Tea farmers in the country are set to earn more from the cash crop following a pact between Kenya and Liptons Teas and Infusions and Brown Investments.
Under the new plan, the two firms will position Kenya’s tea as a premium product on the global stage.
The collaboration will see the two partner with the local communities to enhance the capacity of the sector.
It will include the setting up of a Community Endowment Trust Fund with an initial investment of Sh1 billion in community projects.
Lipton Teas and Infusions is a private company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that produces tea and other herbal drinks.
It was formed in 2021 as a distinct division within Unilever as part of a plan to divest the majority of its tea-making business and was initially named Ekaterra.
On the other hand, Browns Investments PLC is a fast-growing and leading investment sector in leisure, agriculture and plantations, construction, and real estate in Sri Lanka.
It is part of Sri Lanka’s most diversified conglomerate, the Browns Group.
"Liptons is already setting up Lipton’s Tea Academy that will see the training of farmers on the global best practice to achieve maximum value on their crop," a statement by State House said.
"The two entities will also set up a state-of-the-art tea-specific fertiliser plant."
President William Ruto said Kenyan tea will continue attracting world attention due to its top quality.
He spoke on Tuesday at State House in Nairobi during a meeting with representatives from the two firms.
Also present at the meeting was Sri Lanka High Commissioner Veluppillai Kananathan, among other leaders.
The tea industry recorded the highest export earnings ever of Sh180.57 billion last year.
This was a significant increase from Sh138.09 billion recorded in 2022 and 136.59 billion in 2021.
According to the Kenya Tea Industry performance highlights for 2023, a further Sh16.4 billion was generated from the sale of tea in the domestic market.
This resulted in a total marketed value of Sh196.97 billion.
The Kenya Tea Industry performance highlights for 2023 released by the Tea Board of Kenya showed that the total tea export volume increased by 16 per cent (72.58 million kgs) in 2023 from 450.33 million kgs recorded in 2022 to 522.92 million kgs.