Most of the world's coffee is grown by small farmers on 5-7 acres of land, and harvested by hand in large baskets or sacks by the farmers and their families when the cherries are red and ripe.   In some coffee farming communities, the coffee harvest is a rotating project where the entire community shares in the activity and moves from farm to farm as the crop ripens.  

In countries like Brazil, where the land is flat and larger farms dominate the landscape, mechanical harvesters are commonly used to pick the crop.

Hand Picking

Basket for coffee harvest

The taste of coffee from the beginning of the harvest is usually green, herbaceous and undeveloped. The end of the crop usually produces older, over-ripe and undesireable characteristics in flavor. 

Equal Exchange's coffee is picked exclusively by hand, and we only buy coffee from the middle part of the harvest, when the most fruit is produced and the quality is the highest.