Local tea firm chases after more global recognition for Kenya

Gold Crow, the firm behind the brand, started out with just three employees working out of a small office in Mombasa back in 2003. PHOTO: COURTESY

To many Kenyans, making tea means just adding black tea leaves to hot water or milk.

Despite the country’s prowess in growing tea, and the crop being the top earner of foreign exchange, not many people have taken an interest in its manufacturing.

But 13 years ago, the company behind Kericho Gold and Baraka Chai tea brands decided to change the narrative. And it paid off, with the two brands today occupying prime space in retail stores.

Gold Crow, the firm behind the brand, started out with just three employees working out of a small office in Mombasa back in 2003.

Its gamble on tea has seen it grow to employ more than 1,000 people, move into a high-tech factory, and export products valued at Sh15 billion a year.

Conservative market

But it was not easy building up Gold Crown. According to Managing Director Fahim Ahmed, it was an uphill battle getting consumers to appreciate more than just traditional black tea.

“Kericho Gold as brand started in 2003 and decided to break into a conservative Kenyan market by venturing into making products that go beyond black tea,” he said.

Supermarkets initially viewed the company’s products with skepticism, arguing that Kenyans are conservative. However, the firm persisted with its plan to introduce infusions and specialty teas.

According to Mr Ahmed, the company wanted to give Kenyans a taste of the quality of tea their country produces – at the time, the processed tea sold in stores bore just a hint of the local crop.

And in just over a decade, Gold Crown has grown to become one of the largest local manufacturers of pure Kenyan tea, blended tea and infusions.

“Infusions have no tea, just dried fruits and herbs, while specialty teas have fruits and herbs blended with tea,” said Ahmed.

The company says its product line was informed by a desire for diversification and market focus. Baraka Chai targets lower-income consumers, while Kericho Gold goes for the high-end segment as its pricing factors in the high cost of herbs and fruits used to make infusions.

“If you stand in the same position, you become an easy target, and this has informed our versatility,” Ahmed said.

Market focus

Gold Crown has also invested in an efficient factory to cut costs, with the firm’s machines able to make 2,600 tea bags a minute. It has further leveraged technology to ensure product quality. Every part of the processing process is monitored by small cameras.

 

The tea the firm processes is bought during the Mombasa Tea Auction, which takes place on Mondays and Tuesdays. Professional tasters recommend the teas to buy.

Kericho Gold has grown to more than 20 flavours of infusion and specialty teas, with Ahmed saying this investment in a broad product base is part of Gold Crown’s efforts to build up Kenya’s reputation as a tea producer and exporter.

“Kenya is the leading exporter of black tea in the world, but only 5 per cent of its tea is consumed locally. Countries like China and India are leading producers but still have a lot of their tea consumed locally,” said the MD.

He added that when other countries buy Kenyan tea, they blend it with produce from other countries before selling it, which means it loses the uniqueness of its origin and prestige.

“When it is brought back to Kenya, it is not labelled ‘Made in Kenya’, and this makes it difficult to market Kenyan tea as a solo product.” Gold Crown is hoping to change this by getting its ‘Made in Kenya’ products on as many international shelves as possible.

It also want the Government to initiate dialogue with other nations to boost the uptake of purely Kenyan tea. For instance, Ahmed said, there are countries that have locked out Kenyan tea because of its mineral levels. In such cases, the MD wants the Government to negotiate a deal as nothing can be done to remove minerals from the soil.

Another area that needs intervention is the cost of packaging.

“We get our packages from Sri Lanka – not that we cannot get them locally, but I urge local manufactures of these materials to up their game because this would not only be beneficial to us, but would also help create jobs in package production,” Ahmed said.

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