Boon Boona Coffee

Jimmy Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Sir Mix -A- Lot and Bill Russell, if these names don't ring a bell, you live under a rock.  

These famous Black Seattleites made history in music and sports; nevertheless, Seattle is America's coffee capital. Coffee is the sun that energizes this overcast city.  Even though Starbucks holds the reigns of the coffee scene in Seattle, many local roasters and independent cafes are making a name for themselves as some of the best coffee roasters in the U.S., and Boon Boona Coffe is no exception. "Boon" and "Boona," both meaning "coffee" in different East African languages. And at Boon Boona, they are committed to sharing the unique coffee and coffee traditions of this region — and to supporting coffee growers and our local community in the process.

Growing up in Seattle, Boon Boona founder, and CEO Efrem Fesaha was familiar with the experience of large coffee chains. Coming from an Eritrean family, he also grew up with the traditional coffee ceremony performed by Eritreans and Ethiopians, which is how many people from this region prepare their daily coffee cup.

In 2011, Efrem traveled to Asmara, Eritrea, and fell in love with the local coffee culture. The café experience there was unlike anything he'd seen back in Seattle: The cafes were filled with the scent of freshly roasted coffee and provided a welcoming community environment at the same time.

Returning home with newfound joy and excitement, Efrem set out to put his mark on the coffee industry. After banks rejected his initial business plan to open an East African coffee shop, Efrem didn't give up. Instead, he pivoted to sourcing quality green coffee from Ethiopia for East African communities in the U.S.

Soon his family and friends discovered that they could purchase quality green coffee from him. And since drinking coffee in East African culture is something you often do with others rather than by yourself, word spread fast, and before long, his coffee was being distributed in stores across the West Coast.

By 2016, following the requests of American friends who prefer roasted coffee, Efrem began experimenting with his own roasting techniques. This, too, took off, and he partnered with Seattle's Anchorhead Coffee Roasters to have his coffee roasted. Two years later, the Boon Boona Roastery and Café was born.

Today, Boon Boona has formed long-lasting, sustainable relationships with coffee producers, exporters, and importers in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and many more African nations, focusing on supporting woman-owned growers. This means that they cannot only source some of the best coffee from Africa, but we're also able to share a larger share of our profits directly with the growers while helping develop the African coffee industry.