Burundi Nemba Carbonic Maceration

Nemba washing station, part of the Greenco Coffee Company, is located near the Kibira National Forest in the mountains of Kayanza, Burundi. Greenco was founded in 2015 with a mission: to build a better future for Burundi's next generations through the production of coffee or "Hope Through Coffee". Currently the company operates 13 washing stations that support over 44,000 registered farmer members.

Greenco is dedicated to improving the socio-economic and environmental conditions in Burundi. Its washing stations have water treatment facilities and use solar panels for energy. In addition to providing training on farming practices, Greenco organizes classes about gender equality, financial planning, family planning, and more.

Nemba washing station serves over 3,000 local smallholder farms, providing organic fertilizer from composted coffee pulp as well as low-cost, subsidized coffee seedlings. Nemba also participates in a number of farmer outreach and support projects. The washing stations's monitoring system ensures traceability all along the production and processing chain.

This coffee was selectively hand-picked by each farmer and their family. After being accepted at the washing station, all coffee is first floated to check its density. The higher quality cherry is separated and sorted again by hand to remove all damaged, underripe, and overripe cherries. The selected coffee is put whole cherry into GrainPro bags and fermented in a sealed environment for 72 hours. The fermentation causes carbon dioxide levels to rise and burst the cherries open.

The coffee is laid out on raised beds to dry in a single layer so pickers can remove any damaged or defective beans that may have been missed in previous quality checks. The drying process takes approximately 2 weeks with the coffee being raked frequently to ensure even drying

Greenco’s team of expert cuppers assess every lot, which is separated by station, date, and quality, at their coffee lab. This traceability is maintained throughout the entire process from cherry selection to export.