General Info:
Importer: COFFEEMAXGREEN
Trader: InterAmerican Coffee
Origin: Kenya
Region: Nyeri District in the Southern part of the famous Mt. Kenya.
Cooperative: Barichu Co-operative Society
Factory: Karatina
Number of producers/growers:About 1450 persons.
Altitude: 1700-1800 masl
Soil type: Rich Volcanic Sandy Soil
Flowering period: March – April
Harvest period:October – December
Average rainfall: 1250mm
Average annual temperatures: 14 – 25 °C
Certification: FLO
Arabica Variety: SL34, SL28
Processing: Fully Washed and sundried
About
Background
KARATINA is a Kikuyu name for “a tree” that produces some fruits used to brew famous Muratina beer, which was used by Kikuyu to celebrate and perform ritual. Within the vicinity of the factory, there is the Town and the famous Karatina open air Market and Hotels to cater for visitors, yet the peaks of the snow-capped Mt. Kenya can clearly be viewed.
The Karatina is located in the Nyeri District in the Southern part of the famous Mt. Kenya and part of the Barichu Cooperative Society with about 1,450 small scale farmers. The cherries are fully washed with fresh river water from Ragati river and sundried on raised beds.
Barichu Farmers Cooperative Society is located in Mathira East Sub-County in Nyeri County. It is currently composed of four factories, Karatina, Karindundu, Gaturiri and Gatomboya. It was registered in October 1996 under Cooperative Development and Coffee Board of Kenya. It has 5,800 registered members and produces 3 million – 5 million Kilos of coffee. Barichu works to give the farmers credit facilities for school fees, farm input and other emergencies. Their goal is to help educate farmers on crop husbandry and other agricultural practices important to the coffee. They have a demonstration plot financed by Tropical Management and house a nursery which serves the whole society providing matured seedlings to help reduce drops in production/income for farmers.
Processing Techniques
Fermentation done with Fresh River Water from Ragati river sundried on raised beds