Kenya must develop a tea brand that will fetch the best prices for farmers, President William Ruto said.
Ruto said Kenya’s tea should be branded to increase its visibility in the global market and labelling it with a mark of origin.
He pointed out that brand sustainability is very crucial in a competitive business environment.
Speaking at State House Nairobi when he met Kenya Tea Development Agency factory chairmen and directors on Tuesday, Ruto expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, saying Kenya continues to sell unprocessed tea and denying farmers the best prices in the market.
“We are the largest tea producer in the world, yet we don’t have a Kenyan tea brand and, therefore, our product gets lower prices than countries that produce less than we do," President Ruto said.
“We cannot continue exporting our tea in sacks. In three years, we must export 60 per cent of value-added and branded tea. KTDA and the Tea Board of Kenya must work together in branding our tea.”
The Head of State promised leaders to operationalise Tea Tribunal within three months.
He agreed with the leaders that tea factories that have invested in hydro-power stations must be paid for the power they sell Kenya Power and Lighting Company.
Present at the meeting were Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho), Senator Kamau Murango (Kirinyaga) and MPs GG Kagombe (Gatundu South), Gitonga Mukunji (Manyatta), Brighton Yegon (Konoin) and Zaheer Jhanda (Nyaribari Chache), among others.