Our Process

Tomoca Coffee prides itself in having supreme quality coffee from Ethiopia as well as having vast experience in the industry providing various types of roasts.  The key factors that go into the selection of the raw coffee beans entail the superior aroma, body, acidity and flavor.  The mountainous region of Ethiopia, coupled with favorable climate and rich soil are the main reasons the coffee bean has a rare low-acidity, full rich flavor which in essence gives way to the TOMOCA flavor.

The coffee roasting process entails the processing of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products (roasted coffee beans and roasted ground coffee) that are finally packaged into the respective packages. The process essentially entails:

1. Cleaning

Bags of green coffee beans are hand-opened and placed into the cleaning machine in order to remove debris.  The clean green beans are then weighed and transferred to the storage bin/put in bags.  From the storage bin, the green beans are taken to the roaster.

3. Cooling

Following the roasting, the roasted beans are cooled and run through a destoner which removes waste products that were not removed during the initial screening from the beans.  The beans are then conveyed to a hopper, where they are stabilized and dried.

4. Grinding

Following equilibrium, the roasted beans are ground, usually by multi-stage grinders.   For different type of brewing, a suitable grind is in order, such as:  Coarse grind, Medium grind and fine grind.

5. Packaging

Some of the roasted beans are packaged as coffee (whole) beans and some are ground.  Finally the ground coffee is sealed.  Our coffee pouches have a one-way valve which allows the freshly roasted coffee to de-gas (release carbon dioxide) without allowing air to enter the sealed bag.  It is also made up of a three layered best quality pouch which helps retain the quality of our coffee over a long period of time.

6. Storage

The raw coffee store keeper receives the coffee and puts it separately on a pallet – far from humidity and undesirable odour.  Any storage temperature too hot or too cold can impact the moisture levels.  The roasted coffee is more vulnerable than the raw coffee beans to oxygen and moisture.  As a result, Tomoca utilizes metal pouches for the packaging to prevent light, oxygen and moisture affecting the roasted coffee.

Quality Control

Quality control is a pertinent part of the coffee roasting, grinding and packing process.  The 3 phases of quality control entail:

1. Roasting Quality Control

• Pre-Roasting Quality Control – The Roaster checks if the prepared raw coffee beans are free from defects so that the taste/flavor of the coffee, before and after roasting is not altered. In essence, at the arrival of the batch of new raw coffee, we sample the bags and cup them.
• During Roasting Quality Control – The Roaster consistently checks the coffee being roasted to prevent from over or under roasting the coffee beans.
• After Roasting Quality Control – The roasted compares the roasted batch to the sample roasted coffee at our disposal. Corrective measures including separate storage are taken if the roasted coffee if not roasted accordingly.

2. Grinding Quality Control

The grinder personnel checks and adjusts the grinding machine as per the demanded grinding type (pre-grinding quality control) and also after the batch is ground, it is checked by comparing with the samples at our disposal (after grinding quality control).

3. Packing Quality Control

The Packing Office checks the date to be printed on the packing (Production date & Best Before Date) and ensure they are up-to-date and clearly visible at the top of the packing.  The Quality Controller then checks all the orders and ensures the packages are well-sealed.  He also ensures the valve on the packing let out air from the packing.  A re-check is done before transferring the package to the finished product store.