BACKGROUND
Gakundu coffee factory is located in Embu county in the central part of Kenya. The county borders to Mount Kenya, one of the most well-respected coffee growing regions in the world.

The main harvest for Gakundu is from October through February. Varieties grown are typical for Kenya; SL-28, Ruiru 11, and Batian.

LOCATION
Gakundu Farmer’s Cooperative Society is located at Ngandori West,Kairuri sub-location in Embu county. It has 60% of SL 28,Ruiru 35% and Batian 5%.

SOILS AND CLIMATE
The factory lies at an altitude of about 1650m above sea level in a region with red soil. The area experiences Moderate bimodal rainfall of about 1100mm p.a. with temperatures ranging between 13-25 degrees Celsius. The long rains fall between March-May while the short rains come between October and December.

CROP SEASONS
Gakundu farms have two cropping seasons: Late crop starting at the end of September to midJanuary contributing 60%, and early crop starting from April to July and contributing 40% of the total annual production.

PROCESSING
This is the most critical activity from a quality management point of view. Good cherries from the farm may be spoilt if processing conditions are not properly managed.
Picking cherry
Coffee berries for wet processing must be mature and fully ripe. Berries which are not mature and ripe cause pulping and fermentation problems and possible mechanical damage to the parchment.
Cherry sorting
Harvested berries should be sorted prior to pulping to remove the immature, diseased, pest infested, dry berries, leaves, pieces of stones, twigs, food grains and other matters.

Remove small berries which would escape pulping. In some cases, coffee cherry is graded into two grades, which are pulped separately.
Pulping
Pulping is the mechanical removal of the outer skin from the cherry to have parchment coffee.
Pulping is done by a disc pulper which is powered. One disc can pulp about 1,000 Kgs per hour.
It needs to be adjusted regularly so as to pulp coffee efficiently. Pulping should be completed the same day coffee is picked.

Pre-Grading
Pre-grading sorts out un-pulped berries and skins and directs them to a re-passer pulper. It also separates parchment in three categories of quality which are parchment one, parchment two and Lights. Heavy parchment sinks rapidly and passes through the holes at the initial part of the sieve according to their size.
Improper pre-grading can facilitate uneven fermentation and development of tainted coffee after drying. Washing must be done thoroughly so as to avoid browning of parchment.

Fermentation
The main purpose of fermentation is to break down the thick mucilage layer which covers the pulped parchment into simple non-sticky sugars which can easily be washed with water.
Fermentation is complete when the parchment feels gritty and no longer sticky when a sample is washed and rubbed between the hands.
Factors Affecting Fermentation

1. Temperature – Best range is 30-35c
2. Enzyme concentration – the rate of fermentation increases with enzyme concentration
3. Water- The rate of fermentation is high when done in a dry condition .Water inhibits
   fermentation.
4. Water Re-circulation – Recirculation of water during pulping raises the level of enzymes
   which quickens the fermentation process.
   Drying
   Drying is the process of reducing the moisture content of a product to facilitate further
   processing or storage for a longer period without deterioration in quality.
   Freshly pulped, fermented and washed parchment coffee has a moisture content of about 55%
   and this has to be reduced to 10.5% which is the safe level for hulling, storage and roasting.

Over- drying leads to unnecessary weight losses and quality degradation. By paying the producers some of the highest returns for their coffee this objective becomes more possible.