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Tea in Africa

Tea was introduced into the Botanic Gardens at Entebbe, Uganda, in 1900. This was an experimental stage of development and proved to be very successful. A Mr. G.G. Talbot established an industry there. In Kenya, the first white settlers to plant tea were brothers by the name of Orchardson. In the mid 1920's Brooke, Bond & Company purchased the land and began extensive planting.

From that point on, company after company bought land in East and West Africa, particularly East Africa, and began huge estates. Most of them have now been consolidated and purchased by large tea companies and conglomerates. The base tea seeds came from the district of Assam in NE India. East Africa produces mostly black teas and West Africa, green teas. Kenya and Tanzania are the largest tonnage producers.

African tea did not have any significant impact on the US tea market since consumption of tea in the US was, and is, low compared to other countries. Further, East African teas had little impact on the European market outside of England where it was used strictly as a blending tea. West African tea, the green production, made a big impact on the market in the Mediterranean countries since it was cheaper and easier to get than green China teas and in those days, India did not product green teas as it does today.

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