Producers
Tanna Coffee Bee
honey producer · beekeeping and queen-rearing initiative · smallholder beekeeping support program · agritourism operation
Loukatai/Lokotai, Lenakel, Tanna Island, Tafea Province, Vanuatu
Tanna Coffee Development Company Limited
Tanna Coffee Bee is the beekeeping and honey-diversification work of Tanna Coffee Development Company Limited, not a separately documented legal entity. Since 2020, Tanna Coffee and the Farm Support Association have trained farmers, moved wild colonies into managed hives, developed queen-rearing skills, and expanded honey production at Loukatai/Lokotai on Tanna Island. Tanna Coffee remained involved in beekeeping through at least 2024. Tanna Island Honey is separately named as an operation and retail product, but its relationship to Tanna Coffee has not been established.
About the Producer
A little history
Tanna Coffee Development Company was established in the early 1980s. Its current official materials use 1984, while some older public sources use 1982. In 2020, the company diversified into bees during the pandemic. Between July and October that year, 24 wild colonies were collected, queen grafting was introduced, and farmers trained at the Tanna Coffee Factory. Later records document honey production at Tanna Coffee Lokotai, a self-reported increase in annual output from 25 kg to 300 kg, and Tanna Coffee's participation in the 2023 Pacific Islands Bee Congress. A 2025 sector report records further training in October 2024 with a name written as “Tanna Cooee,” apparently a typographical reference to Tanna Coffee.
How They Work
Beekeeping in practice
A diversification program within a larger coffee business. It combines company-managed beekeeping and honey production with farmer training, smallholder support, queen rearing, wild-colony transfer, equipment, processing capacity, and honey-related agritourism. Public evidence does not establish a separate Tanna Coffee Bee company or a current dedicated honey shop.
Loukatai/Lokotai, Lenakel, Tanna Island, Tafea Province, Vanuatu
Tanna Coffee Lokotai is documented at Lokotai, Lenakel, with honey production among its diversification activities.
Tanna Coffee Factory, Loukatai, Tanna Island, Vanuatu
FO4ACP and FSA report that most of 24 wild colonies collected in 2020 were transferred into hives at Tanna Coffee and that beekeeping and queen-rearing training occurred at the factory.
Tanna Island, Tafea Province, Vanuatu
Tanna Coffee’s honey program, farmer training, and queen-rearing work are repeatedly placed on Tanna Island. Available evidence supports island-level activity but not the forage area of every harvest.
Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu
FSA reported that surviving queens reared through the Tanna partnership were introduced into five new hives in Vila. This was a bee-distribution destination, not evidence that Tanna Coffee honey was harvested there.
Products & Specimens
What connects to this producer
Products listed by the Producer are kept separate from specimens held in the Collection.
Tanna Coffee-produced honey (retail name not documented)
Documented origin: Tanna Island, Vanuatu
Origin detail: Region
Tanna Coffee is publicly described as producing honey through its Tanna Island program, with honey production specifically documented at Tanna Coffee Lokotai. A company project profile reported annual production increasing from 25 kg to 300 kg, but provided no floral source, label, harvest locality below island level, or packing information.
Tanna Island Honey 500g (association with Tanna Coffee unverified)
Documented origin: Tanna Island, Vanuatu
Origin detail: Region
The retail title and photographed front label identify the product as “Tanna Island Honey” with 500 g net weight, making Tanna Island the narrowest product-specific geographic claim visible. The listing and front label do not identify a producer or packer. Sector reporting names Tanna Island Honey and Tanna Coffee Development Company Limited separately, so this product must not presently be assigned to Tanna Coffee Bee.
People
People connected to the work
- Benson Samuels Tanna Coffee representative and publicly documented operations manager
- Terry Adlington Founder and Managing Director, Tanna Coffee
- Peter Koah Associate Director, Farm Support Association
- Gilbert Gibson Experienced beekeeper, trainer, and biosecurity contractor
Practices
How they work
- Conducted basic beekeeper training covering husbandry, bee species, grafting, notching, honey seasons, forage relationships, and bee feeding.
- Developed queen-rearing and grafting capacity to supply beekeepers.
- Collected wild colonies with local farmers and transferred them into managed hives.
- Provided smallholder support, beekeeping materials, and honey-processing equipment.
- Integrated honey production into an educational agritourism and business-diversification model.