Tanzania Organic Kilimanjaro AA/AB 2023

Tanzania Organic Green Coffee Beans

In Tanzania, Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (AMCOS) manage 95% of the country’s coffee production. Smallholders must be registered to an AMCOS to qualify for support in production, processing, storage, transport, marketing, and government aid. Without membership, their raw coffee would have no way of reaching the global market.

Smallholders in eight AMCOS based along the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro have worked together under the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU) to collectively maintain their organic certification for the past nine years. The rich volcanic soil and ideal climate around Kilimanjaro, where Tanzania green coffee historically made a name for itself, allows farmers to cultivate Bourbon and Kent coffee varietals on their 1.5-hectare farms without the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Most farmers hand-pick and deliver ripe cherries to the Coffee Processing Unit (CPU), where AMCOS workers carefully record lots for traceability. Pulping is completed the day the cherries are harvested, and the coffee beans ferment in tanks for up to 72 hours. The raw coffee is then washed and sun-dried on raised beds for 9-10 days. In the case where farmers choose to process their cherry at home, they deliver dry parchment to the AMCOS collection centers for further processing and grading at the dry mill.

How is Tanzania green coffee graded?

Around 90% of the Arabica coffee from Tanzania is wash processed at either an AMCOS CPU or at home with a hand pulper. Tanzania employs its own grading system, which shares similarities with the one used in Kenya. Grading factors in species, bean size, density, processing method, and cup characteristics. The scale ranges from AA (screen sizes 17 & 18), AB (15 & 16 screen), C (14 & 15 screen), and PB for peaberry.

Tanzania Raw Coffee Production

Tanzania is one of the largest countries in Africa by area, and its annual Arabica coffee production is around 650,000 bags – as much as its better-known neighbor, Kenya. However, Tanzania has long been in the shadow of the countries it borders. Learn more in our Tanzania Green Coffee Origin Report.