About This Coffee
Grown in the Hai District of Kilimanjaro Region, Kibo Farm was established in early 1900’s under the name of Tudaley Estates. In 1979 the farm was proud to welcome the Queen of England, who visited and stayed on the farm.
The farm name was changed to Kilimandsharo and Boloti when investors purchased the farm in 2017.
Cultivation
Kilimandsharo farm works with the local authorities to carry out controlled trials on coffee varieties and water management. These techniques and best practices are then shared with surrounding coffee communities.
Coffee trees are intercropped with avocados and macadamia.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
After harvest, cherry is pulped on 4-disk MacKinnon disk pulpers, of which the farm has 2. Coffee is fermented and then washed in clean water. Parchment is dried on raised beds. Dried parchment is stored on site and then transported to a dry mill where it’s milled and prepared for export.
Coffee in Tanzania
Coffee’s roots in Tanzania can be traced via oral history back to the Haya tribe of Northwest Tanzania in the 16th century. Following German and then British colonial rule, the Tanzanian coffee industry has undergone many transformations and adjustments in an effort to create the most equal, profitable and high-quality coffee possible. Today, our in-country partner, Sucafina Tanzania, is invested in improving the coffee and the lives of smallholder farmers through a variety of initiatives.
Coffee in Tanzania was grown almost exclusively in the North for a long time. The Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Tarime, Kagera, Kigoma and Karatu/Ngorongoro regions were prized for their ideal Arabica growing conditions. At the time, coffee production was so concentrated in the north that Moshi, a northern municipality, was the only hub for all coffee milling and sales.
Operations in Moshi grew to truly massive proportions in the 1950s and early-1960s. Since both Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi were under British rule in the post-war decades, Moshi was the second milling and sales hub (after Nairobi, Kenya) for British coffee production.
Coffee cultivation has extended southwards in recent years. In addition to the historical powerhouse regions in the north, coffee is now also grown in the southern regions of Ruvuma and Mbeya/Mbozi. Most Southern expansion of coffee growing occurred in the 1970s and 1980s and was encouraged by two projects supported by European backers. In an ironic twist, today 75 to 85% of total coffee production in Tanzania today comes from farms in the south.