The Kenya Tea Development Agency has announced that the production of its orthodox variety rose by 25 per cent in the year that ended on June 30, 2020.
The tea agency said on Monday that the rise in orthodox tea production was prompted by the diversification strategy to reduce reliance on Black CTC (cut, tear and curl).
During the year, factories produced two million kilos of orthodox tea, up from 1.6 million kilos produced in the year 2018-19.
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.
The management added that the increased output reflects the ongoing investment in machinery with 10 factories having installed production lines for orthodox tea processing, out of which nine are processing.
“These are Itumbe, Michimikuru, Kangaita, Imenti, Kiru, Thumaita, Gitugi, Kagwe and Chinga. One more factory (Kimunye) is being commissioned and will commence processing of orthodox tea this quarter. Another factory under construction, Matunwa (Nyamira County) is also set to process orthodox tea.”
Also, KTDA said the roll-out is continuing and more factories will be investing in orthodox processing lines.
“In addition, a specialty tea factory in Kangaita is nearing completion and is expected to process Japanese-style green tea.”
The agency has added that its push for further growth in orthodox tea production is 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.
Kenyan-made orthodox teas are mainly sold in Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
