EATTA

The 2nd Africa Tea Convention & Exhibition

The East African Tea Trade Association is delighted to announce the 2^nd Africa Tea Convention & Exhibition will be held on 28^th - 30^th August 2013 at the Kigali Serena Hotel - Kigali, Rwanda. This will be the second Tea Convention & Exhibition to be organized by East Africa Tea Trade Association and it is expected to be a global event for tea industry. The 1^st event was very successful and was attended by major tea importers and consumers of the African tea all over the globe

TMEA Promotes Capacity of Quality Management Systems

East Africa Tea Trade Association and TMEA East Africa Inaugurated a Capacity building initiative of Tea Industries in East Africa to implement recognized International Standards(Food Safety Management Systems)

The East Africa Tea Trade Association is excited about this partnership with TradeMark East Africa which is expected to build the capacity of the tea industry in East Africa.

Taxpayers week 2011

The annual Kenya Taxpayers week was officially opened on Monday 17th, at the KRA times towers ground. The event was opened by the Kenya’s finance Minister, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, who thanked the taxpayers for their continued support and compliance to tax regulations, pointing out that the taxpayers’ week was a clear demonstration of the positive mutual partnership enjoyed by KRA and the taxpayers which has seen the increase in tax collection since the inauguration of the event in 2003. He commended the taxpayers for actively contributing to the government’s development programs and assured citizens that the government was working to stabilize the economy.

Sorwathe Tea Plantation and Factory

The latest of SORWATHE’s many achievements is being adjudged the BEST OVERALL EXIBITOR 2010 at the 13th Annual Rwanda Trade Fair 2010 held recently and seen in the photo is Mr Cally Alles – Director General just after receiving the trophy.

At the beginning of 2010, Sorwathe was also adjudged as “Investor of the Year for 2009” at the prestigious Rwanda Development Board awards. This award which many aspire to achieve was based on the profitability, forward and backward linkages with local SME’s, job creation, demonstration of Innovation and Technology transfer, Corporate Social Responsible projects, being a role model and reinvestment into business to sustain growth. In addition to this main award we were placed as second runner-up in the “Exporter of the year-2009” category.

SORWATHE is currently the only ISO 22000:2005 and FAIRTRADE certified, ETHICAL TEA PARTNERSHIP participant and RBS – (Rwanda Bureau of Standards) product certified. It is also ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Sorwathe has many first time achievements in Rwanda, the main are as follows. We are the first to build a New Orthodox Tea Factory in Rwanda which is automated and could manufacture both Orthodox and Green Tea. In addition to this we have introduced technology to the Tea industry in Rwanda such as Fluid Bed Driers, Invertors, 3T Stalk Extractors, Enclosed troughs etc. We are also converting 116 hectares of tea into Organic Tea which is another first in the Tea Industry of Rwanda.

Tea Tourism is another of our projects and we have our Guest House with a panoramic view. We have introduced field and factory tours to those who are interested in learning more about Tea.

Sorwathe produces Black and Green Tea, both CTC and Orthodox and White Tea. Currently it is “In Conversion” for Organic. The Annual production is around 3 million kilos of Black Tea which is 15% of Rwanda’s production. In 2007 Sorwathe produced 3.66 million kgs of Black Tea.

EATTA Advocacy Initiative

East African Tea Trade Association is the premier body representing the interests of tea producers, tea buyers, tea brokers, tea packers and tea warehouses. EATTA has 167 members in 9 countries in Africa. EATTA runs the Mombasa tea auction that is the second largest tea auction in the world after the Colombo auction. Of the tea exported globally, 32% passes through the Mombasa auction.

The auction has grown by a remarkable 300% in the past 20 years, by offering teas from all the member countries. The tea task force report of 2007 made specific recommendations based on challenges facing the industry. EATTA has identified four areas that need urgent address by the Government of Kenya;

EATTA donates tea to Pakistan disaster relief effort

The tea trade in Mombasa made a donation of 10,300 kilograms of tea to the people of Pakistan on 3rd November 2010 at the EATTA Secretariat after the suffering and devastation caused by the recent floods and heavy rains. The tea was packed in water tight 5 kilogram bags. This donation is made in recognition of the good trade relations between the Association members and the great people of Pakistan. The good relationship was exemplified recently by the visit of the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Kenya HE Masroor Jumenjo in April 2010 to EATTA.

The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Baluchistan regions and affected the Indus River basin. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater. The floods directly affected about 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure, with a death toll of close to 2,000.

Pakistan is an important market of East Africa. Pakistan buys all our grades of tea unlike other markets that buy particular grades. The Pakistan market being predominantly Islamic, takes tea as the beverage of choice. Many of our important tea markets are seasonal in the tea they purchase from the auction so that in some months demand for tea goes down; therefore Pakistan’s demand consistent throughout the year making it an ideal market.