Kenya has set sights on opening up a distribution centre in China’s Wuyishan region — where some of the world’s most expensive teas are grown— in the wake of falling demand for Kenyan tea in the Asian economy.
The value of Kenyan tea exports to China fell by more than a third last year despite rising popularity of milk tea which has increased demand for black tea leaves, according to trade statistics.
The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba), says it’s looking at “a dedicated Centre for Kenya in Wuyi” as part of strategy to help small- and medium-sized enterprises “get their footings in the vast Chinese market”.
Kenya earned $3.17 million (Sh343.59 million ) from sale of black fermented and partly fermented tea to the world’s largest tea market in 2019, a 34.05 percent drop compared with a year earlier, the data kept by International Trade Centre (ITC) show.
This marked the first drop since 2016 when Kenya’s shipments amounted to $1.77 million (Sh191.85 million), before climbing to $2.5 million (Sh270.97 million) in 2017 and $4.81 million (Sh521.35 million) in 2018, statistics from the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations further indicate.