March invites us to pause and look closely.
In our case, to look to the origin.

Behind some of the most important coffees on our menu are women who have made difficult decisions, taken on responsibilities in complex contexts, and transformed structures that were not designed for them.

Heleanna Georgalis

Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia

To speak of Heleanna is to speak of character.

Born in Harar, into a family of Greek origin deeply linked to the coffee trade, her story was not linear. The civil war forced her to leave Ethiopia as a child. She grew up and was educated in Europe, built a solid career in finance, and, initially, her life seemed to be heading in another direction.

Everything changed in 2008, after the sudden death of her father, Yanni Georgalis, founder of Moplaco in 1972 and an internationally respected figure for his integrity and knowledge of Ethiopian coffee.

 

 

Heleanna had to decide: to continue a complex legacy in an unstable country and in a sector she was unfamiliar with, or to follow the professional path she had already built in Europe. She chose to return.

She did so without shortcuts. She trained in agronomy, roasting, cupping, and processing. She traveled, asked questions, learned, and exposed herself to the best producers and researchers in the world. Her approach was never romantic; it was technical and strategic. She understood that to sustain the legacy, she had to elevate it.

In Ethiopia, where social and political dynamics add constant layers of difficulty—and where being a female entrepreneur involves additional obstacles—Heleanna not only kept Moplaco going but transformed it.

Today, most of her team consists of women. Many of them have trained in quality control, selection, and processing. In Yirgacheffe, her project has contributed to the creation of a local school, understanding that coffee cannot grow in isolation from the community that sustains it.

 

 

Her work in the region relies on century-old coffee plantations, naturally evolved Ethiopian genetics, and small producers who deliver their cherries to the mill she manages. There, natural processing is carried out with extreme meticulousness. Part of the method remains confidential. And that too is part of her identity: innovation with discernment, not empty experimentation.

We have been working with Heleanna since 2016. A decade of direct relationship, long conversations, and mutual learning. In addition to the good results in the cup, what we value is her understanding of the long term.

In an environment where everything can change quickly, her project is based on something much more stable: knowledge, structure, and vision. And that is perceived long before the coffee reaches the cup.

Nesru Aba Nura

Oromia, Ethiopia

We met Nesru thanks to her husband Mensur, a producer with whom we have collaborated directly for eight years in the Oromia region. But we quickly understood that her role went far beyond that initial connection.

Nesru inherited the family farm and took over its management with determination. Today, she manages 8.5 hectares of coffee plantations and leads the project's development with a clear vision: consistency, continuous improvement, and long-term responsibility. A mother of four children, she combines the demands of the field with the management of the family business with a discipline that makes a difference in each harvest.

 

 

In 2024, she took a decisive step: she exported her coffee for the first time under her own name. She was the first woman in her family to do so. In a context where women's access to direct export is uncommon, this progress is not just commercial; it is structural.

This achievement opens doors for the generations to come. For her daughters, for other producers in the region, and for a different narrative about who can lead at the origin.

Nesru works with traditional local varieties, including the 74110 strain developed in the 1970s by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center from a mother tree in Bishari. But beyond the technical specifications, what defines her work is the execution: rigorous manual selection, controlled fermentations, and patient drying on African beds until optimal stability is achieved.

Nesru is building something of her own, step by step. And that process—discreet but firm—is precisely what gives depth to her work.

 

Beyond March

At Right Side Coffee, we don't work with female producers for symbolic or seasonal reasons. We work with people whose vision, ethics, and high standards align with ours.

But March is a good time to acknowledge something evident: specialty coffee cannot be sustained without the leadership of women at the origin. Women who manage mills, farms, teams, and exports in contexts where every decision involves risk.

Our responsibility, as roasters, is to support these long-term relationships. To buy with consistency. To communicate with respect. And to focus where it truly matters: on the people who make each harvest possible.

Because behind every cup we serve, there are brave decisions that began long before the coffee arrived in Barcelona.