Karimikui

The story

The Karimikui factory was established in 1953 and is currently operated by the Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society. It serves approximately 600 smallholder farmers who cultivate coffee on the red volcanic slopes of Mount Kenya, a region where many farmers also produce tea.

Challenges

The region faces competition from tea production, which is more prevalent than coffee in the area. Additionally, farmers must balance the pursuit of high cup quality with the need for disease-resistant cultivars to stabilize yields.

Innovations

The factory utilizes a meticulous processing approach involving strict hand-sorting of cherries, density grading in water channels, and controlled fermentation in concrete tanks to ensure uniform quality. Newer cultivars like Ruiru 11 and Batian have been introduced alongside classic varieties to improve resilience against disease.