Works at the drying table at Hunda Oli Cooperative in Ethiopa

Maximizing Coffee Washing Station Profits: Results from Field Experiments

TechnoServe shares research and guidelines for improving coffee cup quality and wet mill profitability.

Cup quality is the primary factor determining both a coffee’s market value and the income farmers receive. While it is widely recognized that agronomic practices, pulper calibration, cherry ripeness, and fermentation techniques all shape cup quality, there has been relatively little effort to systematically measure their impact.

To close this gap, TechnoServe has conducted a series of studies in East Africa examining how different practices influence cup quality. These insights are helping wet mills, cooperatives, agronomists, and other actors in the coffee value chain adopt practices that can raise quality—and, in turn, farmer incomes.

Field Experiment Reports

Wet Mill Resources

  • Coffee Wet Mill Processing Guide: A comprehensive resource to provide wet mill managers in East Africa with guidelines on preserving Arabica coffee bean quality during wet mill processing
  • Android Apps for Wet Mills: TechnoServe has developed a suite of tools to improve the profitability, sustainability, and transparency of wet mill operations:

Resources from Other Organizations

  • SPREAD 2008 Eco-Process Research Report: A study published from the National University of Rwanda evaluating the effect of pulping machine type and wet processing system on the cost of production and quality of specialty coffee in Rwanda