Coffee Processing Plant

Don Mayo processing plant has a capacity to process up to 3,500 bushels of coffee per year. The active functioning months are from November to March, and they correspond to the time of gathering and processing. From March to September the coffee is prepared and sold.

The plant consists of a receiving sink with capacity for 70 bushels, an area for a dry-type separation of the fruit and the seed, a patio for sun-drying the coffee with more than 900 square meters of extension, and two conventional dryers to give a uniform humidity level with a capacity of 60 bushels each.

Besides its African beds for sun drying and giving special treatment of special qualities of coffee, it also has a room for testing the coffee to verify the quality in the process. The Manager of Production in the plant is Luis Pablo Bonilla, who is also a connoisseur, taster, and an important member in the process of quality control.

In the area of storage, the mill has a silo made of concrete covered with a thermal impermeable sheet and wood to give the perfect the time of rest the coffee needs. Besides, the mill has a wooden warehouse where the coffee is kept in sacks to differentiate qualities, or simply to separate them taking into account their special characteristics.

In the managing of disposal material, the mill uses a draining system for the treatment of the pulp, an area of pasture (African star) for the reutilization of the waters used in the milling. The chaff is treated with calcium hydroxide, and it is rolled over every eight days. A pyrethroid is used to prevent flies to form; then, after decomposed; it is used as an organic fertilizer mostly in the avocado plantations.