​​​NIAGARA ATLANTIC
INDUSTRIES​
 

KENYA COFFEE VARIETY

Kenya Arabica Coffee is  filter coffee of  SL28 and Ruiru 11 varieties.​

Kenya is the origin of nature’s finest coffee. Coffee that is grown on red volcanic soils on the slopes of mountains, tended to lovingly on family farms.

Kenya coffee is hand picked and hand sorted, sun dried and processed, thus ensuring that the resulting cup is extraordinarily rich in acidity and flavor, deep in aroma, full of bodied, leaving one’s mouth full of floral notes.

 

ORIGIN OF NATURES FINEST COFFEE

Kenya coffee is grown by an estimated 700,000 smallholder farmers on family farms, who process and market their coffee through  6000 cooperative societies. There are also approximately 3,400 estate farmers, of which 10% are medium and large estates. The total area dedicated to growing coffee is estimated at 170,000 hectares.

Kenya grows Arabica coffee at an altitude of 1400m – 2000m above sea level. Most of the coffee is grown on the volcanic slopes around snow peaked Mt. Kenya; Africa’s second highest mountain which rises to about 5,199m above sea level.

Key regions at the origin of nature’s finest coffee include:

Mt. Kenya West: Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Muranga, Nyahururu, Nyeri, Ruiru and Thika.

This region lies on both the foothills of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdares Ranges. It hosts a pristine indigenous forest, teeming with wildlife that frolic in this unique micro climate. Coffee produced in this region is rich in acidity, full bodied, with a sensual aroma and hints of citric fruits. These characteristics place this coffee amongst the
best in the world.

 

Mt. Kenya East; Embu, Meru, and some parts of Machakos district.

These are broad gently rounded ridges sloping not too steeply into valleys which run swift perennial streams. The red volcanic soil is of great depth and fertility on the slopes ensuring good drainage. These coffee growing areas boast breath taking green hills dipping with succulent berries of the finest Arabica coffee.

North and South Rift Valley; Kitale, Koru, Nakuru, Nandi, Subukia and West Pokot.

The escarpment of the world’s longest valley was created by tectonic plates shifts back in the origin of time, and today it nests niche coffee growing area on its cool high points.

 

Mt. Elgon and L. Victoria region: Bungoma, Butere, and Kisii.

The mountain forests of Elgon host rich flora and fauna and some of the world’s widest variety of birds. Coffee from here gives a fruity mild flavor that surprises the uninitiated.

Ever since the first coffee bush was planted in her fresh red volcanic soils in 1893, Kenya has been growing coffee. In Kenya, there are two distinct flowerings each year. The first flowering begins shortly after the start of the long rains in March to
April. The second flowering comes shortly after the start of the short
rains in October.

The early crop often ripens from May to July, but in most of Kenya’s coffee growing regions the main crop ripens from October to December.

 

DONE BY HAND

Kenya Coffee is hand picked by growers who carefully pick out just the red ripe cherries. The cherries are then taken to the nearby pulping stations, referred to in Kenya as “coffee factories”, which dot the coffee growing areas. Here a second quality control is carried out.
Any unripe, overripe or diseased cherries that may have inadvertently crept in are carefully sorted out leaving pure red-ripe cherries.

Almost all Kenya Coffee is processed through the ‘wet method’ to
ensure highest quality.

The cherries are pulped to remove the outer skin. The slippery sugar coating, which remains on the beans, is removed through a carefully timed fermentation process.

With this the parchment is spread along drying tables under warm African sun. Every so often, the parchment is turned to give the equal exposure, a process which gives the bean its bluish color for which Kenya coffee is well known for.

This marks the last stage of the process. Once the parchment is fully dried, it is bagged and sent to the coffee mill (dry mill).

 

RIGOROUS QUALITY ASSURANCE

At the mills the parchment husk surrounding each bean is removed. The silver skin is then partially removed through polishing. This is then followed by grading of the coffee into seven separate grades according to the size, weight and shape of the coffee bean.

The coffee grades
include the world renown:-

1)       Kenya “AA”

2)       Kenya “AB”

3)       Kenya “C”

These grades are then classified with a numerical reference system on a scale of         1 to 10. The quality of the raw roast and liquor are analyzed and described based on this scale, with 1 being the finest and 10 the least flavored. The cup can thereafter be described as fine, fair to good, fair average quality, fair, fair to poor, to common plain liquors.

 

GRADING AND CLASSIFICATION

The rigorous processing, grading, and classification system, some of whose salient points have been highlighted above, are part of the extraordinary steps the coffee community in Kenya takes to ensure quality and consistency at every stage.

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1) The coffee beans after milling are graded mechanically into various grades which differ in size, weight or shape. Incorporated into the grading system are the colors sorting  machines which are capable of separating high quality coffee beans from light and defective ones electronically.

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Kenyan coffee is separated into the following main grades and described as follows:

a)  AA= screen size of 7.2 mm

     - This grade has good size formation of large beans (7.20mm screen). This grade usually fetches a higher price than any other grade.

 

b)  AB= screen size of 6.35 mm

     - This grade is a combination of two grades A and B A-6.80mm screen, B-6.20mm screen. AB is regarded as a representative of the other grades in a consignment and usually there is more coffee of this grade than of other grades in a consignment. It is a popular grade which fetches good prices.

 

c)  PB= screen size of 4.75 mm

     - Round beans which usually grow in a single cherry bean. About
10% of coffee falls in this grade.

d)  C= screen size of 3.96 mm

     - Smaller beans than AB and most of the thin beans in this grade.

e)  T= density separated from PB's and C's

     - The smallest and thinnest bean, most of the beans are in the
form of chips. Most of the beans in this grade are broken and faulty. In classification, this grade is always below the other grades.

 

f)  TT= density separated from AA's and AB'

     - This grade is composed of light bean which are raged and are
usually separated from all other grades.

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g)  Light Mbuni/Heavy Mbuni (ML/MH)

     - This is the coffee that has not gone through the wet processing either because it was not picked, or because it fell from the trees after ripening. About 7% of total crop falls into this grade, which generally fetches lower prices and which has sour tasting liquor

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Kenya Coffee quality assurance includes the requirement by law that every miller and marketing agent has to forward a coffee sample for every lot handled to the Coffee Board of Kenya for quality analysis and arbitration incase of dispute. Likewise, coffee growers also come go to the board for quality analysis of their coffee samples before
making their marketing decisions.

The Coffee is then sold on the international market through the stakeholders- run coffee auction system, located in Nairobi. This process allows even small farmers to sell their beans to international buyers through appointed marketing agents and receive a fair price for them.

 

SPECIFICATION OF THE GREEN BEANS AND OTHER DETAILS

1.       Origin – Kenya.

2.       Kenya coffee is packaged in 60kg sisal bags.

3.       Crop year is 2011/2012 ( New crop).

4.       Variety is Arabica.

5.       Moisture content – 12.5% maximum.

6.       Total quantity shipped per 20ft container is 320x60kg bags.

7.       Gross total weight for coffee beans in a 1x20ft container is 19.2mts.

8.       Certification – Pyhtosanitary Cert. issued by government export/import authority.

9.       Prices quoted are usually FOB Mombasa Port.(Loading Port).

10.    Payment is usually through irrevocable, transferable L/C (letter of credit)100% paid at sight