and accessible to all.

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