Asali Hills Coffee Estate: Specialty Coffee Micro-lot Processing Unit

Asali Hills Coffee Estate

Specialty Coffee Micro-lot Processing Unit

BrazAfric, Pinhalense, and Toper once again provided a coffee processing setup to a Kenyan coffee producer in the Mount Elgon region. Asali Hills Coffee Estate specializes in specialty coffee for the American market. With the new equipment we supplied and installed, which qualifies as a "Specialty micro-lot processing unit," Asali will be able to hull, polish, grade, and roast their own coffee and export it green or roasted to clients in the United States as well as the local market. We are proud of Mr. Chapurukha Kusimba's work at Asali, which will undoubtedly become a reference for specialty coffee in Kenya.

The current setup allows for the upgrading and expansion of Asali Hills Coffee Estate.

A word from Mr. Kusimba

My involvement with the Asali Hills farm began in 2004, when my wife and I decided to rehabilitate a deforested hill into a productive space. The farm is 125 acres in size. Dan Melone of Libertyville, Illinois, paid us a visit in 2010, fell in love with the farm and Mount Elgon, and convinced our neighbor to sell him three acres, which we later added to the estate. Asali Hills is thus a farm run by a family. Dan's property, which has two acres of coffee and one acre of fruit and economic trees, is also managed by us.

The climate in Kenya and Uganda's Mount Elgon region is ideal for growing coffee. Coffee from this region of the East African Highlands is considered to be among the best in the world. We spent our school vacations as kids working on my grandparents' small coffee farm. As a result, growing coffee came naturally. But I wanted to do something more impressive. Produce the best coffee possible with this exceptional soil and climate.

Asali Hills is unique in that we have rehabilitated a hill that was nearly lost to deforestation over the past 16 years. The farm now has over 250 bird species (whcih help pollinate the coffee and seeding the farm), 150 bee hives, three acres of orchard, and nearly twenty acres of coffee. The regeneration of indigenous trees has transformed the hill into a natural self-sustaining ecosystem. The regular seasonal rains (March-November) ensure that the coffee beans mature in natural tree shade.

The farm also has spring water, which can be developed and used to irrigate the farm if necessary. We do not currently have the funds to begin irrigation, but it is a possibility.

We thank BrazAfric and its partners for providing us with the latest innovative and advanced technology equipment solutions for our specialty coffee micro-lot processing unit, this will be a big milestone for us and the coffee industry in Kenya and beyond.

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