Our Story

Our Founder’s Story

My name is Yonas (Aka Yilikal) Alemu. Ethiopian by birth, and like many of my compatriots, my childhood and upbringing was intertwined with farming Teff.

I was born and brought up in a small farming village called Jiga in northern Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Highlands. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of getting up before dawn and walking through the morning dew barefoot to help in the Teff farms. It should all be a distant memory now, as I left it all for Europe having won a university scholarship nearly three decades ago.

After finishing my education in Europe and becoming a certified Financial Risk Manager, I spent 17 years working in some of the world’s top investment banks. Despite all the changes in my life, I found myself spending an increasing amount of time sitting on the trading floor daydreaming about the small village and the farmers I had left behind so many years ago. I knew that the experience of farming Teff had left an indelible mark on me. In 2014 I noticed that some health food stores around the City of London where I worked had Teff on their shelves. What is more, I discovered that it all came not from its origin Ethiopia, but from the US where the seed is commercially cultivated. From the day I found this out it was impossible for me to reconnect and focus on my busy day job.

I was no more the banker but preoccupied with what I left behind so many years back. It was time to tell the story of the ancient journey of Teff and the Ethiopian farmers who toiled for millennia to bring this versatile grain to the world.

Lovegrass Ethiopia was born.

Our Story

the beginning

Growing up in Ethiopia, Yonas (Yilikal) Alemu’s childhood was intertwined with farming Teff – a simple way of life dating back to biblical times.

the beginning

After winning a University scholarship Yonas moved to Europe where he pursued a career in Financial Management.

the beginning

After 17 years working in some of the world’s top banks, Yonas was shocked to come across US grown Teff in a London health-food store.

the year 2016

It was time to share Ethiopian Teff with the world: To tell the story of its ancient journey, the farmers who grow it and share its nutritional benefits and delicious flavour.

the year 2016

With investment licence in hand, Yonas set about forming relationships with farmers and investing in farms to guarantee consistent, good quality supply of Teff Grain.

the year 2016

In 2016 Yonas set about building the Raw Material Manufacturing and Grain Storage in Sululta, Ethiopia to realise his dream of exporting Ethiopian products to the world.

the year 2018

In 2018 Lovegrass opened their Office, Warehouse and Manufacturing facility in London and begun marketing Teff based consumer products to the
European consumer.

the year 2021

In July 2021 the installatiion of the Lovegrass Ethiopia agro processing factory in Addis Ababa is completed

the year 2021

The journey of marketing and distributing wholesome food, developed and manufactured in Ethiopia has begun. Habesha Teff-Proudly made in Ethiopia

Our Mission

Ours is a mission that is inspired by fairness; fairness to the farmer, their time-honoured traditions, and the harvest of their efforts.

We believe it is our duty to help them realise the high value their crops rightfully deserve in the global market, and give the dignity due for their hard work. We want their stories to reflect hope and a future of prosperity.

Every transaction surrounding our Teff Grain must be to make the world a healthier place; carried out with gentle respectfulness to the land. Through this sense of fairness, we hope to create a market that would take the beauty of Teff and Ethiopia to every home. And, with a lot of love and warmth, we invite you to join us.

Core Values

Value for quality, trade with fairness, empower lives for growth.

Lovegrass Ethiopia was born to bring prosperity to a nation and its people.

Through the commodity of teff; duly valued for its quality and sold fairly in the global market, we know we can achieve this dream.

It is also important that we recognise the hands that have toiled for centuries in sustaining the traditions of farming this grain; free of any pesticide or chemical use and thereby preserving its nutritional value to the fullest.

By affording teff farmers this right for recognition and the opportunity to trade with the world, we are empowering them to raise themselves out of poverty and live better lives.

Sustainability

Our goals for sustainability is to simultaneously balance our impact on national supply as well as the wellbeing of natural ecosystems in Ethiopia.

By working with well-established Ethiopian cooperative farms, we reach agreements for long-term supply plans that in addition to supporting farmers with a consistent income stream, also ensure that our global export initiative does not impact supply destined for the local market.

We at Lovegrass Ethiopia are extremely conscious about teff’s importance as a staple in the Ethiopian diet and make it a priority not to contribute to its scarcity in any way.

To this end, Ethiopia’s vast expanses of fertile land are carefully allocated in consideration of the nation’s biodiversity and its health, with adequate investments into farm modernisation to grow overall national teff output without impacting local consumption.

Our Story

Our Founder’s Story

Our Story

the beginning

the beginning

the beginning

the year 2016

the year 2016

the year 2016

the year 2018

the year 2021

the year 2021

Our Mission

Core Values

Sustainability

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