 | Royal Tea of Kenyaposted by TeaHouseTimes Admin, ADVERTISER TEA RELATED PRODUCTSTuesday, October 18th 2011 @ 3:19 PM |
Royal Tea of Kenya held a press event, educational tasting session at World Tea Expo, in Las
Vegas this past June, 2011. We heard the story of Arthur Njuguna Komo, the world’s oldest tea
farmer, aged 111. His granddaughter, Joy M. W’Njuguna, is an owner and chief operating
officer of Royal Tea of Kenya. It was a joy to listen to Joy as she shared her passion for tea
and Kenya. At the presentation, Joy said that anyone can tell you about tea and she concurs
with tea information, but the story of tea, human rights, and the message of its importance to
all the tea farmers and everything that has been accomplished thanks to tea is what she was
passionate in sharing. With more than 560,000 farmers, each is integrated to the land, family, pride, and relationship to all and the land. Kenya’s tea business supports the livelihood of over 3,000,000. The tea farmers have organized as a cooperative and jointly own 65 factories, a packaging plant, and their own professional management agency. During 60 years of tea production, the tea farmers of Kenya have demonstrated consistent, sustainable success for farmer owned initiatives and now lay rightful claim to being the largest such cooperative in the world.
Kenya tea is produced in the mountainous region surrounding Kenya’s Rift Valley. The teas from this region are known for their rich, smooth taste. During the tasting session and in their booth, Royal Tea of Kenya launched a new line of specialty teas, handpicked and produced without chemicals or pesticides. Teas include Royal Purple Tea (the leaves are purple), White Whisper Tea, Rift Valley Green Tea, Royal Tajiri Tea, and Arthur’s favorite; Grandpa’s Anytime Tea. Jane Pettigrew was on hand to co-present with Joy. She helped explain to the press about the differences in the tea and pronounced several of the teas as bright, gutsy, smooth, delicious, and satisfying.
Kenya is a leading exporter of tea but has achieved little recognition in North America for its superior teas. In contrast, more than 50% of the tea consumed in the UK is Kenyan, and Royal Tea of Kenya LLC now has the North American market in its sights. Please visit www.royalteaofkenya.com for more information.
From the September/October 2011 issue of The Tea House Times. To view the most recent issue, please register / log-in at http://www.theteahousetimes.com for free access.
