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Buno Coffee Trading is a relatively small exporter who manage 7 washing stations located in the area of Guji in Ethiopia’s southern region. Very high terroir at well over 2000 masl and an abundance of relatively young, healthy trees whose maturation is gradual, means ideal conditions for producing outstanding cup qualities. Producers in the area grow their coffee around the lush forests on the hills and village outskirts under the shade of indigenous trees like Cordia Africana, Acacia and Albizzia.

Buno was established in 2018 and is managed by Mr.Abiyot who oversees the selection of partner farmers, the processing of cherry and the drying practices. Buno is focused on working with farmers with between 8-15 hectares of land which makes quality improvements easier to manage and ensures that produced volumes of cherry can be separated into single producer micro-lots. To ensure that farmers wait to pick only fully ripened cherries, Buno pays farmers a premium of one birr for every kilo delivered after the harvest. Additionally, Buno provides a credit line to farmers during the off-season for harvest related expenses. The loan is then deducted from their payment upon cherry selection, interest free.

The cherry selection we have witnessed at Buno’s sites are by far the best we have seen in Ethiopia. One of Buno’s sites, Dikitu, has 120 raised beds which is are exclusively for processing natural coffees.

The word 'Buliye' means 'boarding' in the Afaan Oromoo language, and is the name of the small village around which coffee produced for this lot comes from. 11 growers contributed coffee to the lot who, on average, how farms of 5 hectares in size. Farmers are paid around 45-50 Ethiopian Birr/kg farm gate price for their cherry. Coffee in the area grows under native shade trees such as false banana, acacia and Wanza. The native soil is fertle volcanic red soil and sandy loam.

The washing station was established in 2005.