11Tanzania
709,000 bags (ICO 2009/10)In-depth country profile: production, varieties, classification, history, current situation and points still uncertain. Region: Africa.
In Tanzania, coffee plants settle at the foot of Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. Coffee is old there; it is said to have first been chewed as a stimulant, and even used as currency by some tribes, but its cultivation only really started under colonization.
Arabica dominates, alongside a little canephora, and most of the production comes from small farms grouped in cooperatives, the country's first, born of the need to negotiate better prices. Some terroirs, such as Ruvuma, remain well-kept secrets, prized for their washed coffees.
- Botanical species
- Arabica (70%), Canephora (30%)
- Varieties
- Bourbon, Kent, Blue Mountain, Typica…
- Altitude
- Arabica: 950 to 1,900 m; Canephora: 900 to 1,500 m
- Soil type
- Fertile red soils
- Shade
- Fruit trees (notably banana trees)
- Harvest
- Manual and selective
- Processing
- Wet process and dry process; sun drying on racks
- Sorting
- Mechanical and electronic
- Harvest period
- North and South: July-Dec.; West: May-Oct.
- Packaging
- 60-kg bag
According to the Tanzania Coffee Board, the region is indicated (South or North, or even the terroir for higher qualities), then the bean size.
Arabica bean size
| Grade | Criteria |
| AA | 90% > screen 18; 8-10% max screen 17; 2% max screen 15 |
| A | 90% > screen 15/16; 2% of screen 14 |
| B | 90% min retained on screen 15/16 |
| C | 90% min retained on screen 14; 10% max screen 13 |
| PB (peaberry) | 95% min retained on screen 14 |
| AF | 90% max retained on screen 17; 8-10% max screen 15/16; 2% max screen 14 |
| TT | 90% max retained on screen 15/16; 10% max retained on screen 14 |
| E (Elephant) | 90% min retained on screen 18; 10% max < screen 15 |
History
The territory, then German East Africa, exported 2,334,450 pounds of coffee in 1913. Coffee there is said to be older than its organized cultivation: the profile reports that it was first chewed as a stimulant, and even used as currency by some tribes, but cultivation only really starts under colonization.
Ukers 1922, ch. XXII, p. 289-291 (exports of the producing countries), p. 291; Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026Tanzania supplied the world with two important lineages, and one of them made the reputation of its Kenyan neighbor.
The Arusha comes from Mount Meru. It appears in the 1880s and is found today in Papua New Guinea, on the other side of the world. Its placement in Typica or Bourbon remains debated among sources: none settles it.
The Tanganyika Drought Resistant is an East African selection with a Bourbon background, derived from Moduli. It is what supplied the Scott Laboratories of Kenya with the mother tree of SL28, in 1931. In other words, the coffee reference of East Africa was born from a Tanzanian tree.
The same year, a British mission collected wild seeds in Ethiopia for the programs of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. The three colonies were going to seek their material where the species is at home.World Coffee Research, Coffee Varieties Catalog 2025, Arusha and Tanganyika Drought Resistant profiles; LC ch. 8
World Coffee Research, Coffee Varieties Catalog 2025, Arusha and Tanganyika Drought Resistant profiles; LC ch. 8Today
The volume at the head of the profile, 709,000 bags, is that of the profile (ICO 2009-2010). No later data could be sourced: this figure is a dated benchmark, not today's production.
Coffee plants occupy the foot of Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. Arabica dominates between 950 and 1,900 meters, with a little canephora between 900 and 1,500: here again, it is altitude that separates the two species.
The varieties declared are Bourbon, Kent, Blue Mountain and Typica.
Processing is by the wet process as well as the dry process, with sun drying on racks. Harvesting is manual and selective, that is, the same plot is gone through several times to pick only the ripe cherries.Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026
Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026Most of the production comes from small farms grouped in cooperatives, the country's first, born of the need to negotiate better prices. Some terroirs, such as Ruvuma, remain little known and are prized for their washed coffees.
Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026Gray areas
- The use of coffee as currency by some tribes is reported by the profile without a primary source: it is a tradition, not an established fact.
- No production volume after 2010 could be sourced.
- The genetic placement of Arusha (Typica or Bourbon) is explicitly debated among sources.
- The share of Tanzanian canephora in total production is not quantified here.