How Tanzanian Coffee Is Sold: Auctions, Direct Export and What They Mean for Buyers

At a glance

• About nine-tenths of Tanzanian coffee is grown by smallholders, per the USDA.
• Farmers sell through cooperatives, washing stations and a small number of estates.
• Most coffee is sold at Tanzania Coffee Board auctions, in Moshi and online.
• Qualifying producers can also sell directly to buyers under a board licence.
• Every export needs a board licence and a permit for the shipment.

Coffee in Tanzania is a regulated crop, and the route it takes from farm to ship is set by the Tanzania Coffee Board. For a buyer, that route matters more than it first appears: it decides when coffee becomes available, how much you can know about who grew it, and whether you can buy from the same producers again next year.

From the farm to the cooperative

According to the USDA, about 90% of Tanzania's coffee comes from some 320,000 smallholder farmers, with the rest from around a hundred larger farms. Smallholders deliver cherry or parchment to their village cooperative, known in Tanzania as an AMCOS, or to a washing station. The cooperatives and estates then have the coffee hulled, graded and prepared for sale.

How does the auction work?

Most Tanzanian coffee is sold at auctions run by the Tanzania Coffee Board. Cooperatives and estates offer graded lots, each with a lot number, and licensed buyers bid after cupping samples. Prices follow the international futures markets, New York for arabica and London for robusta, with the auction setting the premium or discount for each lot. The main auction has long been held in Moshi, at the foot of Kilimanjaro, and in recent seasons auctions have also moved online and closer to the growing areas. The auction runs through much of the marketing year, which the USDA dates from July to June.

What is the direct-export channel?

Producers that meet the board's requirements can sell directly to a buyer abroad under a Tanzania Coffee Board licence, without going through the auction. It is the channel specialty buyers use when they want to build a relationship with a particular cooperative or estate, agree quality and preparation in advance, and come back to the same producers each year.

What does the channel mean for you?

• Timing: auction lots appear on the auction calendar; direct-export lots can be planned around one producer's harvest.
• Traceability: an auction lot number ties the coffee to its seller; direct export ties it to a known producer group from the start.
• Relationships: direct export makes repeat buying from the same group much easier.
• Paperwork: either way, the exporter needs a board licence and each shipment a permit.

We buy through both channels and tell you which one each lot came through. If you want to build a long-term relationship with one producer group, tell us early in the season, because that planning happens before the harvest, not after it.