The Alliance for Product Quality in Africa, Invest for Jobs and the Business Scouts for Development support tea producers in Rwanda to improve the quality of their products and obtain the quality certificates required for international export.
One of these companies is Karongi Tea Factory located in the Western part of Rwanda. The Karongi Tea Factory produces high-quality black CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) tea, green tea and orthodox tea. Besides already implemented quality management systems and quality standards, Karongi Tea Factory is supported to achieve organic and fair trade certification .
These standards and certificates are individual components building up trust towards European buyers.
Rwanda has great geographical potential for high quality tea. Since the country is at a very young stage of tea development, general ideas on sustainable and organic farming are easily accessible and manageable. It will certainly help in building a trustful national brand for Rwanda Tea, that could easily lead Africa’s premium tea sector!
TeeGschwendner, as the biggest German retailer within the tea sector, is one of these European buyers. The company operates more than 100 franchise stores all over Germany. During a buyer’s mission to Rwanda in October 2021, TeeGschwendner representatives were able to gain first-hand impressions of Karongi Tea Factory’s high-quality production.
Drawing on the targeted support of the programmes implemented by GIZ, Karongi Tea Factory can reach the last component of fair trade and organic certification. It thereby complements all requirements to supply best quality to TeeGschwendnerwho have already committed themselves to buying tea from Karongi Tea Factory.
Fotorechte: Daniel Mack, TeeGschwendner
