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| Process |
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| Overview |
Zigoti coffee is a brand of Uganda's finest Arabica coffee organically grown on the mountains of Bugisu and Sebei. The company buys parchment coffee from individual farmers who use hand-operated pulpers to produce washed Arabica coffee.
On the world market there is an increased demand for washed coffee over the naturals.
Washed coffees are often described as milder and have a less bitter taste. Hence Zicofe had a mission as one of the strategic ways to add value to Uganda's coffee by roasting, grinding and packaging of washed Arabica coffee. |
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| Patchment Coffee |
The average out turn of the processed patchment coffee is shown below:
| A+ |
43% |
| A |
25% |
| PB |
6% |
| B |
3% |
| Under grades |
3% |
| Waste |
0.5% |
| Husks |
19.5% |
The moisture content is reduced to an average of 13.0% before being transported to Kampala for roasting.
In China, France, Spain and all over East Africa, our coffee is being enjoyed by millions of people. |
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| Plants and Machinery |
ZICOFE has invested hiqh-quality machinery to execute all the processes whose end-product is internationally acceptable Zigoti Coffee. These include grinders and packers.
ZICOFE, therefore, meets all the production demands reliably and efficiently. |
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| Grinding |
The process of grinding is professionally done using German made equipment with an enclosed feeding point, which conveys and distributes the coffee beans, granules and powder to the collection centers.
This system retains the aroma of the coffee as much as possible hence the fine distinction that sets the good coffee in the packaging system. The system guides the different types of powder ranging from coarse to fine grind. |
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| Cup Tasting |
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Coffee cupping is a method of systematically evaluating the aroma and taste characteristics of a coffee sample.
This is done on the ground coffee before packing so that quality can be maintained. The company has an expert quality controller to do this.
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| Packaging |
Zigoti coffee is packed in sachets of:
• Roasted beans of 250 mg
• Roast and ground coffee 10, 50, 100 and 250 mg
The 10 gm sachets are packed by an automated machine which carries out all the processes of bag forming, weighing, filling, sealing and perforating, leaving the sachets on a chain. It is from this chain that a dozen (12 sachets) are manually counted and packed in boxes of 24 dozens each, for the market.
50 gm, 100 gm and 250 gm are manually packed using micro weighing scale and hand sealers which are also packed in the boxes for the market.
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| Marketing |
The company employs sales officers who market the coffee in coffee shops, supermarkets, groceries and other wholesale and retail outlets around the country.
On the international scene, Zigoti coffee in on market in China, South Africa, Japan and East Africa. |
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| Prospects |
| Arrangements are underway for roasted and ground coffee vacuum packed instant coffee powder and also acquire another packaging machine, which can handle larger capacity so as to improve efficiency to meet the ever increasing demand for Zigoti coffee on the local and international market. This is all under the development plans of the company thereby paving way to expand its market reach in Asia, Europe and the USA. |
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Overview