Mbeya rice is a group of rice traders located at SIDO rice market in Mbeya town.
The cluster maintains active rice farmers and traders. Rice trading is a year-round business with relatively stable and predictable demand. Annual harvesting season commences every May through to August. Being an agri-product business rice trading is naturally very dynamic due seasonal fluctuations in supply.
Hoarding by traders is common practice subsequently price instability is not uncommon. To date Mbeya Rice operates an archaic business with no consumer branded products. The rice cluster depends solely on the historical word of mouth reputation of Mbeya origin rice as a source of marketing and consumer promotion