Rwanda’s best tea, also known as best Broken Pekoe Ones (BP1s) has dominated the Mombasa tea auctions (sale 44) conducted on 28th & 29th October 2024 in Kenya.
The market report on sale 44 shows that though Rwanda sold a few kilos, it led regional countries in getting good prices compared to big tea growers like Kenya and Uganda. Data on kilos sold by country show that Rwanda sold 191,235 kilos, Kenya had 5,269,565kgs, Uganda had 733,846kgs sold.
Despite a drop in packages sold due to the long dry season. In this week’s auction, Rwandan tea brands hit the highest prices by mark and country in the auction, with the Rwanda’s tea factories scooping the best prices (in US cents- USC) on all four grades.
These are the BP1, Pekoe Fanning One (PF1)- Similar to BP1 but small pieces, fannings graded as dust- Pekoe dust (PDUST) and DUST1.
Rwandan tea factories have excelled in black CTC manufacturing, with factories like Kitabi, Rubaya, Nyabihu, and Gatare dominating the tea auction in Mombasa for more than 10 years.
They are known for producing primary grades such as BP, BP1 and PF1, as well as secondary grades like PD, D, D1, and D2.
These grading terms refer to broken tea leaves that are smaller than whole leaves but still containing the same good quality and use differently by buyers.
