Coffee is packed in standard sacks of 60kg, before it is stored. According to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), coffee must be stored in a well aerated, covered area, once it is dried up properly.
It should not have water leaking through it too. If you store your coffee is a leaking shelter, then it will get mouldy and lose the flavour.
Big buyers like Kyagalanyi and Kawa com have got big stores for storing coffee. However, by the time it reaches their stores, it has passed through several other smaller stores, starting right from the first producer — the farmer.
It is not expensive to create a good storage facility for your coffee at home. All you need is the space, depending on the volumes that you harvest, plus the sacks to put it in.
The floor of the storage facility must be free of any other contaminating elements, such as soil and stones. In some instances, farmers store coffee in the same shelters with animals. This is bad because it affects quality.
Coffee dealers have received coffee beans mixed with goats’ droppings. Do not keep coffee in houses shared by animals because they will contaminate the beans.
Others elements to avoid include:
- Products like beans, soya, etc
- Oily elements in the storage area
- Keep fumes, for example from generators, away.
