Blog Post - 2026 Ethiopia Origin Trip – Fuglen Coffee Roasters Oslo

ETHIOPIA 2026 ORIGIN TRIP

In February, Corey, our head of marketing, traveled to Ethiopia to visit our good friend Heleanna Georgalis to visit her coffee farm, Kawo Kamino, as well as meet up with Yusho from Fuglen Coffee Roasters Toyko to cup this year's harvest.

Visiting Kawo Kamino - Sheka, Ethiopia

Hidden away in the indigenous forests of Sheka lies Kawo Kamino, a coffee farm and processing station owned and operated by Moplaco Trading. Here coffee is cultivated under the shade of ancient trees and great lengths are taken to ensure this natural environment is preserved.

This 170 hectare farm sits at elevations ranging from 1900-2100 masl. It produces honey (both using traditional and modern hives), raises around 80 chickens, has goats, horses and cattle, as well as growing mangos, avocados, false banana, banana, turmeric, black pepper, and other crops for the staff to use. The station is equipped with raised drying beds, storage facilities, a wet mill for honey processing, an office, kitchen, and guest house. It is fed by two rivers and even has a small lake that they are populating with fish. It is a natural sanctuary for birds, monkeys, and numerous other wildlife, all while it produces around 200,000kg of coffee cherry. However, maintaining this kind of land comes with many challenges.

Sheka really is a magical place. Unfortunately, other land owners in the area are actively removing the forest to make way for agriculture. This slash and burn method destroys the indigenous forest and severely reduces the biodiversity of the area. One of the impacts this is having on Kawo Kamino is that wildlife is being driven into the farm as the habitat is reduced. While it is entertaining to see more birds, monkeys and baboons, this also brings more pests, like mole-rats that are actively eating and destroying the roots of the coffee trees and shade trees. All of the coffee on the farm is grown organically and biodynamically, meaning they use no commercial or synthetic pest, fungal or herbicides. They rather rely on natural means to manage these challenges. This means that the impact of a reduction in shade trees, for example, has an immediate effect on the growth and productivity of coffee trees.

Moplaco is constantly experimenting with different varieties and growing methods to increase the yield of their coffee trees. However, this is not done easily and often feels like an up-hill battle against the resources, weather, and natural environment. Despite this, they are seeing an increase in productivity as well as being able to diversify and offer unique products like honey from stingerless bees, coffee blossom tea, pepper, tumeric, and more. All of which can be found in their Galani coffee shops in Addis!

This was Corey's second time to Sheka, and it was amazing to see the change in the 6 years since he was there last. We are looking forward to receive a lot of honey processed coffee from the Kawo Kamino farm in Oslo!

Cupping in Addis

Moplaco Trading also operates several washing and drying stations around Ethiopia where they source coffee directly from local producers. In Addis, Corey was joined by Yusho from Fuglen Coffee Roasters Tokyo and Masahiro from Weekenders Coffee in Kyoto. Together they cupped coffees from Moplaco and also spent some time with our friends at Tropiq, a subsidiary of Nordic Approach. This year, the harvest was quite late so the selection of coffees was a bit lower than typical for the time of the year. We were able to taste a lot of great washed coffees, but many of the naturals were still on their way to Addis. Regardless, the sneak peaks prove vital for getting an idea of the coffees we will take in, what we can expect from Ethiopia this year.

These trips often serve multiple functions, most importantly allowing us to connect with our producing partners and taste the current harvest, but also as a way to connect as a Fuglen team. Over the last years we have made a concerted effort to coordinate our trips so that we can travel together with our Fuglen Tokyo team, but also friends from other coffee roasteries around the world. not only to we get work done, cupping and selecting coffees together, but we also get to enjoy valuable time together over food, coffee, and activities wherever we are!