Rwanda tea is sweeter, makes higher prices than Kenya’s

In 2018, Rwandan tea left Kenyan tea behind at the Mombasa auction owing to high quality, which encountered augmented buyers’ demand. The land grows sweeter and high-quality tea, hence buyers can have enough of them. According to the disclosed data of Tea Directorate, one kilogram of Rwandan tea fetched Rwf2,520.88 against Kenyan tea of Sh2,301.26 in 2018.

Even the brokers present at the auction are of the same opinion that Rwanda produces some of the best teas regionally that attract a premium price from buyers at the auction. “Rwandan tea normally fetches good price at the auction because of good quality that results from best agronomical practices that they have invested in, one of the tea brokers said. According to that tea broker, quality is more important to them than the volumes or quantity that they bring at the auction, as reported by The New Times. The Rwanda tea price was still way cheaper in 2018 than 2017 where it fetched a high of Sh323. Kenya’s tea also declined from Sh300 to Sh262 in 2018.

Mombasa auction is a beautiful podium where over seven nations sell their tea destined for the global market. The auction is managed by the East African Tea Traders Association. According to the experts, 2019 is going to witness a rise in Kenyan tea exports resulting in low volumes and high auction price.

According to the Tea directorate, the volume of the beverage will this year drop from a high of 450 million kilos that realised in 2018. Tea prices have been on the decline in the last quarter of the year, with an average price in the last auction held last week remaining within a two-year low range.