STiR coffee and tea magazine

38 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 3, 2017 (June/July) Farmer education seminar for smallholders supplying Emrok New Ngererit Primary School initiative financed construction and school operations from a combination of tea sales and private donations Emrok is developing news ways to process Kenya's purple tea There is also a growing market for the use of purple tea in ready-to-drink bottled teas. Emrok can use the same equipment to manufacture products for these different markets. To combat the bitterness in the leaf, Varma has devised a manufacturing process to turn the fresh leaf into a green tea that is more palatable. The har- vested leaf is two leaves and a bud, and the fresh shoots must be processed as soon after plucking as possible. Upon arrival into the factory, they are imme- diately heat-treated in Chinese style inside a rotary panning machine for five minutes at 60-65˚ C. The purpose of this stage is to denature the leaf and stop any enzyme activity so that the leaf stays green; it also reduces the moisture level to between 58% and 62% and makes the leaf flaccid so that it can be more easily rolled and twisted. The panned leaf is cooled and then rolled in the orthodox rollers once or twice for about an hour, and then dried in a tray dryer for 20 - 21 minutes at 110-115˚ C. Finally, the tea is sorted, stalk and fiber are removed, and the tea is packed ready for dispatch. Finding a market Come Laguë, Emrok's director of specialty tea at Emrok, has been responsible for finding cus- tomers for the new teas. Whereas the factory had an established market for the CTC black teas for more than two decades, Kenyan orthodox teas were new to customers and needed a concerted program of marketing to find new customers. Laguë began his efforts in the United States by approaching the smaller tea shops and tea rooms who served and sold specialty teas, but this was not easy since many companies are perfectly hap- py with the list of teas they already offer and are often reluctant to make changes. Gradually he also started approaching larger companies, brokers and wholesalers in the US, Germany, and the UK, made sure the teas were tested, checked and cer- tified to meet pesticide residue levels etc. in the different markets, and gradually connected with buyers in Russia, Dubai, Japan, and Iran, where some customers were already familiar with ortho- dox Kenyan teas made by the Kenyan Tea Devel- opment Agency (KTDA). When Emrok teas received two awards in one year (the award for best specialty tea from Kenya mentioned above, and a gold medal for best social sustainability initiative at the 7th North American Tea Conference at Niagara Falls, Canada) Laguë's job became a little easier, and the success of the teas led to the establishment of some very good relationships around the tea world. The fact that Emrok is happy to deal direct with buyers around the world rather than only sell through the auc- tions, and the fact that they can assure customers of consistent quality due the factory's automated, controlled manufacturing system also makes it easier to attract new buyers. Recent visits to World Tea Expo and to the Global Dubai Tea Forum in Dubai, spread the word further, and Lague is now targeting restaurants, hotels, and buyers in the different markets for purple tea, tea extracts, and health and beauty products. The company is also moving towards packing some of the teas in pyramid fuso teabags and to creating value-added flavored blends using locally grown herbs such as mint, and fruits such as passion fruit.

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