Overview
Tanna Coffee Development Company was founded in 1982 to revive Vanuatu's coffee industry shortly after the country's independence from Anglo-French rule. After the original operation collapsed in the mid-1990s under climatic stress and leaf rust, private investors replanted with semi-Dwarf Catimor Arabica hybrids; production now exceeds 50 tonnes annually across 550 smallholder farmers on Tanna Island, with all roasting done in Port Vila.
Known for
- Vanuatu FIRST 1982 (post-independence project)
- single-origin Tanna Island Arabica
- 550 smallholder farmer base across Tanna
- Cyclone Pam 2015 destroyed 90% of trees — operation rebuilt
- Mele Bay roastery-cafe across from Hideaway Island
- Fairtrade
- Blue Pacific blend tributing neighbouring islands' smallholders
Why it matters
Tanna Coffee is the rare producer-roaster that controls every step from cherry to retail bag inside a single small island nation. Cyclone Pam (March 2015) destroyed roughly 90% of Tanna's coffee trees; the operation's recovery is now a rebuilding-the-rural-economy story for smallholder coffee in the South Pacific. 70% of output stays in-country, 30% exports — a rare ratio for a producing-origin brand.
Production
- head roaster
- Robert
- roastery location
- Mele Road, Waisisi, Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu
- annual volume tonnes
- 50
Café
Mele Road (formerly Devil's Point Rd), Waisisi, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Recognitions
- Fairtrade certified