Production of orthodox and specialty teas by factories rose by 25 per cent in the year ended June 30 as the diversification strategy to reduce reliance on Black teas gathers momentum.
According to a report by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), factories produced two million kilos of orthodox tea, up from 1.6 million kilos in the previous year.
The growth was attributed to on-going investment in machinery with 10 factories having installed production lines for orthodox tea processing.
Nine of those factories including Itumbe, Michimikuru, Kangaita, Imenti, Kiru, Thumaita, Gitugi, Kagwe and China are processing.
In addition, a specialty tea factory in Kangaita is nearing completion and is expected to process Japanese-style green tea.
''The growth in capacity will further accelerate a diversification programme aimed at opening new markets and diversifying earnings from the current Black CTC tea whose prices have taken a dip at the Mombasa Tea Auction,’’ KTDA said.
Orthodox teas are whole leaf teas processed using a delicate method of gradually rolling green leaf into sizes of different twists and styles.
This is unlike Black CTC tea where the leaf is cut into fine granules by a set of rollers.
Other specialty teas on focus include green, purple and white teas. Kenyan-made orthodox teas are mainly sold in Germany, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.
