It’s been a good few months since I last updated everyone on what’s been happening, but with the rainy season well and truly here, things have been pretty slow moving whilst we wait for the cherries to ripen and the rain to disperse before we can head up to the coffee farms again.

Driving into the districts can be treacherous in Timor-Leste during rainy season so it’s best not to risk it!

So, what have we been up to…as of this moment, we have been working closely with the farmers to ensure that they have the best facilities which will allow them to produce the best coffee possible. In order to facilitate this, construction of a storage warehouse has been completed which will allow better storage conditions to reduce the risk of the parchment degrading whilst waiting for transportation to Dili for further hulling and sorting before shipment is arranged.

Building anything in Timor-Leste can be challenging at the best of times, but this is ten times more difficult in the districts. Materials need to be transported from the main cities by truck along the narrow and winding roads which traverse the mountains housing the different districts which make up this small country.

The storage warehouse is located right next to the coffee plantation and will also house a wet mill processing area so that we can ensure that the coffee beans are processed in the correct way to produce consistent high quality coffee throughout the whole harvest.

Next step is to begin constructing the wet mill processing facility in March (hopefully) once the rain has dissipated.

Keep an eye on our blog to see how the construction progresses and how things improve for the new harvest which is due to begin at the end of May.