Kenya AA Kaganda Factory 2025

Kenya AA Kaganda

Murang’a County, in central Kenya, where Kaganda Factory is based, relies heavily on agriculture for both economic activity and daily sustenance. The main products produced here are coffee, tea, milk, fish, honey, maize, and beans. The factory, founded in 1970, is part of the Kaganda Farmers’ Cooperative Society and serves 1,100 members across the Gathiru, Gathaithi, Gathambara, Gatuongo, and Kagaa villages.

Kenyan green coffee beans are renowned for their bold, fruit-forward flavors and complex acidity. This coffee was grown in red volcanic soil at 1,750 to 1,850 masl, slowly ripening at high altitudes in cool temperatures. The dominant varieties are Kenya’s signature SL-28 and SL-34. Both were developed by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (hence, SL) in the 1930s for their drought resistance, exceptional cup quality, and high yield at elevated altitudes. Following a coffee berry disease (CBD) epidemic in 1968, the CBD-resistant Ruiru-11 varietal was introduced and quickly adopted nationwide.

How is Coffee Graded in Kenya?

Green coffee from Kenya is graded by screen size. The grades range from E (Elephant Bean), PB (peaberry), AA, AB, C, TT, T, and MH/ML for a total of eight grades. While bean size can be an indicator of higher quality, size is not always a definitive attribute of quality.

A consistent screen size in a coffee lot is important for roasting consistency, as uniformly sized beans roast at the same rate. In contrast, a lot with mixed bean sizes can potentially lead to uneven roasting, with smaller beans overdeveloping and larger beans under developing.

When is Kenya’s Coffee Harvest Season?

Kenya’s main coffee harvest season is between October and December. That means new crop coffees start to ship around February and March. Kenya also has a fly crop with a smaller yield from April to July.

Washed Kenyan Coffee Beans

The coffee harvesting and processing in Kenya begins with careful monitoring of cherry ripeness, ensuring only fully red cherries are handpicked in the early morning and transported to the wet mill. In the afternoon, harvested cherries are spread out on a patio, where underripes, overripes, and foreign objects are sorted out before being funneled into the pulping station.

After pulping, the beans are fermented for the first time for 12 to 24 hours, then washed and sorted. They are then sent to soaking tanks to ferment for another 24 hours, which increases the proteins and amino acids in the coffee, translating to a more complex acidity in the cup profile.

Finally, the beans are carefully sun-dried on raised tables for two to three weeks under strict supervision, covered and turned when necessary, and monitored until they reach the ideal 10-12% moisture content before being bagged for transport to the dry mill.

Kenya Green Coffee Beans

Kenya and Ethiopia may share a border, but their coffee industries have followed vastly different paths since the beginning. While coffee is native to Ethiopia, it wasn’t introduced to Kenya until 1893, when French missionaries planted the first trees in the Taita Hills.

For over a century, Kenya’s coffee could only be traded through a government-run auction system—one of the world's most transparent, designed to reward quality with higher prices. This system cemented Kenya’s reputation for consistently producing quality coffee. Since 2006, new legislation has allowed direct trade between farmers and international buyers.

Although Kenya’s coffee production declined in 2023/2024 due to disruptions from government reforms and the adoption of a new payment system, the outlook for this season is promising as operations stabilize and the industry adapts. Read more in our Kenya Origin Report.