Kokoa Kamili

Tanzania

Our Kokoa Kamili bar uses cocoa beans from Tanzania´s Kilombero Valley, from Kokoa Kamilifarming co-op. They buy wet beans directly from local farmers, paying well above market price, and processes them centrally, which ensures much more consistent quality from harvest to harvest.

The result of their hard work and attention to detail reveals itself in our bar, which is packed with bright fruit flavors, and a finish of toasted rice, coffee, and cream.

Story

“Kokoa Kamili works in Tanzania - famous for our national parks, big game, and of course Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania has a long history with cocoa since the crop was first introduced in the 1880s. 

At Kokoa Kamili, we work in the Kilombero Valley area of Morogoro Region. Approximately a ten hour drive from the country's main city of Dar es Salaam, our operations are based in the village of Mbingu (Kiswahili for Heaven) bordering the beautiful Udzungwa Mountain National Park. Mbingu is fairly rural with no access to electricity or tarred roads for about sixty kilometers. 

At Kokoa Kamili we work with about 2000 registered smallholder farmers. Most of our farmers own between 0.5 to two acres of land - focusing on food crops. For many of our farmers, cocoa is one of their major sources of income. 

We also work with the Mbingu Sisters, a convent in the village that operates a 30 acre cocoa farm. The income the Sisters earn from their farm goes to support much of the charitable work that they conduct - including operating a hospital, school, and orphanage in the area. “

“We began Kokoa Kamili for three reasons:

1. We believe that farmers should be rewarded fairly for their hard work

2. We believe that Tanzanian cocoa has the potential to be some of the best in the world

3. We believe in the power of cocoa to bring real economic development to rural Tanzanian farmers”