Gakuyu FCS is a two wet mill society named Ndimaini and Kirigu. The cooperative society was registered on 28th October 1996 and the main office is located at Ndimaini wet mill, the source for this coffee.
Current total membership of the cooperative is 2506 active members out of which 827 are female and 1646 are male. The Society is managed by nine elected members of the board of management, whilst executive authority of the society lies with the five elected members (4 male, 1 female) of the management committee.
The management committee monitors day to day operation, make strategic decisions and reports to farmers in the Annual General Meeting, and Special General Meetings. The secretary manager is responsible for day to day management and administrative activities of the society. The society has a workforce of 11 permanent staff and 5 seasonal workers whose number vary with production. Seasonal workers are often increased during peak season.
Total no. of coffee trees is 375,900, with growth and production decreasing as land comes under pressure. On average, each farmer owns around 150 trees across 0.5 hectares. For 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 crop seasons the wet mill output was 655,346kgs, 631,592kgs and 399,691kgs of cherry coffee respectively.
Selective hand picking of red ripe cherries is practiced by farmers of Ndimaini wet mill, with harvested cherries delivered for pulping at the wet mill the same day.
After pulping, the pulped beans are fermented for mucilage removal for 16-18 hours. Thereafter the beans are washed and graded. Parchment is dried under the sun to a moisture content of 10.5 -11.5%. The dry parchment is then hulled, graded, sorted, and bagged, finally being marketed by Sustainable Management Services Ltd through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange Auction.
