Kenya Invests in Specialty Tea Factory

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Amid soft international demand for commercial black tea, the Kenya Tea Development Agency is building a new factory to process specialty tea.  With an investment of 130 million Kenyan shillings ($946,000) the new facility in Kiambu County will be the Agency's 16th factory handling specialty tea, according to Business Daily, a Nairobi-based newspaper.

Global demand for premium tea is rising, and the KTDA has requested Sh 800 million in funding to expand its capacity to handle it. Beyond the new facility, the KTDA plans to add specialty processing lines to 10 of its existing plants. It now has capacity to process 5 million kilograms of specialty leaf per year.

Key markets for commodity-grade black tea, such as Egypt and Pakistan, have been experiencing economic turmoil, reducing demand. On the other hand, Kenya has accumulated six months of advance orders for specialty-grade product.

Kenya's special claim to fame in the premium market is its purple tea, not available from other origins. This product is harvested from a special variety of tea plant that produces a refreshing purple liquor in the cup.

Demand and prices are also high for Kenya's sun-dried white tea, which is made from fine leaves and buds.

Chairman David Ichoho described the new factory as part of KTDA's effort to diversify into high value teas.  The Agency is a private company owned by about 600,000 smallholder tea farmers in 16 tea growing counties. The farmers hold shares via 54 tea companies that own KTDA. The Agency operates a total of 69 factories and produces about 60% of the nation's tea.