The Kenyan export promotion council plans to set up a tea warehouse in Dubai in an effort to expand its market in the Asian and Eastern European countries. The new warehouse is intended to take advantage of the Dubai Tea Trading Centre (DTTC) which was opened in 2005 to auction tea in the region.
The National Export Promotion Council of Kenya chairman Hudson Aluvanze said the Dubai auction centre has been a major market competitor to the East Africa tea market raising a necessity to establish a permanent presence to ensure that Kenyan tea is always available. Mr Aluvanze said that plans are in the pipeline to have the warehouse set up by next year with a view to keep and grow presence in Kenya’s traditional tea markets in the region — Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“We have to set up permanent distribution centres to ensure that we maintain the proximity to these markets. It will also serve to authenticate other Kenyan products like coffee in the Asian markets,” said Mr Aluvanze.
The eight-year-old DTTC sells and processes teas from 13 different countries.
According to the East African Tea Traders Association (EATTA), which manages the Mombasa Tea Auction — the largest black tea auction in the world —earnings from tea are expected to go up by between Sh2 billion and Sh3 billion on account of higher prices, despite a projected drop in export volumes.
EATTA chair Peter Kimanga said there is a need for Kenya to diversify its export markets
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