Hulling: One week before coffee is shipped, beans go through the hulling process. During hulling, a machine removes the parchment layer that surrounds and protects the bean.
Sorting: Because there is a correlation between coffee bean size, density, and quality, beans will be sorted. To achieve this task we use shaking screens which are metal sheets with round holes in them that retain coffee beans over a certain size and allow smaller beans to pass. After going through the size grader, the remaining beans pass through a machine called gravity separator. This machine shakes the sized beans on a tilted table, so that the lightest ones are removed and the heaviest, densest and best coffee beans vibrate to one side of the pulsating table and continue for export.
Color Sorting: After being sorted, the remaining coffee beans go through the final step: color sorting. At Hacienda La Esmeralda we color sort by using a machine that has sensors that are set to identify undesired beans (red, black, white, yellow). These beans are pushed aside with compressed air, leaving behind only the absolute best ones.
Packaging and Shipping: After hulling and sorting are completed, coffee is ready to be packed and shipped. Packaging depends mostly on quantity and on client’s preferences. In Hacienda La Esmeralda, coffee is packed both in carton boxes with vacuum pack and in jute bags with GrainPro. After packaging is done, Esmeralda coffee is shipped and enjoyed all over the world!.