Our Coffee
Our pure Arabica beans are carefully selected from over 1,000 village based farmers in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Only traditional organic and sustainable farming practices handed down over centuries are utilised, ensuring that our coffee is not only satisfying and delicious, but is also good for the environment and the well-being of our planet.
Grown under the shadows of Tanna Island’s Mt Yasur volcano, it is the active volcano’s presence and enormous climatic influence over the entire island that make Tanna Coffee so unique. The deep and rich volcanic soils, abundant sunshine and plentiful rainfall are the essence of this totally natural premium product. In addition, natural fermentation, sun drying, same-day processing and local roasting ensure that this very essence is captured in every single bean.
The Tanna Coffee plantation is located at 400m above sea level. With an average annual rainfall of 2,500mm and average temperature of 18C, the location is perfectly suited to growing Semi-Dwarf Catimor varieties of Arabica. These are hybrids developed from some of the world’s finest coffee stock. The volcanic soils, which are both highly fertile and free draining, provide a pest-free environment which ensures that beautiful Tanna Island is ideal for growing the purest organic coffee in a sustainable, non-harmful manner.
These distinctive climatic conditions, coupled with 100% natural farming and processing methods, create an Organic Pasifika certified coffee that embodies remarkable cupping qualities and superb taste characteristics.
Try us out and taste the difference! And know that you are supporting smallholder farmers and the environment with every sip.
We grow our own coffee!
What We Do
Our focus is on empowering and improving the lives of individuals and families, by creating impactful change in remote communities. We achieve this by substantially improving their ability to generate a sustainable income through coffee farming and inter-cropping.
Our objective is to steadily increase annual raw coffee production, with an aim towards expanding and sustaining Vanuatu’s small coffee industry, whilst still maintaining the optimum quality levels achieved so far, through the utilization of traditional farming practices and methods.
By undertaking this approach, we hope to satisfy the consumer concerned with provenance by providing a uniquely natural product that is sustainably grown, ethically produced and the ultimate in traceability.
Who Benefits
Tanna Coffee’s key objective is to work inclusively with farmers to produce a quality product through the provision of land, seedlings, equipment, training and support to more than 1,000 small-holder coffee farmers, with an empowering emphasis on providing increased livelihoods and improved living standards for the individual, families and entire communities in general.
On Tanna alone, year after year we purchase the entire dry parchment crop that is harvested and processed by the farmers. Tanna Coffee is proudly FAIR-TRADE, paying a premium above world parity price to economically support an estimated 5000 indigenous people, accounting for 15% of Tanna Island’s entire population.
At Tanna Coffee, we provide the necessary means to support the productivity of small-holder farmers.
An integral part of our operation is value-addition processing, whereby the farmer is encouraged to actively participate and maximize every opportunity available to improve overall livelihood and increase living standards by earning much needed cash for school fees, essential household needs, food, clothing and medicine.
At Tanna Coffee, we diligently address the issue of gender equality and social inclusion within the Tanna Island society, which for centuries has always been very patriarchal. Women and youth are encouraged to attend our seasonal workshops and training sessions to be up-skilled in roles and responsibilities relevant in the areas of coffee farming and inter-cropping. Widows are especially supported in these endeavours and their involvement in operating a small agricultural business has resulted in improved livelihoods in terms of children’s education, production of more nutritional foods and greatly improved health/living standards.
Sustainability
We are working hand in hand with farmers towards a sustainable future every step of the way.
Tanna Coffee’s Environmental Policy incorporates a primary production system which utilizes only traditional and organic agricultural farming practices that have been handed down many centuries to the smallholder coffee farmers.
Our deep and rich volcanic soils, abundant sunshine and plentiful rainfall create not only a perfect environment for growing coffee, but also for an inclusive production of fruit, vegetables and essential oils.
The addition of an inclusive intercropping regime delivering short, medium and longer-term cash crops between the coffee trees ensures farmers fully utilize the bountiful natural resources freely available in a “perma-culture” type manner. This approach, where planting mono-cultures is avoided, further protects the soil and crops.
This type of agricultural methodology has been Tanna Coffee’s focus for the past 10 years and combined with the unique climatic conditions and naturally pest-free environment prevailing on Tanna, makes for a genuinely natural and organic system with absolutely no need at all for harmful chemicals.