The factory is only 1.5 hours from Nairobi, demonstrating just how close the typical coffee growing areas of Kenya are to the city. The factory has almost as many female members as male: 674 female farmers and 879 male farmers.
Varieties:
The smallholders mainly have SL 28, SL 34 and Ruiru 11.
Processing
Cherries are hand sorted for unripes and overripes by the farmers before they go in to production. A disc pulping machine removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density in to 3 grades by the pulper. Grade 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation. Grade 3 is considered low grade. The coffee is fermented for 16-24 hours under closed shade. After fermentation the coffees are washed and again graded by density in washing channels and are then soaked under clean water for 16-18 hours.
Drying:
Sun dried up to 21 days on African drying beds. Coffees are covered in plastic during midday and at night.