"We are implementing JACKY Bins at our three [coffee cherry] washing stations...they will be at the centre of our new [coffee] fermentation method!"
Coffee. People. Potential.
Long Miles Coffee Project (LMCP) is a social movement of coffee producers in Burundi and Uganda (Africa). Since 2011 they have been building a 'coffee community' in the region - one farmer, one bean, and one roaster at a time!
The LMCP is a 'coffee movement' that was founded in 2011 by Ben and Kristy Carlson, who moved to Burundi and saw that both injustice and poor farming practices permeated the country’s newly privatized coffee industry. They also saw that roasters around the world had a hard time getting consistently great coffees from Burundi and nearby Uganda. In an effort to see positive change in both farmers’ and roasters’ lives, Long Miles Coffee was born!
The Jacky Bins 4 Coffee (JB4C) team supplied 20 x 2000L JACKY Bins to LMCP; 10 bins to be implemented at their Ninga Washing Station in Burundi and 10 bins at their Heza Washing Station in Uganda. These Washing Stations are where local farmers store the coffee cherries after they've floated them, hand-sorted them, and they've been out on the drying tables for 25-30 days (see photos below).
These bins were manufactured at the JACKY Bin molding facility in Australia and shipped via Kenya to their final destination. The team at JB4C also provided workshop drawings to LMCP for the bin's steel frames, which meant that they could be locally manufactured in Burundi, saving on both input and shipping costs.
These JACKY Bins will play an important role in the processing of oxygen-restricted (anaerobic), extended fermentation coffee that LMCP has been experimenting with! LMCP have been developing their process of anaerobic coffee fermentation for a few years now. For coffee fermentation trials and small batches, before JACKY Bins, LMCP used containers such as plastic rubbish bins and small rainwater tanks. However, to produce on a larger commercial scale, a purpose-built tank was required - enter JACKY Bins!
JB4C developed a method of molding a food-grade stainless steel fitting into the base of a JACKY Bin, which allows valves and other fittings to be easily attached, an ideal container for the coffee fermentation process. Also, the rugged and hardy nature of JACKY Bin's polyethylene means that they can be transported to the most remote locations without being damaged (unlike stainless steel tanks that are prone to denting and damage). The JACKY Bin's square shape allows maximum volume in the available space (as opposed to round tanks), both when set up in the Washing Stations and when packed into a shipping container for transit.
