Description
Uganda coffee was ranked 3rd best in the world behind Ethiopia and
Kenya by professional coffee tasters in a survey of the top *6
coffee-growing countries in the world. The coffee tasters graded
1,**9 coffees from around the world that was harvested from ***0 to
***8 with the top three spots going to African countries. The
professional coffee tasters are certified by the Coffee Quality
Institute (CQI), a non-profit organization that works
internationally to improve the quality of coffee and the
lives of the people who produce it. The CQI certified coffee
graders must pass *2 tests to prove they can grade coffee
accurately and consistently by its aroma, flavour, acidity, body,
balance and more. A grading scale with a maximum score of **0 was
used to score coffees from each of the *6 countries. Ethiopia
scored the highest average rating with *4.*8, followed by Kenya
with an average rating of *4.*1 and Uganda came third with an
average rating of *4.*5.
Out of the Uganda coffees that were tested, Arabica coffee from
Uganda came top with a score of *6.*3.
Coffee is the second largest valued commodity in international
trade and most widely traded tropical agricultural commodity after
petroleum. In the East African Community, Uganda remains the lead
exporter of coffee, closely followed by Kenya and Tanzania
PRIMARY PROCESSING
The ripe coffee fruits (cherries) go through a number of operations
aimed at extracting the beans from their covering of pulp,
mucilage, parchment and film to improve their appearance. The
resulting clean coffee can then be roasted and ground to obtain the
coffee powder which is fit for human consumption. There are two
main techniques used to obtain the clean coffee;
1. Wet processing in which the fruit is processed in three stages:
• Removal of pulp and mucilage followed by washing to obtain clean
wet parchment
Drying of the parchment coffee • Removal of the parchment and film
through hulling followed by grading to obtain the desired grades
(sizes) of the clean coffee.
2. Dry processing which involves two stages: • Drying of the
cherries (usually under the sun) and • Removal of the dried
coverings (husks) in a mechanical operation (hulling). Wet
processing is done for the choice Arabica coffees produced at high
altitudes (over 1,**0 m above sea level) in the Mount Elgon areas
in the East. This is where our coffee comes from.
Dry processing produces coffees that are described as hard. These
are mainly the Robusta\'s grown around the Lake Victoria basin and
they account for about *5 % of Ugandas total annual production. The
wet processed (washed) coffees are generally superior to the dry
processed in terms of physical appearance and the cup taste.
B) Wet processing:
1. Cherry separation: The harvest often includes unripe, immature
cherries, dried cherries, twigs and leaves. These are lighter than
the mature ripe cherries and can therefore be removed by a
floatation process which can be done in a simple vat or
mechanically in a washer separator, which floats off the undesired
impurities and washes the ripe cherries.
2. Pulping: The cleaned cherries are then pulped a process in which
the wet beans are squeezed out from the cherries leaving the pulp.
Pulping can be done using a hand-pulper with a capacity of about
**0 Kg/hr of fresh cherries. The capacity may be increased by the
incorporation of an electric motor or a diesel/petrol engine.
Larger units of up to 4.0 T/hr are available at central pulping
stations. The wet parchment beans have a mucilage layer around them
that is removed by bio-chemical enzyme activity through controlled
fermentation to give fully washed coffees.
If the mucilage is mechanically removed the coffees produced are
referred to as semi-washed.
3. Washing: After the mucilage is degraded it is removed by washing
in a washing channel or vat filled with water. The density of the
parchment coffee is slightly higher than the water and the beans
will sink to the bottom of the vat. It is therefore necessary to
continuously stir the beans using rotary stirring rods or manually
using spades in the washing channel.
In a mechanical mucilage remover, mucilage degradation and washing
are done in a single operation.
4. Drying: The wet parchment free of mucilage at moisture contents
of *0 *0 % is then dried on suitable raised drying tables to the
required *2 % to ensure their conservation. Mechanical driers to
hasten the drying regime can be used after draining off some of the
water.
C) Dry Processing:
1. Harvesting: The harvested cherries are usually not sorted before
commencement of the drying regime. Careful harvesting to exclude
immature cherries and extraneous matter e.g., stones is
essential.
2. Drying: The drying regime should begin immediately after harvest
to avoid the development of undesirable taints and moulds. The
cherries are spread out to dry in the sun on suitable drying
surfaces e.g., raised trays or tarpaulins. The coffee must be
frequently stirred to achieve uniform drying. The coffee should not
be rewetted at any time during the drying regime.
