Peter
Temba
January
25, 2012
The
Eastern Africa Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) holds a yearly National Taste
of Harvest Competition, which recognizes specialty coffee, in one of its eleven
member states, namely Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.
Recently,
EAFCA in partnership with Tanzania National Taste of Harvest Committee,
Tanzania Coffee Board and the US-based Coffee Quality Institute, through USAID
- COMPETE Programme, held the annual Taste of Harvest Coffee Competition at Sal
Salnero Hotel in Moshi.
The
annual Taste of Harvest (TOH) was then held at Mazao / City Coffee Facility
through their generous venue sponsorship, under the tutelage of highly trained
and experienced facilitators from Coffee Quality Institute Coffee Corps and the
Coordinator from EAFCA, Ms Mbula Mutahi.
According
to the Executive Secretary of Tanzania Coffee using standard protocol and
procedures Association, Mr James Lema, the TOH event was Head-Judged using
standard protocol and procedures by the regional EAFCA Secretariat, that has
acquired years of experience in running the annual TOH events in all EAFCA
coffee producing countries.
Mr Lema
hinted that over the last eight years, EAFCA has worked closely with the
Tanzanian coffee industry members to organize several training programmes to
address the knowledge gap in the coffee value chain right from planting to
harvest and processing. To-date, Tanzania can call upon resource pool of over
100 skilled coffee cuppers, quality-graders and millers to sow the seeds of
knowledge received from those training programmes in the country's coffee
industry, he noted.
Mr Lema
revealed that several organizations based in Tanzania have worked hard in the
last few months to organize those important events in the coffee calendar, and
for the first time have formed a National Taste of Harvest Committee which has
brought together representatives from the entire Tanzania coffee sector.
"The
purpose of the TOH annual coffee competition is to identify and deservedly
recognize coffees that will score highest in overall quality that is judged on
intrinsic quality characteristics, such as aroma, acidity, clean cup
composition, uniformity of cup and after-taste," Ms Mutahi said.
During
the event, there was a judge's calibration session for the TOH judges panel
consisting of the best cuppers from various areas in Tanzania and all licensed
G-graders. That arrangement was intended to enhance their professional
expertise as well as contribute to the identification of the best quality
coffees harvested in the 2001 coffee season at the National Taste of Harvest
(NToH) event.
The TOH
Competition brought together all the leading coffee producers and exporters who
were required to submit their best coffee samples for testing by a panel of
local and international judges. All coffees which secured scores of 80 plus
were evaluated, profiled and publicized / promoted if they meet cup, green
grading and roasted coffee criteria, according to Ms Mutahi, saying EAFCA will
provide feedback to farmers who submitted samples, EAFCA members and database
as well as buyers from around the world through the EAFCA website.
EAFCA
Coordinator revealed that key benefits to the coffee producers and exporters
that participated in the TOH competition included potential higher premiums
from coffee buyers and the opportunity to explore and consolidate new marketing
channels, including the still nascent domestic coffee market that has the prospect
of expanding to unprecedented heights.
"Coffee
buyers benefit by gaining access to producers of high quality, specialty
coffees and establishing business relationships that would require extensive
resources to create otherwise," she said. At the end of the TOH
competition, Tanzania hosted a 'Coffee Club,' which took the form of a cocktail
reception that brought together all the EAFCA members and coffee stakeholders
in the public and private sector.
During
the function invitees had an opportunity to network and share experiences while
the winning TOH coffees and participants received recognition in the forms of
prizes, trophies and certificates. Established in 2000 and with its Secretariat
in Kampala, Uganda, EAFCA members include both public and private sector coffee
stakeholders that include producers, exporters, international importers,
roasters, policy makers, transporters and trade representatives, according to
Ms Mutahi.
She
says EAFCA collaborates with a host of development partners, such as USAID,
CFC, European Union, International Coffee Organisation and others to increase
the trade in fine and specialty coffees in the region, improve quality and
boost domestic consumption of coffee. Ms Mutahi revealed that EAFCA has hosted
seven successful African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibitions in 2004 in
Nairobi, Kenya; 2005 in Livingstone, Zambia; 2006 in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania;
2007 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 2008 in Kampala, Uganda; 2009 in Kigali, Rwanda;
2010 in Mombasa, Kenya and last year in Arusha, Tanzania.
"EAFCA
is thrilled to be organizing yet another world class event that promotes
productivity, quality, trade of fine coffees and their consumption which will
take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia," she beamed. Tanzania's coffee
production increased to about 917,000 bags during last season, a six-year
highest record, compared to 810,000 bags recorded during the previous season.
An
official of one of Tanzania Coffee Association (TCA) recently said, the fall in
export is due to less demand for the commodity in importing countries,
especially US and Japan. Coffee exporters faced a double tragedy as they could
not export in time due to congestion at the container terminal and drop in
prices in the world market.
A
coffee dealer who preferred anonymity told this paper on Sunday over the phone
from Moshi this week that, congestion at the Tanzania International Container
Terminal (TICTS) in Dar es Salaam is a big concern because exports are not
meeting schedules. He said they do not go for new contracts because of congestion
of the product.
The
TCB's official Mr Desderi Mboya was quoted recently as saying that, a total of
33.1 million kilos of coffee comprising 16million kilos of arabica and 27 kilos
of robusta were sold between August and December.