African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 668 - 356: Development Status of the Tea Industry

Ernst took a trip to the Kedunda Mountain Weapons Testing Range, primarily to observe various weapons tests. As for the "Military Vehicle Research Institute," it's currently more of a skeleton operation. However, this is understandable given the early stages of the automotive industry, so in less than a day, Ernst returned to First Town.

Finance Minister Von der Leyen provided Ernst with a list of the tea industry; in recent years, the tea industry has developed into one of the important industries in East Africa.

"In 1879, East Africa's tea production was second only to the Far East Empire and India, but by 1882, our tea exports had risen to third place globally for the first time. Last year, our industry's export volume was second only to India's tea-growing regions and the Far East, with a production of over 22,000 tons, of which around 11,000 tons were exported. Meanwhile, the Far East Empire's production should be around 100,000 tons, and India around 20,000 tons. Our tea is mainly exported to Germany, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean coast (including North Africa), and the Middle East."

The increase in East African tea exports is mostly due to the assistance of the Heixinggen consortium. Unlike the British with their tea-drinking habits, Central and Eastern European regions do not have such traditions, nor do they have quality production areas like India. Therefore, to expand the market, it's necessary to invest in advertising and cooperate with distributors in Germany. The Far East Empire's export tea trade is also largely monopolized by Britain. Of course, the UK itself is the largest consumer of exported tea.

Overall, East African tea quality is not yet competitive with the two leading tea-producing countries but has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it still holds some competitive value.

First, East Africa controls markets in Germany and similar regions where current global tea production is far from future levels. In past eras, Kenya alone outproduced the Far East Empire, India, and East Africa combined, leaving ample room in the market, especially in tea-less Europe and the Arab regions (Middle East and North Africa).

In Britain and Western Europe, the tea trade is mainly controlled by the British and the Dutch, heavily influencing Central and Eastern Europe. However, the cheaper East African tea greatly impacts the existing tea-drinking market in Central and Eastern Europe once production increases, becoming East Africa's most important tea market today.

In the Arab regions, particularly North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa also has certain advantages with the tea-drinking market. Besides maritime routes in North Africa, there are also thriving overland tea trade routes, especially with Arab caravans deep in the Sahara Desert.

East African tea's entry into the Arabian Peninsula is largely thanks to the Omanis, also known as Zanzibar merchants. Oman is the most prosperous nation in the Indian Ocean trade in the Arab region, so with the support of Zanzibar merchants, East African tea naturally entered the Arabian Peninsula and extended to other regions.

Apart from Central and Eastern Europe and the Arab regions, East Africa showed clearer results compared to the Far East Empire and India. The Far East Empire's self-run tea business covers the entire East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Northern Asia (and almost negligibly Russia), while due to taste and production reasons, the Indian tea region cannot yet compete with the Far East Empire.

"Green tea does not require fermentation but must undergo 'fixation.' Fixation involves picking fresh tea leaves and frying, baking, sun-drying, or steaming them to maintain their original color and flavor. However, this type of tea doesn't sell as well in Europe as black tea; it's more popular in the Mediterranean region, where Austria and Italy are the main markets."

"Conversely, black tea and dark tea products can generally be stored for a long time and even gain richer aromas over time, which makes them very popular in overseas markets."

"Nevertheless, domestic consumption of green tea is higher than that of black tea, mainly due to immigrants from the Far East who have also brought their green tea culture to East Africa."

Of course, East Africa's green tea culture is quite ordinary, known as grassroots folk tea culture, without the numerous customs of wealthy families in the Far East Empire. However, this has greatly contributed to the popularization of tea-drinking in East Africa.

This tea-drinking culture mainly functions as a promotional advantage to immigrants coming from the German region, while reciprocally, German immigrants can introduce coffee research to Far East immigrants.

In reality, tea or coffee is not deeply understood by either major immigrant group; exposure mainly comes from the cultural environments of their home countries.

"In East Africa, almost the entire region can cultivate tea trees, particularly the vast eastern plateau areas (Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, etc.), which are excellent tea-producing regions, primarily divided into two sectors, a northern tea region (Kenya) and a southern tea region (along Lake Malawi)."

"The northern tea region is East Africa's premium tea area, with the earliest batch of introduced tea leaves, where three tea varieties have been cultivated for years and are quite mature.

Additionally, the northern tea region is known for its leaves' completeness, bright color, floral East African fragrance, slightly bitter taste, and intense aroma, with a vivid red liquor and sweet and mellow flavor of top quality, making it unique. As a result, it is quite popular in Germany, including two black teas and one dark tea, primarily replicating the Far East Empire's techniques; however, we are also researching relevant machinery and equipment to increase production without affecting the flavor."

Thanks to the northern tea region's excellent geographical conditions, with an annual temperature averaging around twenty degrees, ample sunlight, abundant rainfall, relatively fewer pests, and an altitude of around fifteen hundred meters with slightly acidic volcanic ash soil, it has become the ideal place for premium highland tea.

Furthermore, the tea trees in East Africa remain evergreen all year. Take the northern tea region, for instance; tea farmers pick a crop every two to three weeks on average from June to July each year. During October's golden tea-picking season, they can harvest every five to six days, allowing East African tea to grow year-round without a dormancy period, making its yield higher per given area.

"We established the Mombasa Tea Auction in Mombasa City this year to provide a platform for merchants from Austria, Germany, Oman, and other countries to bid."

The northern tea region in East Africa has already established an initial reputation, thanks to divine favor. The same variety planted in the Far East might be unremarkable, but the taste is greatly enhanced in East Africa, echoing the aphorism about oranges grown in different soils.

"The southern tea region has an annual production of about 4,000 tons, mainly producing black tea. The tea is clear in liquor, of medium to high quality, and the type belongs to the Indian category, so it follows the same grading method as Indian tea and uses the blending method for production."

"In the southern tea production area, the products are mainly branded as 'Indian Tea' and sold to Western Europe through Dutch tea merchants, at a price 3% lower than genuine Indian tea; however, considering transportation costs, since the Indian tea region is mainly located in the northeast, the route is about 1,000 kilometers longer than the East African route, making the cost of tea from the Malawi tea production area even lower."

This is also a strategy for East African tea exports. After all, East Africa is considered a newly-emerging tea-producing area, so in non-core business areas of the Heixinggen consortium, it is inevitable to leverage the established reputations of the Far East Empire or India to penetrate the market.

Of course, counterfeit goods are not a long-term strategy, and East Africa is also committed to developing its own tea brand. This is also the main task of the northern tea region, which is East Africa's best-quality tea area, with three mature tea varieties that can rival many of the Far East Empire's teas.

Thus, the northern tea region's tea, relying on price and quality advantages, sells well in Germany, and the pricing strategy is a focus for the development of East African tea.

After all, from the past trajectory of tea development, European and American countries are not very particular about the grade of tea, or rather, they do not have the rich tea culture and atmosphere of East Asia; instead, industrially produced tea brands are more easily accepted.