Building a successful business making and exporting injera, Rahel Moges's company Ethio Green Production and Industry presently produces 10,000 injera per day, 95% of which is exported to the United States. This pioneer in manufacture and export from Ethiopia is looking to grow and improve her company even more.

2. Rahel Moges, Managing Director of EthioGreen Production and Industry
and CESO VA Lydia Sorflaten
At the entrance to the EthioGreen Production Factory

3. Rahel Proudly Stands In Front of the Production Floor. Presently
10,000 Injera Pieces Are Produced Here Each Day

4. The Injera Batter Is Skillfully Poured In Circles Coming In To The Center. The Batter Is
Just The Right Thickness, The Clay Oven Just The Right Temperature, The Batter Poured
Just The Right Way, Cooked Just the Right Length of Time to Make A Perfect Injera

5. Each Injera Is Allowed To Cool Before It Is Added To The Stack.
Producers Manually Count As They Stack.

6. The Traditional Ethiopian Hand Woven Carrier Is Used To Transfer
The Injera From The Hot Clay Oven To The Cooling Counter

8. Today’s Orders

9. Teff: This powerful little seed grows best in
Ethiopia. Teff is gluten free, an excellent
source of iron, fiber with significant amounts
of calcium, B Vitamins and carbohydrates to
give those who eat injera regularly an
excellent diet base.
Dark and Light Colored Teff both have a unique
nutty flavor when made into injera.

10. Minerals
Amounts Per 1 cup of seed
%DV
Calcium
347mg
35%
Iron
14.7mg
82%
Dietary Fiber 15.4g
Thiamin0.8mg
50%
Riboflavin
0.5
mg
31%
Niacin
6.5
mg
32%
Vitamin B6
0.9
mg
47%
Folate
Food Folate
Folic Acid 0
One cup of teff seed or 1 cup of teff flour will make about 6 injera.
Calcium 58 mg of Calcium/ injera. How much would a person eat in one meal? If a
whole one, by Canadian standards, this would only be 58/1000 mg required per day
but that is still significant. In Canada 1000-1200mg are recommended/day.
Iron is good.
Fiber is good.
B Vitamins (Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6 good.)
No Folic Acid. Folic Acid is needed for Brain and Spinal Cord Development.
(Green leafy vegetables and lentils are good sources of Folic Acid)

11. Making Injera Is An Artful Skill. Notice The Tiny Bubbles That
Have Burst While Cooking. Notice the Circular Pattern
Created By Pouring the Batter Just The Right Way on the Clay
Oven Surface.

13. The Fermenting Room

14. Fermenting In Process
Each Barrel Is Labelled
When the Batter is Set

16. The Scale Is Used To
Weigh The Teff Seed
And Weigh the Dough

17. A State Of The Art
Mixing Machine

18. Teff Seed Ready For Grinding
The Grinding Machine

19. Rahel and Company Have Developed
This Amazing Machine. Notice the
temperature gauge on the side of
the stainless steel machine.

20. As The Batter Is Fermented, liquid rises
to the top, the batter settles to the
bottom. They designed this machine to
drain off the liquid (upper spout)
leaving the batter to come out the
bottom spout. Ingenious! Should have
a paten.

21. The Packing Room

22. Note The New Stainless Steel Table Tops

23. Water Tank

24. BIG Generator

25. Wood Fired Area To Boil Ingera Water To
Make A Gelatin Like Mixture

27. A Snapshot In Time: (April 2017)
• 90% Export
• 15 clients locally (hotels, supermarkets, restaurants)
• 3 wholesale buyers (+NY +Washington)
• New delivery possibilities: Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Norway
• 10,000 pieces/day, Expect to increase to 20,000/day
• Injera can be imported, listed as a pancake
• Government in Ethiopia will not allow teff to be exported as such
• Impurities can be a problem. Important to see how it is produced.
• Employees children are important, they will always be able to go to school
• Want to meet International Standards, to be certified
• Whole Food Stores US freeze it.
• Basic procedure: Cool, Pack, Sell, Ship
• North America the frozen product is OK.
• Unlike the coffee market that fluctuates, the injera market is stable
• 2008 US started as an importer
• 2013 started as an exporter
• 2012 rented the building but had no power for 6 months.
• Generator can run 40 ovens.
• 45 employees, 95% are women (social impact of this employment is important)
• Want to grow their own teff seed

28. Lydia, Rahel, Allan and ‘Jimmy’
Congratulations On The Business You Have Built!