Only when the plant is five years old can it be counted upon to give a regular yield. This is between 400 grams and two kilos of "Arabica" beans for each plant, and 600 grams and two kilos of "Robusta" beans: one might say that for 500 grams of beans one will need 2.5 kilos of berries.

A ripe coffee bean - plump and red like a cherry - signals harvest. Picking coffee in its most ripened stage is a challenge, as well an art. Harvesting of coffee bean is carried out in different months of the year (depending on the geographic position of the producing countries), and it follows subsequent stages in accordance with maturing of the berries. Harvesting time varies from country to country depending on the geographic situation, the climate and the altitude conditions.

There are three different methods of harvesting coffee, the first being the hand harvesting method. Ripe fruits are plucked by hand. This form of harvesting done by hand, produces poor results because of the mixing of the good cherries with the bad ones. However, it is still practiced in some parts of Africa and Brazil.

The second method uses a comb to brush the trees. Small rakes or poles are used to bring down the cherries to earth. This method removes all ripe cherries leaving the unripe ones still connected to the branches. These first two systems are time consuming and are used where low-cost labor is available.

The third process is mechanical harvesting. If the terrain allows, harvesting can be done with special automatic machines. One method is the use a vibrator, which is fixed to the trunk of the tree. It shakes the ripe cherries loose so that they fall on the ground and then can be easily picked. The other mechanized harvesting tools are rotating brushes connected to the side of tractors. Using this process, however, damages the tree ripping off the green cherries, flowers and leaves at the same time. This method is also expensive as it requires hand picking the cherries after they fall.

Unlike most fruits, coffee has little ripening leeway after it is picked. Deterioration begins immediately after the cherry is off the tree as the sugars begin to convert into starches. This naturally occurring process leads to rotting. Therefore coffee should be processed within ten hours of picking it.

Processing is done once the beans are harvested. The skin, the pulp and the three external layers of skin of the cherry have to be removed. There are three methods of processing coffee beans. Most premium coffees undergo the wet process method. The coffee beans are immersed in water to remove bad or unripe fruit . The skin of the cherry is removed by pressing them under water through a screen. Fermentation is done to separate the coffee beans from the pulp. In machine assisted wet processing, the pulp is scrubbed of by the machine rather than undergoing fermentation. Most African as well as most Central and South American coffees are wet processed. After soaking in water for several days, the husks are removed and the beans are sun-dried on large brick, cement, or mahogany patios for up to six weeks. The coffee is continually raked by day, and moved into covered buildings by night until the beans are completely dry.

The second method is the dry process, producing the so called ‘natural’ coffees. Many Indonesian coffees such as Sumatra, as well as some African coffees, are dry processed. This method imparts more nutrients and fruit-like flavors to the coffee. In the dry method, ripe and green berries are stripped from the trees and dumped into sluiceways which carry them to drying grounds. Desiccation takes place via sun exposure on lands reserved for that purpose, and the berries are continuously stirred to expose them evenly to the sun’s rays for a period of 15 to 20 days. The cherries need to be raked regularly to prevent mildew while they dry. Alternatively, after two or three days, coffee can be put in drying rooms, where it is dried by the heat of a burner at 45-60 degrees C. Once dry, the husks are removed from the bean. After the hulling process, grading is done. Beans prepared by this method are called "naturals" or "unwashed".

The third method is the semi-dry process, where the cherry is passed through a wet screen and is sun dried without undergoing fermentation or scrubbing. This method is used in limited countries like Brazil and Indonesia.

Once the beans are dried, they are run through sieving machines which sort them into different sizes and grades. Some coffee beans are also polished to eliminate any chaff remaining.

At this point, beans are put into sacks, generally weighing 60 kilos (approx. 132 lbs.), and stored in special sheltered rooms, where they are ready to start their journey -from sack to package- towards the consuming countries.

The coffee beans are then decaffeinated, if required, to extract the caffeine prior to roasting them.