OUR STORY OUR COFFEE OUR BRANDS SUSTAINABILITY FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION CONTACT BLOG (800) 428-4627 You are here QUALITY GAVIÑA STANDS FOR HIGH QUALITY COFFEE High quality coffee can’t exist without top notch green coffee, roasting, packing, and brewing. It’s all or nothing. Gaviña takes responsibility for ensuring that our coffees meet the strictest standards, from sourcing all the way to brewing. QUALITY CONTROL We handle quality control in-house, evaluating samples of every green coffee delivery we receive and samples of every batch of coffee we roast. This is to ensure that all the coffee we roast meets our high quality standards. SQF LEVEL 3 CERTIFICATION Our company has achieved Safe Quality Food Institute (SQF) Level 3 certification (the highest level awarded), ensuring that our coffee is 100 percent traceable from coffee lot to individual bag, and that our manufacturing practices are held to the highest standard of product safety. As SQF Level 3 members, our facility is audited annually by a 3rd party to ensure that we are adhering to the SQF program. We are proud to have maintained an exceptionally high score of 97 percent or greater every year since we began the SQF program. COFFEE PLANT STRAINS: ARABICA VS. ROBUSTA Did you know that high quality coffee beans only grow in high places? It’s true. There are two main species of coffee plant: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica only grows at elevations above 2,500 feet and requires special care to thrive. Arabica beans yield superior flavor and, as you might guess, Gaviña only uses Arabica coffee beans. But even then, not just any Arabica will do. HIGH QUALITY COFFEE STARTS IN THE SOIL Just as the soil where grapevines grow affects the flavor of wine, the specific growing region (terroir) impacts the quality of coffee beans. There are several components of a coffee terroir: Climate: Temperature, sunlight, rainfall, humidity, and wind Soil Type: Fertility, acidity, drainage, and composition (volcanic soil is particularly well-suited to coffee plants) Topography: Natural landscape features including mountains, valleys, and nearby bodies of water. We take each of these factors into account as we search the globe for the best coffee beans. PICKING AND PREPARATION How the coffee beans are handled before we import them is just as important as where they are grown. Coffee beans of the highest quality are hand picked only when their cherries are perfectly ripe. On average, it takes one coffee tree to produce one pound of roasted Arabica coffee. After the ripe coffee cherry is picked, it is sent to a mill for separation and fermentation. This can be done using a variety of processes: Washed: Coffee cherries are de-pulped and then mucilage is removed by allowing coffee to ferment in water 12 to 36 hours. Natural: This process typically involves drying the whole coffee cherry and then separating out the beans. In patio drying, the processed cherries are spread out on large “patios” and allowed to air dry. Once the cherries are fully dried, they undergo further processing to extract the beans. Semi-Washed: Cherries are de-pulped and the beans are extracted through a mechanical process of friction and pressure. Once the coffee beans are fully processed, they are ready for delivery to our state-of-the-art California facility for processing, roasting, and packaging. Read more about Our Process. CONTACT US (800) 428-4627 2700 Fruitland Ave Vernon, CA 90058 hello@gavina.com SHOP NOW Shop Retail Now Get Wholesale Now Get OCS Now MORE LINKS Sustainability Education Careers FAQ OUR BRANDS Gaviña Gourmet Coffee Don Francisco's Coffee Café La Llave LET'S CONNECT © 2021 F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Site Map Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Social Responsibility