Tea Sippers

The more I read the news about tea the more I begin to worry about the supply, especially since tea is seeing a resurgence in the U.S.

Our source today talks about the tea output in the Kericho district of Kenya which has been severely affected by the post election violence and by the prolonged drought. In fact, five of the six tea processing factories that Unilever Tea Kenya owns in the area have been shut down. Whereas in good times, these plants could process/crush 700,000 kilos (2.2 pounds in a kilo) a day, they are only processing 100,000 daily now.

Not only that but the tea pickers for the plantations have been displaced to refugee camps or have moved back to ancestral homes in Nyanza and western Kenya. That’s going to make it hard to find people to get the tea leaves to the factories for processing. These tea pickers are not sure of getting their jobs back. Who knows when the political situation will be back to normal? The factories’ management will have to consult with local leaders as to how to get the workers back to their jobs.

With such little tea being produced in this area, prices will probably reflect this at auction over the next several weeks, maybe till things get back to normal … if they ever do.

Source: http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=3&newsid=120833