This archive report was first published on 27 September 2019.
Kenya's tea and coffee sector is facing a major challenge in the global market, with a local firm urging the government to take aggressive action to promote the country's high-quality products.
Al Azizah General Trading LLC executive director Jalal Balala made the call during a recent visit to Mombasa, where he highlighted the need for the government to establish a strong presence in the international market.
According to Balala, Kenya's tea and coffee are of higher quality compared to its global competitors, but the country is not doing enough to market them effectively.
''We need to go big and extremely big to market our high-quality teas and coffees,'' Balala said, citing the example of the Tea and Coffee Boards of Sri Lanka, India, and China, which have overseas marketing offices to stay up-to-date with the latest innovations and marketing trends.
He also emphasized the need for the government to address the challenges facing the tea and coffee industry, including poor roads, high levies, and taxes, and delays in clearing cargo at the Port of Mombasa.
''If we can establish a blending and packaging facility like the Dubai Tea Trading Centre, we can add value to our tea and coffee exports and fetch billions of shillings for our farmers and government,'' Balala said.
He cited Dubai as an example of a country that has successfully established itself as a major player in the global tea market, despite not producing any tea itself.
''Our soils are just over 100 years old, holding growing of these two cash crops and remain unpolluted unlike those from Sri Lanka and India whose soils are saturated and have held tea and coffee growing for close to 500 years,'' Balala said.
He added that Kenya's tea is the best in the world due to its climatic conditions and virgin soils, and that the country's tea and coffee exports have the potential to fetch billions of shillings if the government adds value to them before exporting.
Published on September 27, 2019
