Elevating Uganda’s Vanilla Market
Photo by Maxine Kampire
It's a hot and busy day as trucks filled with vanilla pull up to the Tambiisa Limited processing facility. Collected from growers across central, eastern and western Uganda, this vanilla has begun its first step in the long curing process before being exported to buyers in the United States and Europe.
Green vanilla is unloaded from a delivery truck.
Photo by Maxine Kampire
The company has grown since its establishment in 2009.
“At the start, we exported 2.2 tons of vanilla. Now, we are exporting between 165 and 200 tons,” Bimbasa Isa Tamale, proprietor of Tambiisa Limited, says as he watches sacks of vanilla being unloaded from trucks.
Green vanilla is weighed after unloading.
Photo by Maxine Kampire
The company was founded to help growers improve their income. It has grown into a consistent and reliable market for its 1,312 growers who are part of organized supply chains.
One of the ways the company has achieved this is by attaining certifications. The company was just awarded the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, or HACCP, a certification from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. This certification offers significant advantages for processors. It boosts consumer confidence by signaling that the processor prioritizes food safety, which is critical in building buyer trust. It also provides a competitive edge, as many buyers now require the facilities they source from to be HACCP-certified. Certification opens new market opportunities and ensures greater access to premium buyers.
Tambiisa Limited achieved certification through its partnership with the Vines project.
“Since 2022, Vines has provided seasonal training for our team, helping us improve our curing processes each time."
Green vanilla is sorted before being washed and boiled.
Photo by Maxine Kampire
“We appreciate the support we have received from Vines, which has enabled us to improve our processing capabilities and expand our buyer base,” says Bimbasa.
Through this partnership, the project provides post-harvest and food safety support to expand the trade of safe, high-quality Ugandan vanilla. The project works with partners like Tambiisa Limited to meet food safety standards and establish traceable supply chains.
"As part of our efforts to help processors meet certification requirements and improve their internal food safety systems, the Vines project closely mentored Tambiisa Limited and its staff to help them reach this important milestone," says Hilarion Tonda Maheera, Vines program manager for post-harvest and food safety.
As part of its partnership with Tambiisa Limited, the project supported the company with training in several food safety areas including upgrading the facility and its processes.
Green vanilla is boiled before being taken to the sweat box where it gains its dark brown color. These stainless-steel boilers were an upgrade following support from the Vines project.
Photo by Maxine Kampire
"We provided training for Tambiisa’s technical staff, sponsored by CRS-Vines, and delivered by Uganda National Bureau of Standards, to strengthen the facility’s capacity to identify and manage the hazards within their operational systems," says Hilarion.
One of the trained staff is Lwama Ronald, a supervisor of the curing process at Tambiisa Limited.
“Since 2022, Vines has provided seasonal training for our team, helping us improve our curing processes each time. Last year, they also took us through HACCP training, and that has completely transformed the way we operate,” Lwama says.
One significant transformation has been improved documentation of food safety and processes.
“The facility has set up a digitized traceability system and is now capable of tracing their product back to the source,” says Hilarion. Through a co-investment arrangement between the Vines project and Tambiisa, the processor was able to expand the drying yard, install new stainless-steel boiling equipment, improve workers' changing facilities, vacuum sealing machine and packaging equipment, and enhance the water supply system for processing.
Thanks to the Vines project, Tambiisa Limited now has an area where green vanilla is washed before it is boiled as part of the curing process.
Photo by Maxine Kampire
“In the past, we were using water from the national water service, but it contained chemicals like chlorine. When we tested the vanilla at a laboratory, traces of those chemicals would show up,” says Lwama. “To address this, we switched to using safer borehole water. Since then, the complaints from buyers about chemical traces in the vanilla have completely stopped.”
Thanks to these improvements, Tambiisa Limited successfully passed its initial HACCP audit and earned certification. But the company’s journey doesn’t end here. With continued co‑investment through the partnership with Vines, the company will establish an internal laboratory and install advanced packaging equipment.
This will further elevate the safety and quality of its vanilla products in the future, allowing the company to continuously monitor the quality of the vanilla through regular testing for adulterants, microbial contaminants, and moisture content. It will also enable standardization by ensuring consistent vanillin levels, improving grading and maintaining compliance with certifications and regulatory standards.
With its newly trained food safety team, Tambiisa Limited is now poised to deliver safe, high-quality vanilla to international markets, benefitting its farmers. The company's journey, however, is far from over. Through continued co-investment and support from the Vines project, Tambiisa Limited aims to achieve organic and fairtrade certifications, further enhancing its market appeal. By establishing an internal laboratory and installing advanced packaging equipment, the company will ensure consistent quality and compliance with global standards. As Tambiisa Limited continues to innovate and expand, it remains committed to improving the livelihoods of its growers and setting new benchmarks in the Ugandan vanilla industry. The future holds promising opportunities for Tambiisa Limited, as it strives to reach more buyers and elevate Uganda's vanilla market on the global stage.
