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Tanzanian Coffee Tanzania produces both Arabica and Robusta coffees. Wet-processed ‘mild’ Arabica coffee grows in the rich volcanic soil of the Northern Highlands (Kilimanjaro, Meru, Oldeani/Ngorongoro, Pare and Usambara), in the fertile Southern Highlands (Mbinga, Njombe, Mufindi, Mbeya, Ileje, Rungwe, Morogoro, and Mbozi) and in the Western region (Kigoma, Bukoba, Tarime).
History Mild Arabica coffees are said to have been introduced into the country from Reunion by the Jesuits in the 1890’s and Arabica coffee was first introduced as a commercial venture in about the year 1900 on Mount Kilimanjaro. The first variety grown was ‘Bourbon’ while the more disease resistant ‘Kent’ was first planted in the 1920’s. Tanzanian Arabicas are sought after both as a ‘pure’ coffee of the highest quality and as a component of the best blends in Japan, Europe and North America. The dry processed unwashed or ‘hard’ Arabica coffees grow around the shores of Lake Victoria in Tarime and Bukoba. Robusta coffee was first introduced to Buboka District in the 1600’s by the Bunyoro conquerors. Almost all Tanzania’s unwashed coffees are produced by smallholders in the Buboka District and it is estimated that some 70,000 families there depend on coffee for their livelihood. Tanzanian Robusta is gaining in status in the world market, as quality and supply increasingly become reliable.
Processing Mild Arabica coffee is processed either on the smallholder’s farm using a hand pulper or in Central Processing Units (wet mills) run by estates, private companies or co-operatives.
The beans are then transferred to the raised drying tables made of wire mesh. Drying begins immediately after washing to avoid re-fermentation. The beans are often covered with cloth in the middle of the day to protect from the strongest sunlight.
Hard Arabicas and Robustas are picked as red cherries, as is the case with the mild Arabicas. The cherries are then dried for approximately 2 weeks. The dried cherries are packed in bags and transported to the curing factory (dry mill). The milling entails the removal of the outer hard skin of the dried cherry and husks, followed by polishing. The coffee is then graded. Robusta grades are Screen 18, Superior (Screen 16), FAQ (Screen 15) and UG (Screen 12). Arabica is graded into FAQ and UG.
The market for Tanzanian coffee The producer can sell his or her coffee either directly to private companies or to co-operative unions through primary societies. Tanzanian coffee is available to buyers throughout the world from licensed coffee export companies in Tanzania who purchase their coffee at auctions held by the Tanzanian Coffee Board (TCB) in Moshi. Samples from all processing factories handling mild Arabica coffees are drawn and sent to the TCB liquoring sections, which undertake tasting and classification of coffee from each lot to determine the quality of coffees. The coffee is then bulked and samples are forwarded to the liquoring section of TCB for the preparation of an auction catalogue, on the basis of which TCB distributes samples to exporters between one and two weeks before the auction.
More recently, a limited amount of speciality coffee has been exported under the ‘Direct Export Licence’ scheme. Producers may obtain a licence to export specific lots of top quality coffee directly without putting them through the auction. |
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Ripe, uniformly red berries are picked and taken for pulping on the same day. The pulp is separated from the beans using machines and clean water. The wet beans are preserved in special fermentation tanks for 48 hours after which they are washed to remove the mucilage. 
Drying takes about 10 days under normal conditions.The dried coffee, or parchment, is packed into well aerated bags and transported to the curing factory (dry mill). There the parchment skin is removed and the coffee is graded into the internationally recognised grades of AA (Screen18), A (Screen 17) , B (Screens 15 & 16), C (Screen 14) and PB. Light coffee beans are separated by gravity tables and classified as AF, TT and F.
The electronic auctions are held weekly on Thursdays during the season (August to April) at Kahawa House in Moshi. Coffee is sold in the auction on the basis ‘in store’ warehouse. After the auction, exporters carefully select from their purchases lots which match their customers’ quality requirements. The coffee is then bulked and transported to the coast ready for shipment via the ports of Tanga or Dar-es-Salaam.