Taste of Harvest
Taste of Harvest
Taste of Harvest: a catalyst for elevating African coffees
About the Taste of Harvest
The African Taste of Harvest—AFCA’s flagship program—is an annual coffee quality competition hosted in AFCA member countries. National competitions take place in each member country, culminating in the Regional African Taste of Harvest Competition each year. This season, AFCA is partnering with International Trade Centre (ITC)’s EU-EAC MARKUP II Programme to scale the competition in at least five countries via online coffee auctions.
AFCA invites its members to submit their finest coffee samples to the Taste of Harvest Competition. All samples are cupped and graded using the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) scoring system by an experienced panel of judges—guided by AFCA’s Official Taste of Harvest Protocol.
Why Taste of Harvest?
Through the Taste of Harvest Competition, AFCA strives to promote the highest quality coffees from across Africa. The competition acts as a platform for buyers and sellers, aiming to create new and build upon existing trade relationships. Winning coffees from each country are not only showcased at the African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition, but they are also promoted at international trade shows and other events.
The Taste of Harvest provides AFCA members with the opportunity to diversify their market access portfolio. At a continental level, the competition aims to grow the specialty profile of African countries in the international coffee sector, discovering some of the best coffees the continent has to offer.
2024-2025 in Review
During the 2024-2025 season, a total of eight (8) national competitions took place in Burundi, Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The Regional Taste of Harvest took place during the 21st African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition from February 25-27, 2025 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Following the Regional Competition, AFCA hosted a “Meet the Winners Webinar,” where the top producers and exporters had the opportunity to present the stories behind their coffees to potential buyers. To download the webinar recording, click here. AFCA also partnered with the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity (CCRE) and Three Keys Coffee to host a VIP Coffee Tasting at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Houston, Texas. Nearly all winning samples were featured at the event.
What’s Next
For the season ahead, AFCA aims to host National Taste of Harvest Competitions in at least nine (9) member countries, including Burundi, Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. AFCA will also launch an updated Taste of Harvest Protocol and auction system, in partnership with the EU-EAC MARKUP II Programme.
See below for the tentative competition schedule for the upcoming season:
| No | Country | Variety | Competition Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burundi* | Arabica | Sep-25 |
| 2 | Uganda* | Robusta | Sep-25 |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of Congo | Arabica and Robusta | Oct-25 |
| 4 | Cameroon | Arabica and Robusta | Nov-25 |
| 5 | Tanzania* | Arabica and Robusta | Nov-25 |
| 6 | Malawi | Arabica | Nov-25 |
| 8 | Zambia | Arabica | Nov-26 |
| 9 | Kenya* | Arabica | Jan-26 |
| 10 | Uganda* | Arabica | Jan-26 |
| 11 | Ethiopia | Arabica | Feb-26 |
*Online auction tentatively planned
Please note that the national competition schedule is tentative and subject to change. The Regional Competition is scheduled to take place in February 2026 at the 22nd African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition in Ethiopia.
How To Get Involved
Interested in submitting samples? Sponsoring a competition? Being a competition judge?
Follow @tasteofharvest on Instagram or subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel for the latest updates about the program.
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