Harvesting and handling of coffee

Ripe fruit can be picked by hand, or raked with a small rake, or hit to the ground with a pole: the first two methods can be carried out by low-cost labor, who will operate more selectively; the method of hitting with a pole is faster but not fine enough. and requires further cleaning of the fruit. If the terrain permits, the harvest can be operated by a special automatic machine.

As coffee is a very delicate product, beans must be processed within a few days after harvest. This is to prevent the pulp and covered film from fermenting. There are two ways to process seeds:

"dry" processing, known as "natural" coffee; this method is mainly used in Brazil and West Africa. The fruit is laid on the ground and dried by the sun and constantly turned so that the fruit is evenly exposed to the sun for a period of 15 to 20 days.

"wet" treatment, which is more demanding and more difficult. Using this processing method, you can get coffee that is called "washed" or "soft". This approach has been adopted in Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Kenya and Tanzania. The processing steps are: cleaning, soaking, removing pulp, fermentation, drying and peeling, and finally removing residual impurities and polishing the beans.

The beans are then packed in sacks, usually weighing 60 kilograms (about 132 pounds), and then stored in special sheltered houses. They will begin their own journey-from sacks to bags-to consumer countries.