KTDA eyes orthodox tea as demand increases

Part of a trade delegation from the ORIMI TRADE of Russia which deals in orthodox tea taken through tasting of the commodity after production at Kangaita tea factory, by senior KTDA officials (PHOTO;Munene Kamau)

Due to the prevailing stiff competition of agricultural products at the World market, the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has embarked on a radical shift from black tea production to the orthodox brand.

The shift has also been occasioned by the emergence of new consumers whose taste is different from the old tradition according to processors and dealers of the commodity.

The brand, according to a senior manager of the Agency Vincent Mwingirwa, has a growing demand and fetches Sh50 more per kilogram above the black tea.

On Tuesday, a Russian trade delegation which deals in the brand visited Kangaita tea factory to get firsthand information on how the commodity is processed as per their consumer specifications and requirements.

The factory has two parallel processing machines for both the black and orthodox tea each with its own different gadgets for the specific output.

As for the black tea, the basic process is the cut, tear and curl (CTC) before undergoing fermentation process, while for the orthodox brand, the leaf is pounded by the rollers and does not undergo the fermentation.

The delegation leader Alexander Savenkov, who is the Chief Executive for the ORIMI TRADE in Russia said the purpose of the visit was to see if what their consumers wanted was what the factory was producing.

He said his company was a leading importer of the brand though China, USA Germany and the United Kingdom were also engaged in the trade for the brand.

The leader did not however disclose how many tons of the commodity was exported to his country but said the volume was huge.

The other advantage of the beverage, the trader added, does not go through the Mombasa auction like the black tea as it is shipped from the factory to the importers.