Tea from western Kenya fetches low prices at sale

Tea from western Kenya continues to perform dismally at the auction as the minimum price continues to take a toll on the beverage, which recorded an absorption rate of 32 percent this week. The teas from western Kenya, normally referred to as west of rift, saw only 20,240 packages (1.3 million kilogrammes) sold out of 61,600 packages (4.1 million kilogrammes) that had been offered for sale in this week’s trading. Read: Tea farmers in western Kenya call for State stimulus package On the other hand, teas from the east of rift recorded a 75 percent absorption rate with buyers attributing the high purchases from the region to good quality teas that have the attribute that buyers are looking for in the beverage. The factories in the west of the country have been complaining that the minimum price of $2.43 introduced by the government in 2021 has hit the sales of their tea as buyers prefer beverages from the east of rift and have on some occasions directed their produce to be sold at a ...