Kenya has shipped 2.68 metric tonnes of processed Kenyan tea to Australia. The maiden consignment of value-added tea under the Kenyan Brand “Akina” was flagged off by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi at the Port of Mombasa on Friday.

He said the consignment is being shipped to Australia under the Kenyan Brand “Akina.”  “Opening of the Australian market to value-added teas with a Kenyan brand name is an important milestone and a game changer for the Kenyan tea business,” Linturi stated.

The tea is expected to fetch an average price of $11 (Sh1,375) per kilo of made tea in Australia as opposed to similar teas being sold in bulk at the Mombasa tea auction which are fetching on average $2.5 (Sh312.68) per kilo of made tea.

Thushara De Silva, Managing Director of Empire Kenya (EPZ) Limited, the firm behind the branding and value addition of the tea said 70 per cent of the price fetched after selling the value added tea will go straight to packaging.

“We import the packaging material from Sri Lanka where all the tea packaging material are zero-rated. Our mission is to promote Kenyan tea in the world. Now because we want to package and promote Kenyan tea as the best in the world, we have to use the best material,” he noted.

The value-added tea being shipped to Australia is black tea in assorted flavours including Chocolate, Mango and Passion.

De Silva, however, noted that it is imperative for the government of Kenya to lower the cost of packaging and production in general if value addition is to improve in the country.

Tea Board of Kenya Chairman David Kiarie hailed the first export as “Just a start of a big boom in the market.” “As we flag off this consignment today we want to promise that we are going to work hard with our ministry as the CS has promised us,” he said. “If we are able to tackle all the challenges and we promote tea as being the best exporter globally then we will soon achieve the country’s dream in international trade,” Kiarie said at the flag off.

Traditional markets

Linturi pledged to protect the Kenyan tea sector from over-dependence on a small number of traditional markets that have a preference for bulk teas, and are easily destabilised by economic and political shocks.

“Adding value to Kenyan teas before export is a viable route of growing the country’s manufactured exports, transforming the tea sub-sector in Kenya, and ensuring food security,” he said.

“This is a dream come true for the government. Our priority is in agro-processing, value addition and manufacturing. This is why value addition is quite key in the different value chains that we have.”

The CS termed the initiative by Empire Kenya as a bold step towards the realisation of the president’s directive to increase the volumes of value-added Kenyan tea exports from the current two to 50 per cent by 2027. Linturi stated that whereas Kenya is the world’s leading exporter of tea, accounting for 28 per cent of the global tea exports, Kenya’s tea export earnings are relatively lower compared to the other key tea-producing countries.

He added that the ministry intends to achieve the goal of increasing agriculture contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) from Sh2.9 trillion to Sh3.9 trillion.

This, Linturi said would be done through the Agriculture Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS) by promoting product diversification and value addition along the agricultural value chains, including the tea value chain.

According to Linturi, the high cost of packaging materials has attracted a Common External Tariff (CET) of 35 per cent on import and 16 per cent VAT, though the quality of packaging materials available locally may not meet the standards required in the export markets.