Clarke farm has seven hundred acres of coffee, mainly Robusta, with a few hectares of Arabica. The farm produces its own seedlings, mainly clonal coffee, in its nursery.
The seedlings are planted at a spacing of 2.5 by 3.0 metres and produce coffee in the third year. On the seventh year the coffee is pruned back to one stem so that it generates young shoots and becomes even more productive.
The main coffee harvest is between November and March with the fly crop in June. Freshly picked red cherry is pulped in the wet processing factory. This coffee is then sundried and stored as parchment.
When ready for sale the parchment is hulled and graded in the ‘dry line’ ready for export. The washed Robusta coffee generally scores 80 – 82 on cupping with a rich full bodied taste and good acidity.