La Colina farm, translated into “The Hill”, is called like this because of the elevations of the land, and the hill on which it is located. It was the father of Tony Medina who decided to give the farm this name. He inherited the plot from his dad, who distributed his farm as smaller plots among all his children. Initially, Tony planted only basic grains like corn and beans. But he also tells that it has always been his dream to have a coffee farm. And at a young age, when he didn’t have anything yet, he started to work on different coffee farms to learn and gain experience. In 1991, the first coffee tree was planted. Slowly but steady, Tony increased the number of trees and the production. After 25 years, Tony concludes that his dream has come true. It taught him that his perseverance has paid off. The varieties on his farm are Caturra and Bourbon. He wants to plant other varieties to improve his quality even more. Another plan of his is to work with African raised beds to improve drying and overall quality.

This coffee is sourced from METAD Agricultural Development PLC (METAD). METAD is a third-generation family owned business with a rich history that began after World War II when the Ethiopian Emperor awarded Muluemebet Emiru, the first African female pilot and family matriarch, with land in the Guji and Sidama zones that has become the Hambela Coffee Estate. METAD is managed by Aman Adinew who returned to Ethiopia after many years working abroad at the executive level for multiple fortune 500 companies because he wanted to make a difference for his family and community. Through Aman’s leadership, METAD has strengthened the local community with employment opportunities including a workforce that is over seventy percent women, educational opportunities including university scholarships and sponsorship for a state-of-the-art elementary school with more than 700 students, and healthcare for employees. METAD was also first to partner with Grounds for Health in Ethiopia to implement a successful cervical cancer screening program for women within the coffee growing communities. METAD has an expanding Out-grower program designed to provide technical assistance, share modern farming equipment, and provide certification programs for more than 5,000 local farmers who are paid premiums for their cherry and second payments after coffee is sold. Quality and certification premiums have also helped METAD build roads and community centers. METAD has the first and only private state-of-the-art SCAA certified coffee quality control lab on the African continent used to train both domestic and international coffee professionals.