Karatu Factory

The story

Established in 1965, the Karatu Coffee Factory is located in the Kiambu region of Kenya. It occupies an 11-acre site and serves smallholder farmers from the villages of Karatu, Gitwe, Kibiru, and Kigaa. The factory operates as a member of the Gitwe Farmer Co-operative Society.

Challenges

The drying time for parchment coffee is highly dependent on variable climate conditions, ambient temperatures, and the volume of coffee being processed, which can extend the drying period up to 15 days.

Innovations

To improve environmental sustainability, the factory has implemented waste water soak pits to ensure processing runoff is safely returned to the soil away from local water sources.