A COURTESY VISIT TO THE UCC PRESIDENT TO FOSTER TANZANIA’S COFFEE TRADE IN JAPAN & SUPPORT SMALL - SCALE PRODUCERS VIA ELPS INITIATIVE

On 16 October 2024, H.E. Ambassador Baraka Luvanda and Mr. Primus Kimaryo, Director General of the Tanzania Coffee Board, had a fruitful meeting with Mr. Fumihiko Asada, Representative Director - President of UCC CO. LTD, at the UCC Tokyo Office.

The objective of the meeting was to strengthen the Tanzanian coffee business in Japan, as UCC is one of the country's top coffee companies, sourcing a significant amount of its coffee from Tanzania.

They also discussed about the ELPS Initiative, which is a combined effort between Marubeni (one of the prominent Japanese trading firms), the Japanese Government, and IFAD to support the small-scale coffee growers in Tanzania.

Both parties expressed their commitment to ensuring the long-term viability of the ELPS initiative in Tanzania as a PILOT country selected by Japan; as well as strengthening bilateral coffee trading relations.