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1daeV BSOd 0dO\QV =a` continued from page 27 8 oy W'Njuguna never thought she'd end up with a career in tea. Though her family played an integral part in shaping Kenya's tea industry, W'Njuguna didn't feel much passion for the leaf as she left the country at age 7 for the United Kingdom. "We always went back to the family tea farm when I was young," she says. "That's what I grew up with. But it wasn't very interesting to me." W'Njuguna eventually ended up in the United States, where she pursed a promotions career in the enter- tainment industry. She'd receive regular reminders of her lineage in care packages her family sent her from Kenya. Tea would always be included in the haul, and an unen- thusiastic W'Njuguna would hand it out to friends. One day, she received a surprisingly enthusiastic response. "One friend called me and said, 'Oh my goodness, this tea is incredible. I've never tasted anything like it,'" W'Njuguna says. "She said it was like watching a color TV when you've been used to watching black and white." W'Njuguna had been enduring a growing dissatisfaction with her pro- motions work, and with that conver- sation, the seeds were planted for a new business. Though she hadn't cared for tea in the past, she felt a huge amount of familial pride upon receiving the positive review, and she realized that bringing Kenya tea to the United States could be a more satisfying business than anything she'd done before. Just months later, after finding business partners and working with her father to secure tea connections, W'Njuguna assumed the position of founder/COO and launched the new business, Royal Tea of Kenya, in early-2011. It's a personal tale of sorts, but it's other companies, is now making a push into the specialty tea industry. While the effort has faced some com- plications, it also carries the potential to make a major impact in the global tea industry. A WORLD LEADER Of course, the way the world per- TEA FORCE: Established in 1964, the Kenya Tea Development Agency manages the country's small-scale farmers. B63 1=:=@ >C@>:3 When Royal Tea of Kenya launched earlier this year, the company surprised some in the tea world by offering black, green and white orthodox teas from Kenya—a stark shift from the CTC black teas that have long defined the nation's output. But another tea type in the product line was even more unexpected: a purple tea, so named because of the violet pigment in its leaves. Joy M. W'Njuguna, founder/COO of Royal Tea of Kenya, says the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya spent 25 years developing purple tea, aiming to create a drought-resistant strain. "In Kenya right now, because of the climate and deforestation, there are areas that are going to be in trouble," she says. In addition to its ability to grow in low-rainfall conditions, purple tea is also reported to have healthful properties. "It has four times the antioxidants of black tea," says W'Njuguna. Purple tea is orthodox processed, and Royal Tea of Kenya is currently introducing it to the U.S. specialty tea market. one that also leads to a larger story: Kenyan tea as a whole. Known traditionally for CTC (crush, tear, curl) black teas that constitute tea bags around the world, Kenya has begun producing teas with the orthodox process during the last 10 to 15 years, and with the help of Royal Tea of Kenya and & TEA ALMANAC 2012 ceives Kenyan tea is still largely rooted in CTC black tea. In the CTC process, the tea passes through cylindrical roll- ers that crush, tear and curl the tea into smaller leaf, most of which is slated for tea bags. Kenya is one of the world's leading exporters of tea, accounting for about 20 percent of all tea exports. Total tea production in Kenya is presently more than 250,000 tons, according to tea consultant (and Kenya native) David Walker, and the vast majority of that is CTC black tea. Mike Spillane, president and owner of California-based G.S. Haly Company, says black teas from Kenya are unmis- takable. "Kenya tea has a unique sig- nature," he says. "If you blend with it, the product generally becomes 'Kenya'. It has this juniper high note to it that is unique to Kenya, and even the CTC—when you get the BP1s, which are the larger CTC cuts—it's still very nice tea." Kenya's tea history began in 1904, when plants of a Manipuri hybrid were brought from Malawi and planted in Limuru. In 1912, the District Commissioner of Kericho— in Kenya's southwest—planted tea there, establishing the country's first viable tea estate. Increasing European settler population during the 1920s developed new clearings of agricul- tural land, some of which was devoted to tea in the Kericho, Nandi and Sotik districts during the years before World War II. In 1926, two large over- seas companies—Brooke Bond and James Finlay—established interests in Kenya; those firms, plus 10 private estates and two local companies, made up Kenya's tea industry at the time. Things changed for Kenya tea in 1954 with the Swynnerton continued on page 30