Burka has two wet mills, or ‘factories’, the Burka Factory and Selian Factory, which process coffee from the Burka and Selian estates respectively. To operate the two factories we require around 30 permanent workers, and on average a further 250 day labourers are employed during the peak harvesting period of June to September, most of them being engaged in the coffee drying operations. Burka uses several dry mills to hull, grade and bag its produce, the choice of which one to use being based on the type, quality, market destination and time of sale of the coffee. Direct export parchment coffee is only delivered to a Starbucks CAFE Practices and Utz certified mill.
Machinery
Modern Techniques
A diverse range of machinery is needed for farming operations, including lorries, tractors, sprayers, trailers, mowers, harrows, pumps, sub-soilers and more. This machinery is cared for in our centralized workshop, also known as Farm Central. The coffee factories contain large cherry hoppers, as well as pulping, pre-grading and re-passer units. Also, over 40 covered concrete tanks are used to ferment and soak the coffee before transfer to the drying tables. Finally, the modern mechanized process is combined with the time-honoured traditional sun-drying method. There are in total 475 raised bed coffee drying tables with a total area of more than 16,000 sqm, where natural sunlight finishes the process by drying the coffee beans.
