STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 23 suspended in 2015, following a success- ful lawsuit. The decision was then reversed and the cess re-imposed. Within weeks, the county reached an agreement with a regional tea association to scrap it for goods entering the Mombasa port city. A similar deal was made with the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), the main organization focused on boosting African tea markets. In early 2018, the cess was back. It adds to levies that are small in absolute terms but a heavy burden in a sector operating on thin margins. A 12% VAT is charged for tea sold and con- sumed locally. A 1% levy on tea traded at the Mombasa auctions is not incurred by foreign sellers. This means they can price their goods lower than Kenyan growers and packers even where the quality is lower. The Mombasa auction is the world's largest and ten tea producing nations bring their goods to it. Brian Ngwiri, EATTA's trade development manager, summarizes the situation as of mid-2018 in an appeal for consolidation of "the multiple levies and taxes that are a bottleneck to efficient transaction of business… Some of the neighboring countries have zero taxes.' He adds that Kenyan businesses face higher tariff when they export within Africa than to other markets." In April 2018, Nandi County announced a new levy on tea-plucking machines. Plus ça change, meaning the more it changes the more it remains the same …. UK TWG's London Boutique TWG is a relatively new major player in tea. Founded in Singapore, it markets 800 teas. Revenues have grown in 10 years to $120 million, focused entirely on the high-end market. Its co-founder, Taha Bouqdib, claims that it is the only international luxury tea firm to go global. He also highlights that its 800 varieties come from every single tea producing country in the world, with no middlemen. TWG works directly with plantations and firms. It operates 70 tea salons and boutiques in more than 20 countries. Britain's leading free daily newspaper, the Evening Standard, describes TWG's new London boutique as "taking tea to a whole new level." Perhaps, "whole Kenya's transit tax burden TWG in London new style" is more appropriate. It's part of the general premiumization of tea, the tea experience, tea-food fusion, and customer experience-building. While the retail consumer tea market has become more and more commoditized, innovation in flavors, varieties, outlets, and services is attracting key demographic groups, most obviously millennials, and reinvigorating Asian markets, with Hey Tea, Chai Point, and Australia's T2 just a few of today's successes. TWG's new outlet combines these modern trends with the luxury tradition of Mariage Frere's Paris salon tea fantasy palace and the now defunct New York Russian Tea Room: luxury, flair, creativity, and style. It is in London's Leicester Square theater and entertain- ment area. All TWG's teas are sold there: blends like orient express, a black tea with wild berries, and traditional teas such as Darjeeling whites and scarce China yellow teas. Prices range from $15 for 100 grams to $1,700. The food service section offers matcha salt with French fries and mushroom soup flavored with puer. The canisters are bright and attractive, targeted to draw in the many younger and affluent walkers along this major London tourist path. Tea is served from breakfast to after dinner, in contrast to the afternoon tea tradition of London's grand hotels. The Standard article ends with "If London is home to tea drinkers, this is where they go to play." "Play" is an interesting choice of words but captures one of the main trends in tea service and selling innovation: combine good tea with great experience so customers have fun, can experiment and try unusual combina- tions – and be happy to pay for it. company in the world, closed the sale of 12 estates in eastern Assam, continuing a decade long pattern of divestment by multinationals. The estates produce 10.5 million kilos (m.kg) of tea. McLeod remains a major player in tea, producing 67 m.kg from 48 Indian tea gardens of which 43 were in Assam and 5 in West Bengal. During the period 2010-14 McLeod sold several Indian tea gardens and increased its holdings in Rwanda (4.5 m.kg), Uganda (17 m.kg), and Vietnam (8 m.kg). Global production is greater than 100 m.kg. Mumbai-based M.K Shah Exports Ltd purchased eight of the gardens in the Doomdooma region of eastern Assam and paid $49.1 million. Kolkata-based Luxmi Group purchased four gardens near Moran in Assam's Dibrugarh district. KENYA Kenya's Tea Taxes Kenya's small tea growers are an increasingly innovative force within the industry, in challenging conditions: global market competition and price pressures, climate change, especially drought, and threats to the established labor force from machine harvesting, And the complexities and number of tax levies. A 2014 review identifies 42 individual taxes and fees accumulated end-to-end supply chain. The most recent airing of the tea sector players' concerns is the demand that the government remove 38 of the multiple levies and fees they pay. These include a cess – local tax – collected by Mombasa county that charges trucks carrying produce for export. This is in effect a highway toll. Observers point out that a county that plays no role in the growing, processing, packaging, and shipping of tea can still tax it in transit. The history of the 32 Kenya shilling (KES1.00=US$0.01) cess per package captures the volatility and impact of taxes. It was introduced in 2014 but

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