Kenya & Tanzania Arabica (AA, AB & Peaberry)

AA, AB & PB washed arabica — Nairobi and Moshi auctions

Kenya and Tanzania grade arabica by bean size, and the letters are the language of the trade. In Kenya, AA is the largest screen (screen 18), AB is the most common grade (screens 15 to 17), PB is peaberry, the single round bean from a cherry that developed only one seed, and C, TT, T and the ungraded UG lots sit below. Tanzania uses a similar ladder, AA, A, AB, B, PB and C, sorted by screen and density, and its peaberry has a particular following in the US specialty trade. Most Kenyan coffee is sold through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, a weekly auction at which marketing agents offer factory lots to licensed dealers, alongside direct sales. At Sale 40 on 15 September 2026, 16,994 bags traded for KSh 860.3 million; AA averaged USD 358.52 per 50 kg bag, AB USD 350.63 and PB USD 346.15, with a top price of USD 408. In Tanzania, the Tanzania Coffee Board runs the coffee auction in Moshi, the central trading floor, with further auctions held in Songwe, Mbinga and Kagera and a separate direct-export channel for licensed exporters; the Board's site listed clean arabica at USD 6.4 per kg when read in September 2026.

Buy Kenyan AA and AB when the cup needs bright, juicy acidity and blackcurrant and citrus fruit, for a flagship single origin or the top note in a premium blend; buy Tanzanian lots for a softer, well-structured East African washed coffee at a lower differential, and peaberry where the story sells. Screen size is not cup quality, so a strong AB from a good factory often out-cups a weak AA; buy on cup score and factory or estate, with grade as a filter. Lots ship in 60 kg jute bags with barrier liners from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam against a certificate of origin (ICO certificates where issued), phytosanitary certificate, auction or sale documents and certificate of analysis. Green coffee under HS 0901 is in scope of the EU Deforestation Regulation from 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators and 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators, which requires plot geolocation back to the smallholders who deliver to each factory. Kenyan auction prices are set lot by lot rather than as a differential, and the indicative level shown is the Nairobi AA average of 15 September 2026 converted to a tonne; other lots are priced against the ICE arabica "KC" contract. CBIL brokers Kenyan and Tanzanian arabica against grade, cup score, factory traceability and moisture, on FOB Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, CFR and CIF terms.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.