We Nitrogen Flush all of our coffee when bagging for an inert shelf stable environment by locking freshness inside for up to 6 weeks prior to opening
 
Mill: Kamviu Washing Station
Co-op: Gakundu Farmers’ Cooperative Society.
Region: Embu County
Varietals: SL-28 (80%)  Batian (15%) Ruiru 11 (5%)
Process: Washed
Producers: Approx 1000 smallholder producers
Altitude: 1750 masl
 
Kamviu coffee factory is located in Embu county in the central part of Kenya. The nearly 1000 farmers delivering to the factory are members of the Gakundu Farmers’ Cooperative Society. The county borders to Mount Kenya, one of the most well respected coffee growing regions in the world. The main harvest for Kamviu is from October through February. 
 
In line with the rising awareness on the need to conserve the environment, the factory has dug the waste water soak pits away from the water source where the waste water is allowed to soak in back to the soil. For many years coffee has been a constant revenue earner for most rural families in this area contributing to better levels of living standard and assisting in education of their children in the higher schools of learning.
 
Kamviu Coffee Factory is dressed with red-volcanic soil that infuses it with all the mineral and organic goodness necessary for optimum production. It experiences an annual rainfall of 1,200mm at 1,750m above sea level. In addition it enjoys cool temperatures of 14-26°C.
 
After picking, ripe cherry is brought to the factory by smallholder farmers before it undergoes processing to remove the skin and pulp –known as the wet processing method. The river Muriuriu is the primary water source for coffee processing at the factory.
The factory is using a disc pulper with four separate discs to remove the skin and fruit from the inner parchment layer that is protecting the green coffee bean.
After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight to break down the sugars. Traveling through channels to the soaking tank, the coffee is carefully cleaned, soaked and spread out on the raised drying tables. Time on the drying tables depends on climate, ambient temperature and total production volume undergoing processing. Drying can take from 7 to 15 days in total. Frequent turning and sorting will happen during the drying stage. Waste water is managed through the use of soaking pits. The water used for processing the cherry will spend time in the pits to insure that the nutrient rich water created during depulping will not be returned to the nearby water source without proper treatment. This additional step will cut down the risk of contamination, after adequate time for reabsorption is given , the water will be recirculated. Currently Kamviu Factory is employing two soaking pits for this process. For many years coffee has been a constant revenue earner for most rural families in this area contributing to better levels of living standard and assisting in education of their children in the higher schools of learning.