Gachatha AB Kenya

JUICY, ROUND, SYRUPY SWEET. 

Producer: Various smallholder producers
Location: Karundu, Nyeri
Elevation: 1800-2100 meters
Variety: SL 28, Ruiru 11 & Batian 
Process: Fully Washed

Gachatha Coffee Factory is located on 392 acres of land between the villages of Muthuaini, Thiriku, Gachenge, and Kianjau. Established in 1963, it currently has 1,542 members.

The factory ensures that all wastewater is treated in soaking pits, preventing contaminants from entering local waterways, which serve as drinking water sources. The community prioritizes protecting the indigenous trees to preserve the local bird life. The main coffee varieties grown here include SL-28, Batian, SL-34, and Ruiru-11. The region features deep, fertile, well-drained red volcanic soils, ideal for coffee production.

Smallholder farmers bring ripe cherries to the factory for wet processing. The factory uses electrical pumps to move water from the nearest source to reservoir tanks, recirculating it for conservation. A disc pulper with three sets of discs removes the skin and fruit from the inner parchment layer, which protects the green coffee bean. After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight to break down sugars, then cleaned, soaked, and spread on raised drying tables. The time on these tables varies with climate, ambient temperature, and production volumes.

Hulling machinery removes the parchment layer from wet processed coffee, while for dry processed coffee, the entire dried husk (exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp) is removed. Grading and sorting are done by size and weight, with beans also checked for color flaws and other imperfections. Beans are sized using a series of screens and sorted pneumatically via an air jet to separate heavy from light beans. Defective beans are removed by hand or machinery.

Cooperative members can access pre-financing for school fees, farm inputs, and emergency funds, which are set aside from the previous year’s harvest. To conserve the environment, the factory uses wastewater soak pits away from water sources and encourages members to plant trees on their farms.

To reach the villages, one must fly to Nairobi and then travel 2.5 hours by paved road. The coffee farms are very close to the washing station (20 minutes maximum), with farmers typically transporting their coffee on motorbikes. The washing station sometimes hires a truck to collect coffee from farm to farm.

The area’s proximity to Mount Kenya means abundant native wildlife, including snakes, deer, hare, weaverbirds, owls, and hawks, as well as indigenous plant species like Neem trees. Most residents marry within their tribe, and while everyone speaks Kikuyu, there are small dialect differences among the communities.

The farms are mostly small (1-2 hectares), with adults working the farms and children attending school. School costs money, which limits access to education in this mostly poor area. Due to a lack of opportunity, many young people are migrating to cities for better jobs, sometimes leaving their parents or taking them along and abandoning the farms. Despite this growing problem, some producers remain hopeful that coffee can provide good business opportunities for their children.