- Smallholder tea earnings fall despite firm auction prices
- Githongo factory records the week’s highest tea price
- Kenya’s tea sales remain ahead of regional competitors in value
Githongo factory posted the best price of the week at the Mombasa Tea Auction, selling its tea at Ksh 477.30 ($3.70) a kilo. Even so, smallholder factories as a group earned less than before, pulling in Ksh 919.6 million.
That is down almost 5 per cent from Ksh 965.3 million a week earlier. The sale covered 2,592,128 kg of made tea.
Despite the slide, tea prices held up well. Offers stayed thin, while demand remained high as buyers stocked up before the cold season. The report ties that season to El Niño rains.
In other words, the drop in earnings reflects how much tea reached the market, not weak demand. Averaged out, the smallholder factories fetched about Ksh 355 a kilo.
Altogether, 48 buyers competed for tea from four East African countries. Global Tea was the biggest, taking 1,331,908 kg. LAB International followed with 608,542 kg, and Aditya Birla bought 555,711 kg. Together, these three houses carried away about 2.5 million kg.
Across Kenya, 5,021,795 kg of made tea changed hands for roughly Ksh 1.5 billion. East African Tea Trade Association (ETTA) managing director George Omuga said the proceeds went both to factories managed by Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) and to independent producers.
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Smallholder factories therefore supplied just over half of the national volume. Kenya’s overall average stood at Ksh 299.28 ($2.32) a kilo, which is below what the smallholder factories achieved.
Kenyan tea did not top the regional price list. Rwanda did, as its 242,800 kg sold at Ksh 414.09 ($3.21) a kilo. Burundi’s 31,891 kg followed at Ksh 197.37 ($1.53). Uganda’s 766,466 kg, the largest regional lot, fetched the lowest price at Ksh 171.57 ($1.33).
Behind Githongo, Mununga earned Ksh 452.79 ($3.51) a kilo and Gathuthu Ksh 439.89 ($3.41). Rukuriri followed at Ksh 429.57 ($3.33). Ngere and Mungania shared the same price of Ksh 425.70 ($3.30).
KTDA Holdings Chairman Enos Njeru said buyers now trust Kenyan tea more, which has helped prices. He noted that farmer owned factories offered about 2.5 million kg during the week. He also called on everyone in the value chain to keep farmers plucking quality green leaf, so that factories can keep processing.
By Benedict Aoya
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