Tanzania's 2026/27 Coffee Season: Auction Calendar, Direct Export and When to Book

At a glance

• The 2026/27 Tanzania Coffee Board auctions opened with sale TCB/M/1 on 10 September 2026.
• Sales have run weekly on Thursdays, online, through the board's Unified Coffee Management System.
• Arabica is picked roughly June to October and Kagera robusta roughly May to August.
• Auction coffee is sold in 60 kg sisal bags, bid per 50 kg and paid to the board within five days.
• Direct export is the other route: a direct-sale contract registered with the board.
• EU-bound coffee placed on the market after 30 December 2026 needs EUDR plot data, so put it in the contract.

The short answer for a buyer reading this in late October: the 2026/27 Tanzanian season is open and selling. The Tanzania Coffee Board held its first main auction of the season, TCB/M/1, on 10 September 2026, and had published results for six weekly sales by 15 October. The main arabica pick is ending, so the coming months are when most of this crop's graded arabica is offered. If you want a particular grade or producer group, ask for samples now rather than after the new year.

Where does the season stand in October 2026?

Coffee does not reach the auction the week it is picked. Cherry is pulped and fermented or dried, the parchment is rested, then hulled and graded at a curing works before a lot can be catalogued. That is why the 2026/27 auctions opened in September even though picking in the Southern Highlands starts around June. The early catalogues show the pattern: the 17 September sale offered lots from Mbeya and Songwe in the south alongside northern coffee, and the 15 October results include lots cured at Mbinga in Ruvuma. Each lot description carries the seller's name, usually an AMCOS cooperative or an estate, and a 2026-2027 season code, so a buyer can see which crop and which producer a lot belongs to. The board's catalogue page also lists separate Kagera sales catalogues dated June 2026, from the robusta zone on Lake Victoria, whose harvest runs earlier.

How does a weekly auction work?

The board publishes a catalogue about a week before each Thursday sale; the catalogue for TCB/M/1 is dated 4 September. The terms printed on this season's catalogues are short and worth knowing:

• Sales are held under the Tanzania Coffee Board rules and regulations of 2013.
• Unless stated otherwise, coffee is packed in single sisal bags of 60 kg net, with a tare of 1.1 kg.
• Bids are made per 50 kg, not per bag or per pound.
• Bids must be confirmed by 4 p.m. on the day of the sale.
• The buyer pays the proceeds to the Tanzania Coffee Board on or before the prompt date, five days after the sale.
• Net weight is taken from the warehouse warrant.

Catalogues list every grade the curing works produced, not only the top ones. Alongside AA, A, B and PB you will see C, F, TT and AF lots from the same cooperatives, and some lots draw no bid. The board also publishes a running average auction price for clean arabica and robusta on its website. If you use it, check it on the day and treat it as market data for the whole auction, not as the price of a particular lot.

Auction or direct export: which suits you?

The auction suits buyers who want to choose from what the season actually produced, grade by grade, week by week. The direct-export route suits buyers who want the same producer group every year: a farmer or coffee business sells straight to the buyer abroad, and the board requires the direct-sale contract to be registered with it. Direct contracts are agreed before or during the harvest, so they need planning earlier than auction buying does. We buy through both routes and tell you which one each lot came through.

What should you book before the year ends?

• Washed arabica AA and peaberry: ask for samples now, while this crop's best lots are being offered.
• Southern Highlands arabica: the south picks first, so its graded lots are already in the weekly sales.
• Robusta: Kagera's harvest is earlier than the arabica pick, so ask what remains rather than wait for new lots.
• EU destinations: coffee placed on the EU market from 30 December 2026 falls under the Deforestation Regulation for large and medium operators, so write the plot-data requirement into the contract for anything shipping now.
• Contract terms: write the crop year, 2026/27, into the contract so that older coffee cannot be substituted.

We do not publish prices or a price list. Send us the grade, bag count and destination port, and we will offer specific 2026/27 lots with samples, priced against the market on the day.