SOP
Standard Operating Procedures
Our standard operation procedure (SOP) in the solar dome is convenient and easy. It covers the steps to avoid and follow in every action. We’ve already done all the staff step-by-step SOP training.
Coffee Cherries Preparation
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Use washed and clean bags to collect picked cherries fruits
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Only pick the ripe cherries and do not strip the trees
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Do not use fertilizer, pesticide or fungicide storing bags when collecting cherries
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Process must be done on the same day as harvest
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Washed coffee must not be piled up but sent immediately to the raised beds
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Before drying, harvested cherries should be rinsed & dipped in the large plastic tank to clean any gross impurities mixed with the fruits and to remove floating cherries
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After removing floaters, sort out any semi-ripe and over ripe fruit, as well as dried fruit, leaves, twigs, dirt, sticks & stones
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After hand sorting, clean cherries should be weighed and sent to raised beds inside the solar dome.
Procedures For Raised Beds
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Spread out the washed, clean coffee in thin 3-5 cm layers
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Record label lot, weight & drying date on each bed in a log book
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Move & spread out the coffee cherries each morning at 9am
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Run exhaust fan for 30 minutes a day to remove condensation and humidity
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Run the exhaust fan ventilation run every 2 hours for 30 minutes each time at 09:00 hr, 11:00 hr, 13:00 hr, 15:00 hr, and 17:00 hr to reduce temperature and humidity
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Turn the coffee every hour, at least eight times a day, according to sunlight positioning until 4pm
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Continue until the beans have 11–12% moisture content
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Record the average moisture in the book
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Coffee pods with the right moisture content must not stay long in the raised beds
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When the correct moisture content is reached, pile the coffee pods up and arrange to collect and pack.
Notes
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Do not mix different lots of coffee under any circumstances
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Floating cherries should be dried separately
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Never pile up coffee ripe cherries before the half-dry point (when a cherry no longer sticks when squeezed). Piling up at this point is one important operation due to the property of heat exchange characteristic of natural coffee, providing homogeneity during the drying process
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In the case of rain, do not run exhaust fan to avoid remoistening
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No smoking or chewing tobacco inside dryer dome area
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No chewing gum/betel nut or eating foods inside dome area
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Wash hands (including under fingernails) and up to forearms vigorously and thoroughly with soap and warm water for 20 seconds after toilet use, and when returning to the work station
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No outside people to enter the dome.
Storage Procedures
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Once dried, each lot/batch should be placed in food grade plastic bags
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Dried coffee pods must be double bagged to protect from insects and control moisture
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Coffee bags must be measured, tied tightly and carried to the warehouse
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Collect and pack the coffee pods in the cool morning time
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Coffee pods should be kept in grain pro or food grade bags
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Each bag of pods should be 60 kg or 40 kg and tagged with the name and date of its drying lot
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Coffee pod bags should be placed on wooden or plastic pellets off the floor
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Storage area conditions: cool, dry, out of direct sunlight, moisture content 60–65%, and temperature 19°C–25°C inside the warehouse.
Maintenance / Cleaning
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Maintain a clean work environment
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Leave enough time at the end of each day to clean up inside the dome area
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Keep all strong odours, livestock, chemical fertilizer, insecticide, oil and grease away from the dome area
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Avoid burning any garbage and mess around the dome area
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Don't keep the vehicles, tractors and other machineries' related parts and tools inside the dome
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Don't allow any vehicles to pass through the dome area (to avoid smoke from vehicles)
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Drying raised beds should be washed and cleaned after the coffee season
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All solid particulates should be removed, and any remaining residue cleaned with moist, soapy water.