The Gachatha cooperative factory is situated on a 392-acre plot between the villages of Mutuaini, Tiriku, Gachenge, and Kianjau and traces its history back to 1963. Today, the cooperative includes over 1,500 smallholder farmers who grow coffee on the slopes of the Aberdare mountain range, approximately 160 kilometers north of Nairobi, where water from the Kangunu River is used for processing.

Ripe cherries harvested by the cooperative’s member farmers are delivered to the mill, where they are first sorted by quality, then depulped, washed, and dried. After depulping, the beans are held in open concrete tanks for dry fermentation for up to 48 hours, then washed, soaked in water for additional fermentation, and laid out on raised drying tables.

Coffee from the Nyeri region is grown at significant elevations on the slopes of the Aberdare Mountains, which slows cherry ripening, enriching them with more nutrients and allowing more time for flavor development. This is where the structured acidity and complex profile characteristic of Nyeri coffee come from. The AA grade denotes the largest bean size under the Kenyan classification system, traditionally associated with the highest quality lot.