• Only three factories in the country are currently producing speciality tea at one million kilos per year.
China will buy five million kilograms of Kenyan specialty tea worth Sh7 billion in the next three years.
Agriculture cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has said the partnership is in effort to increase Kenyan specialty tea market across the world, China being the main target due to the high demand of the commodity.
” We are also in talks with the Russia government to seek for market for our Orthodox tea,” he said yesterday while he received Chinese delegation at Kilimo house.
Kiunjuri said the supply of specialty tea is expected to increase to over 30 million kilos annually valued at an estimated Sh40 billion within the next 10 years.
Karanja Kinyanjui chairman of the Purple & Specialty Tea Association of Kenya said currently Kenya produces one million kilos of specialty tea in three factories namely Gatanga Industries Limited in Thika, Central Highlands in Muranga and Tumoi Tea in Nandi.
Specialty teas include purple tea which experts say contain anthocyanin and other substances which help in weigh loss and have other health benefits.
Zhu Zhonghai, who led the delegation, said China remains a key market especially for the promotion of purple and specialty tea products.
“It is also a high potential buyer of black CTC and Orthodox teas, given the rising interest of Chinese buyers in setting up strategic partnership with Kenyan tea manufacturers,” he said.
Zhonghai said over the last seven years, China has consistently imported teas from other origins to fulfill a demand originating from urbanized Chinese tea consumers who have developed taste for CTC types influenced by the West.
“Consequently, China is now an importer of black CTC tea, instant teas and other specialty teas from India, Sri Lanka and Kenya,”he said.
To meet the deficit of four million kilos, the Cs said the partnership will see Benny Tea Company and Zgengzhou Two- straits Enterprise Management Company provide tea manufacturing machinery and technical expertise to at least five tea factories in Kenya to help meet the deficit of four million kilos of specialty tea.
“The Chinese companies have guaranteed that they will buy all teas produced through this arrangement and ship them to China. They will also provide a warehousing facility for any Kenya tea company that would wish to sell their teas in China and assist in promoting the products,” Kiunjuri said.
Zhang Chaobin, chairman of Benny Tea Company donated Sh15.5 million to the education sector in the tea growing regions under Agriculture Food Authority-Tea Directorate.
According to data from the Tea Directorate, tea production in the country is expected to reach 430 million kilos annually and out of this, 50,000 kgs win be specialty teas.