Dormans coffee shop along Mama Ngina Street. Kenya’s tea market is set to witness increased brand rivalry after Dormans Ltd announced plans to launch a tea line next month. File
Kenya’s tea market is set to witness increased brand rivalry after Dormans Ltd announced plans to launch a tea line next month.
The new product, Dorman’s Tea, seeks to bite a share of the market largely dominated by the country’s top four brands namely Kenya Tea Packers (KETEPA), Gold Crown Beverages (Kericho Gold and Baraka Chai) and Melvin Marsh. The other is Eden tea brand of Karirana Tea Estates.
Dormans has in the past been identified with its beverages – green and roasted coffee – in the country and has since expanded into Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
Speaking Wednesday at the Fairtrade Eastern Africa launch in Nairobi, Dorman’s sales manager Ken Teyie said the move is part of their expansion strategy in the country.
“Given our success in coffee products, we are confident of securing a significant market share with the tea line,” he said.
Dormans intends to buy its tea at the auction unlike with coffee where it sources from cooperatives such as Rumukia, Ndumberi and Gikanda.
Fairtrade, known for its mark of certification, also announced four new tea lines set to start retailing early next month. The brands include Iriani Tea and three Kericho Gold lines – Green Tea, English Breakfast Tea and Earl Grey Tea.
The mark of certification is the first ethical label in Kenya and is aimed at promoting interests of the farmer through offering better prices and decent working conditions.
Fairtrade special programmes director Liz Jarman said the Iriani tea line will be sourced directly from farmers in Othaya, Nyeri County as part of their welfare – driven practices.
Ms Jarman asked stakeholders in beverage and horticultural sectors to apply for their label as part of compliance with international markets, particularly Europe.
Meanwhile, East African Tea Trade Association chairman Peter Kimangi expressed his reservations saying the strict terms coupled with expensive fee imposed by Fairtrade were prohibitive for local brands that sought the mark.
“Unless Fairtrade softens their terms, only a few companies will bear the mark with regard to European markets,” Mr Kimangi told the Business Daily, adding that Kenyan tea still enjoys robust demand from other markets such as Pakistan and Egypt.
He added that 80 per cent of the tea the country produces is off-loaded through the auction market.
“Buying tea straight from the farmer is unsustainable due to dynamics such as erratic weather and global prices at play, Mr Kimangi said.
He was responding to Fairtrade’s advocacy for direct engagement with tea producers on grounds that the auction medium was one sided in favour of the buyer.
This comes at a time when tea prices at the auction have plummeted in the face of bumper harvest witnessed in the North Rift that has led to a glut.
Two weeks ago, tea farmers were fetching Sh195.72 ($2.33) per kilo, down from Sh229.32 ($2.73) earned in a similar period last year.
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