Whole families
of migrant workers pick the ripe coffee berries, children picking
the lower ones and adults the higher ones. Unfortunately this means
that the children get no education. Here the family is removing unsuitable
beans. |
Each berry contains
two coffee beans. As the berries ripen they turn red and are picked.
One coffee tree may be picked up to ten times as the berries ripen.
|
Flowers
on a coffee tree. Coffee trees need shade and tall trees are also planted
on the coffee plantation to provide shade. These trees also encourage
a flourishing birdlife on the plantation. |
The red berries are poured into water tanks where unripe or bad berries tend to float on the top. These are then scooped into tanks and dried separately. |
Once the berries
have been broken open and the coffee beans released there are still
two more layers covering the beans that have to be removed. Here the
beans are placed in fermentation tanks to remove more of the covering.
Skilled workers can tell by touch or smell when each stage of preparation
has been completed. |
This machine was once used to remove the red berries surrounding the coffee beans.
|
The coffee beans,
still surrounded by parchment, are put out to dry in the open air.
They are raked continuously to make sure that they dry evenly.
|
Coffee beans spread
out to dry. If rain falls on the drying beans workers go through the
batches afterwards to make sure that no rot has set in. |
Coffee bagged up ready for the next stage of the process. The parchment must
be removed and the beans are graded. |
 This machine uses optical lenses to look at every single coffee bean. Any bean showing even the slightest blemish is removed by an air blast from the production line. |
Here, the beans
that have passed the optical lenses can be periodically checked to
make sure that the machine is working properly. |
 Most of the beans are shipped as green beans to be roasted abroad. A proportion of production is roasted at the plantation for sale within Guatemala. |
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