COFFEE HARVESTING
COFFEE FLOWER
The Green coffee bean is actually a seed of the fruit which is grown on a Coffee tree. During the cultivating season a farmer will get their first indication with regards to their harvest yield by the amounts of flowers blossoming on the tree before the fruit appears. It is a guide as to the potential of the harvest.
However, there are many influences that can have an impact on the harvest, weather or environmental changes have the potential to affect the harvest in the greatest way. The farmer could have an abundance of flowering trees which would be a good indication to a potentially good harvest yield only for the remainder of the season to be a complete drought and for all the potential fruit to die or not ripen. So although it is a good indication it is not always the case.
COFFEE FRUIT/CHERRY
The coffee fruit or coffee cherry, as it is also known, usually has one major harvest per year which can last from four to six months in some cases. Farmers hoping to achieve excellent cupping scores for their coffee harvest always hand pick the ripe cherries, sometimes having to make multiple passes as the coffee tree can have ripe and unripe fruit at the same time. The farmer will allow a week to two weeks between these passes. The majority of the varieties when ripe will exhibit a bright red colour like a cherry.
WORLD COFFEE RESEARCH
Read more about the work that is being done by the different organisations
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