The Karimikui Coffee Factory was established in 1966 and rests on a 6 acres piece of land serving the villages of Githureia, Gituba and Kiamugumo. Currently it is affiliated to Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), in an area where most smallholder farmers are growing tea, not coffee. The farmers here are mainly growing SL28 and SL34, accounting for 99% of the total coffee production, while we see some occasional Ruiru 11 plants.
All coffees are pulped, dry fermented, washed, soaked and then sundried. Cherries are hand sorted for unripes and overripes by the farmers before they go in to production. A disc pulper removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density in to 3 grades. Grade 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation, grade 3 is considered low grade and processed separately. The coffee is fermented for 16-24 hours under closed shade. After fermentation the coffee is washed and again graded by density in washing channels. The last step before drying is letting the coffee soak under clean water for 16-20 hours. The coffee is left to dry on raised beds between 14-16 days.
The long-term goal is to increase coffee production through farmer training, input access and Good Agricultural Practice seminars that are conducted year round. The wish is to establish a transparent, trust based relationship with the smallholder farmer, helping to support a sustained industry growth in Kenya, whilst bringing premium quality to our customers, and premium prices to the farmers.
