Haru

Situated cose to well-known town of Yirgacheffe, the Haru washing station has cultivated a distinct profile that demands its own recognition. Haru plays a huge part in the history of Ethiopian coffee as one of the first washing stations to draw attention to quality Ethiopian coffee and bring it to a worldwide audience.

Controls around buying coffee in Ethiopia are difficult to navigate, so solid relationships and communications are essential. Washing stations are not allowed to export their own coffee, and they need to work with an additional exporter. The owner of Haru, Komilachu, works closely with Tracon, who export this coffee for DR Wakefield: one of our valued importing partners. Wakefield have been working together with Komilachu and Tracon for over 10 years, and 2025 is our fourth year of buying this coffee from Wakefield.

Introduced to Ethiopia at Haru washing stations in the 1970's, wet processing involves hand sorted cherries being pulped and lightly fermented, before being washed in clean running water and dried to 11.5% humidity on raised beds. The water is closely monitored to control fermentation times — including TDS and pH readings. After drying, the parchment coffee is stored locally, then taken to the dry mill in Addis Ababa to be hulled, laser colour sorted, and then bagged for export.