From harvesting to classification

The coffee plant has dark green, ovel-shaped leaves around 10-15 cm long. During the flowering period, clusters of highly fragrant white flowers appear on the plant and after a few days the fruit appears in their place.
The berry, called drupe or cherry, is initially green and turns red on ripening. This is when the berry is ready to be harvested.
Picking and stripping are the two methods of harvesting used. With the former, the farmers pick only the ripe cherries, and with the latter the farmer (or a machine) strips everything on the branch, both the ripe and unripe berries.
At this point the processing begins: the external layers are eliminated to leave only the two seeds, lying one facing the other.
The cherries can be processed using the wet or dry method and selected manually or using machines. The beans are then classified according to the botanical species or geographical area and to the size of the bean, colour, density and roast.