Buyer Guide
Tanzania Sesame Seeds Buying Guide
Tanzanian sesame commands respect among hullers, crushers and traders for its colour, oil content and hulling performance. This guide explains the grades, the specifications that matter, and the contract clauses that protect your purchase.
Why Tanzanian Sesame
Sesame is one of Tanzania's most important cash crops, grown by smallholders across the central corridor and southern regions. The natural whitish seed the country produces is prized for three things: bright colour that hulls to a clean white, oil content reliably above 48%, and the size uniformity that mechanical hulling lines need. These are not marketing claims — they are the parameters hullers in Turkey, the Middle East and Asia test on intake, and Tanzanian origin passes them season after season.
Grades Explained: 99/1, 98/2 and What They Mean
Sesame grades describe purity after cleaning and colour sorting. 99/1 — 99% purity, maximum 1% admixture — is the standard export grade, achieved by machine cleaning, destoning and sortex colour sorting. 98/2 allows slightly more admixture and prices accordingly. Below these grades, you are buying cleaning work your own plant will have to do.
For hullers, there is an additional selection beyond the grade: hull-grade lots chosen for size uniformity and seed-coat characteristics that hull cleanly with low broken rates. If you hull, say so in your inquiry — hull-grade selection is a separate discipline from standard export grading.
The Specifications That Matter
Purity and admixture
Purity is the headline number; admixture (other seeds, sand, plant matter) is what you are not paying for. Sortex-cleaned 99/1 lots deliver admixture under 1%, verified by lab analysis. Ask for the analysis certificate — a supplier who tests every lot will send it without hesitation.
Moisture
Maximum 6% is the export standard. Sesame at higher moisture risks heating and quality deterioration in transit, particularly on long voyages through tropical zones.
Oil content
For crushers, oil content is the economics of the purchase. Tanzanian sesame reliably tests at 48% and above. Specify your minimum in the contract and require lab verification per shipment.
Colour
Whitish natural sesame should be bright and uniform. Sortex sorting removes discoloured and off-type seeds that would downgrade hulled output. For food-grade buyers, colour uniformity is a direct input to finished-product quality.
Hullers vs Crushers: Different Buying Logic
Hullers buy for hulling yield and hulled colour: size uniformity, coat integrity and brightness matter most, and they should specify hull-grade selection and may want germination-style intake tests of their own. Crushers buy for oil: oil content and price per unit of oil are the decision variables, and slightly lower visual grades can be economical if the oil is there. Traders moving sesame onward need the grade the destination market recognises — 99/1 sortex is the safe universal specification. State your end use when you inquire; a good exporter grades and selects differently for each.
Seasonality and Contracting
The main Tanzanian sesame harvest runs roughly June to August. The buying year has a familiar shape: pre-harvest contracting for forward buyers, peak-season availability when cleaning plants run at full pace, and gradual firming as stocks draw down. Forward contracts before harvest typically secure the best combination of price and allocation — particularly for hull-grade selection, which depends on choosing the right lots early.
Build realistic timelines: 2–4 weeks from payment confirmation for cleaning, testing and loading, plus 2–6 weeks of ocean transit depending on your port. Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Nhava Sheva and East Asian ports are all routine destinations from Dar es Salaam.
Contract Clauses That Protect You
A sesame contract should state: exact grade (99/1 sortex), purity and admixture limits, maximum moisture, minimum oil content (for crushers), packaging (25/50 kg PP bags), quantity tolerance, shipment window, and the quality-verification mechanism — lab analysis per shipment as minimum, third-party inspection for larger volumes. Include a claim procedure with time limits tied to arrival and testing. The few paragraphs you spend on specifications are the cheapest insurance in the trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
99/1 or 98/2 — which should I buy?
Buy 99/1 sortex unless you have a specific reason not to. The price difference is small against the cleaning cost and quality risk that 98/2 leaves on your table — particularly for hulling and food-grade use.
What oil content should I specify?
Specify minimum 48% for Tanzanian natural sesame, verified by lab analysis per shipment. If your crushing economics need higher, discuss selection with the exporter before contracting.
How do I verify quality before shipment?
Require the lab analysis certificate per lot as a minimum. For container volumes, appoint SGS, Bureau Veritas or Intertek to sample and verify during stuffing. Pre-shipment samples let your own lab confirm before the balance is committed.
What is the minimum order?
One 20-foot container — approximately 19 MT in 50 kg bags. Hull-grade selection may carry a small premium and benefits from early contracting.
Can sesame be shipped with other cargo?
Sesame is sensitive to odours and moisture — it should not share containers with chemicals, spices with strong aroma transfer, or damp cargo. Your exporter should stuff sesame in clean, dry, food-grade containers.
What documents come with the shipment?
Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, quality/analysis certificate and weight certificate — see our export documents checklist for what each one does.