Great potential for specialty tea in Tanzania
28-08-2024Richard Schukkink, owner of the International Tea and Coffee Academy, is an expert in coffee, tea, and cocoa. He advises on import and export and enjoys connecting markets. Additionally, he loves working hands-on with the products. In June, he travelled to Tanzania as an Agripool expert for Agriterra to help Kazi Yetu Ltd, a cooperative that packages and sells tea, with their production issues.
Various types of tea
In Tanzania, primarily CTC tea (Cut, Tear, Curl) is produced, the affordable bagged tea widely consumed globally. Although there is a massive market for CTC tea, prices are continually dropping. Kazi Yetu, together with Bloomberg and CARE International, explored the possibility of producing orthodox tea in Tanzania. With the help of these organisations, the cooperative acquired a tea garden and factory. Richard explains, "You would expect the production to go smoothly. There is land, many tea farmers, and a beautiful factory. Yet, not enough tea was being produced. My task was to identify the problem."
Once on-site, Richard discovered the issue. "I have worked in the tea industry for a long time and have never experienced this! They did not understand the difference between orthodox tea, CTC tea, and specialty tea. CTC tea is machine-cut for quick extraction, while orthodox tea keeps the leaf whole, and the leaves are rolled after withering to extract the juice. Both require different methods. The current factory is entirely unsuitable for orthodox tea production, as it is too small." According to Richard, the factory's construction and setup were not handled properly. "Before building a factory, you must first determine its purpose and the tea plants you have. In Tanzania, there is a lot of knowledge about CTC tea but not about orthodox or specialty tea. They brought in so-called experts from Sri Lanka who did not possess the right knowledge."
Richard with Nelson Ngeno (Agripool expert from Kenia) in the tea factory
Richard believes processing orthodox tea at this location is not a good idea. "Even with orthodox tea, prices have been falling for years while costs rise. Entering this market seems appealing but is hopeless. It's better to opt for specialty tea. This is the highest quality tea, artisanally produced with unique characteristics of the land or region, sold at premium prices. For specialty tea, you can get €30 per kilo, while orthodox tea fetches only €3. Unfortunately, the current factory setup is also unsuitable for specialty tea due to the wrong machinery."
From problem to solution
Richard faced a significant challenge. He decided to work with local staff and farmers to find a solution. The first step was to determine if the plants were suitable for specialty tea. "If the answer was 'no,' the assignment was essentially over because we didn't want to burden them with orthodox or CTC tea, which are not very profitable."
Richard noticed that Kazi Yetu's tea garden was poorly maintained, with a lot of weeds and nutrient-poor soil. He advised planting Guatemala grass between the tea plants. This grass grows quickly, detoxifies the soil, and composts easily. Additionally, Richard discovered that the pickers were harvesting large leaves, suitable for CTC tea but not for specialty tea. "We asked the pickers to only pluck the young leaves and new shoots. We let these leaves wither overnight and started working with them the next day."
The tea maker in the factory proved to be very smart and eager to learn. Richard worked with him late into the night to produce a high-quality tea. Then came the exciting moment to taste it. "I had two girls who worked in the factory taste the tea using my own cupping tools. They said, 'This tea tastes like it has sugar in it.' The absence of bitterness highlighted the natural sweetness. When I tasted it myself, I got goosebumps. With our limited resources, we had made a fantastic product! We experimented for only 24 hours and produced a completely different product from the same plant, which was very fruity, lightly floral, and had a beautiful colour in the cup. So that was really great news."
Richard examines the tea plants in the garden with Emanuel Mahululu (Agriterra) and the manager of the nursery
The future
Thanks to the positive results of the experiment, a bright future lies ahead for Kazi Yetu. Richard emphasises the importance of speed for the project's success. "This shouldn't take a year because the good people will leave," he explains. "The most important thing is to acquire new machines. With $25,000, they can really make significant progress. Additionally, investing in the right knowledge is crucial! Pickers need to know how to pick, and farmers need to know how to prune and fertilise. With CTC and orthodox tea, you always produce the same product. Specialty tea drinkers want to be constantly surprised with new flavours, so the tea makers need to learn how to play with process variations. The factory workers were enthusiastic and eager to learn, so I estimate that two weeks of education would suffice."
Richard has documented all his findings and recommendations in a report for Agriterra. Agriterra has yet to decide whether to collaborate with Kazi Yetu. An analysis of the cooperative has been made, and if they decide to collaborate, a plan of action will be developed to get everything in order. Additionally, the Tea Board of Tanzania and the Ministry of Agriculture have plans to use Kazi Yetu's success as a model for establishing eight new specialty tea factories in different regions of Tanzania.
Richard remains involved in the project to help the cooperative with further issues. "As long as they keep asking questions, I will keep answering them. Years ago, I was in Nepal for Agriterra with a cooperative, and I still have weekly contact with them. I do this mainly because I enjoy working with people who want to learn from me and who are as enthusiastic about tea as I am."
Richard with the members of the cooperative
In the future, Richard sees great potential in Tanzania's specialty tea sector. "All the ingredients for success are present," he says enthusiastically. "On the buying side, I'm inundated with customers asking if I have anything new for them, and they're willing to pay well for it. If we help the farmer with knowledge, he can produce delicious tea and earn a good income. And the tea drinker is happy too. This is a unique opportunity to make a big difference with knowledge sharing and relatively small amounts of money, helping many people. How wonderful is that?"
