Harvesting

There are four main methods of harvesting:

Hand-picking

Coffee berries are picked by hand and the unripe or overripe berries and flowers are left for the next harvest. This method is favoured when there is high rainfall and uneven ripening of the berries. Hand-picking is time-consuming and only viable for small plantations. It produces the highest quality harvest.

Strip harvesting

Strip harvesting involves stripping all the berries, leaves, and flowers off the branch, which are then sorted later. This method is only suitable in places where there are distinct seasons, one flowering per year, and uniform ripening of the berries.

Dry harvesting

In this method of harvesting, the berries are allowed to dry and shrivel on the trees. Mats are laid out under the trees to catch the dried berries as they fall. This method is suitable in areas that have long dry seasons. It is important to make sure overripe berries are not mixed with the dried berries.

Machine harvesting

A coffee harvesting machine straddles the tree and is driven along the row of coffee trees. It has flexible fibreglass fingers that rotate and shake the branches stripping the berries into bins on the machine. This method is good for large plantations that don’t have a cheap labour supply available. Machine harvesting is not viable for plantations on steep hillsides where there is no clear access for the machine.