Ethiopian Coffee Lab Becomes First in Africa with SCAA Certification

Skip Finley (right) of the SCAA Board Congratulates Aman Adinew, CEO of Metad.

A privately owned coffee laboratory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has become the first coffee lab in Africa certified by the SCAA.

The METAD/Kabu Coffee Quality Control Laboratory was visited two weeks ago by Skip Finley of the SCAA Board of Directors and Marty Curtis of the Coffee Quality Institute, becoming the 40th SCAA-certified laboratory in the world. The majority of labs certified by the group are in the United States and South Korea, but labs dot the globe, from the Americas to Europe to Asia.

The METAD lab will be operated by Metad Agricultural Development, a private group with rights to farm land in the fertile Oromia and Southern Nations and Nationalities Regional states. The group sells arabica beans to roasters and wholesalers globally. It also operates the Kabu Coffee consumer brand, roasting coffee for retail coffee shops. Metad says it plans to soon introduce the Kabu brand to Russia and the United States.

“The laboratory will be used to train farmers from around the country to improve the quality of the coffees they produce; and it will assist international buyers, roasters and importers with gaining access to consistent quality coffees,” Aman Adinew, CEO of Metad, said in an announcement last week.