Drying will be complete when the dried cherries (kiboko) have
attained moisture content of *3 *4 %.
D) Hulling: In the wet method the dried coffee beans have a
parchment covering while in the dry method, the beans are covered
with the husk. These are removed in a mechanical operation known as
hulling. The hullers usually rotate at a speed of **0 **0 rpm.
Higher speeds result into a polished appearance but also increase
the breakages. There are about **0 active hulleries now operating
throughout the country.
The resulting clean dry coffee beans are in both cases referred to
as FAQ (Fair Average Quality). The FAQ is then sorted according to
size using perforated sieves and by specific gravity in a gravity
table or by pneumatic sorting in a catador
Secondary Processing
FAQ to green Export coffee:
Over *5 % of the total annual coffee production is exported as
green beans. Secondary processing also known as export grading
transforms the clean coffee (FAQ) into the various coffee grades
that meet the international standards. The process involves
cleaning the FAQ, drying the coffee if wet (M.C over *3 %) followed
by size grading using perforated screens of the desired size. The
sorted beans are the gravimetrically sorted to have uniform
specific density before bagging off and loaded into containers for
transportation to the ports.
Currently, there are about *9 active export grading factories, four
of these are located in the Bugisu region, one is located in
Mbarara town in the Western region and the rest are in Kampala.
1. Pre-cleaning and de-stoning: The FAQ coffee collected from the
various suppliers is of mixed quality depending on the individual
supplier\'s storage and handling techniques. The coffee is often
wet (M.C > *4 %) and includes extraneous matter e.g., stones,
chaff etc. The FAQ passes to the pre-cleaner where the undesirable
impurities that are often lighter than the good beans are removed.
The wet FAQ passes to a drier. Dry coffee then continues to a
destoner where the denser stones are eliminated.
2. Size grading: The cleaned coffee then passes to a grader, which
often consists of a box fitted with screens of various sizes in
descending order. The larger beans are retained on the required
screen and pass to a lateral exit.
3. Gravimetric sorting: Although the sorted beans are now of the
same size, they may vary in weight mainly due to poor agronomic
practices especially the harvesting of immature cherries. The
coffee passes over a gravity table where separation occurs at
various points on the fluidized bed
4. Bag-off: The coffee is then bagged in jute bags of *0 Kg which
are then loaded into a container for transportation to the port.
The following are the Ugandan export grades: Arabica Robusta Washed
Natural Washed Natural 1. Bugisu AA Drugar A Screen ***0 Wur A B
***0 PB C ***0 B ***0 C ***0 E ***0 2. Wugar A B C
Drugar = Natural Dry Uganda Arabica Wugar = Washed Uganda Arabica
(other than Bugisus) Wur = Washed Uganda Robusta.
Other improved grades for the niche markets include Organic and
Specialty coffees.
Tertiary Processing
Green coffee to the cup:
The domestic coffee consumption is still exceptionally low at about
3 5 % of Ugandas total annual production. There are assorted
reasons for this namely; 1. Low promotion on the domestic market to
combat the traditional misgivings against coffee consumption 2. The
domestic roasters face fierce competition for the good graded
coffee, which can be exported for higher revenues. The roasters
thus resort to cheap, lesser quality coffee e.g., rejects and BHP,
which do not give a very palatable powder. 3. Inadequate roasting
equipment and packaging materials.
At the moment, there are only about *2 registered domestic
roasters. Three of these are located in the eastern Bugisu area of
Mt Elgon and process Arabica coffees. Two roasters are processing
their coffee at the TANICA soluble coffee factory in Bukoba,
Tanzania and then re-packaging the powder in Kampala before
distributing to the local and regional markets.
However, several new coffee shops have begun operating and these
have continued to attract a sizable middle-class clientele.
Coffee prices
Un processed Robusta per Kg
• Kiboko(dry Robusta) $3/kg
• FAQ (fair average quality) $4.*0/kg
unprocessed arabica
• arabica parchment $6.*5/kg
• Drugar(Dry Ugandan arabica) $6.*5/kg
processed Robusta ( price in USD per kg)
• Screen **- $*0
• Screen **- $9.*5
• Screen **- $8.*7
Processed Arabica (price in USD per Kg)
