Officials from the Office of the Deputy President and the New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union are in Germany, seeking to secure more market for Kenyan coffee and tea.
Led by Margaret Muthoni, Trade Adviser to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, New KPCU Managing Director Timothy Mirugi and director Nyambura Kariuki, Kenya Embassy in Germany officials and Honorary Consul Dr. Breitengross, the officials held meetings with stakeholders in the coffee industry in Germany in line with the government’s initiative to improve the coffee sector and increase exports to international markets.
On Thursday, they held talks with Sven Volknandt, Melitta Group Director of International Business Strategy.
“Ms. Muthoni, Trade Adviser at Office of the Deputy President, Ms. Kariuki, Director at New KPCU PLC, Embassy officials, Ms. Fatuma Hashim and Mr Isaak Mamo and Honorary Consul, Dr. Breitengross deliberated with Mr. Matthias Kloth of Kloth & Köhnken Teehandel GmbH. With Kenya being one of the leading tea exporters in the world and Germany the 6th largest tea importer, marketing strategies were discussed that will be of mutual benefit to both countries,” the Kenya Embassy in Berlin said on X, formerly Twitter.
Kloth & Köhnken Teehandel GmbH is a tea supplier.
Germany is also the second leading coffee importer in the world and an important market for Kenyan coffee, in 2022-23, importing 8,240 metric tonnes, a 35% increase from the previous year.
On Wednesday, Deputy Head of Mission Ambassador Valerie Rugene accompanied Mirugi, trade advisers Muthoni and Tirimba and Wanjiru Kago from the Office of the Deputy President to a meeting with the German Coffee Association at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and discussed strategies of expanding the market.
The visit is a follow up of DP Rigathi’s trip in October 2023, when he held discussions with leading coffee buyers in Germany to explore ways of cooperation in the revival of the sub-sector.
During his visit, DP Rigathi held talks with Voller Group GmbH Director Philipp Wacker, and said Kenya is considering establishing a warehouse in Germany.
“A warehouse will be a logistical gamechanger in not only reaching big, but also medium and small-scale consumers of our coffee. It is also a strategy of reaching all cadres of consumers. This is an important aspect as we undertake Reforms in the coffee subsector and look forward to raising production from 51,000MT to 260,000MT by 2027,” Rigathi said.
Prior and after their election to office, Rigathi indicated the Kenya Kwanza administration would pursue an economic-oriented foreign policy, pegged on promoting export of farm produce to various destinations.
The Deputy President is leading coffee reforms, an initiative he has admitted is facing resistance from cartels in the sector.
The ensuing chaos caused by the push and pull has caused some companies to announce decision to exit Kenya.
For example, NKG Coffee Mills Kenya, a global coffee miller, in January announced plans to shut its operations in Kenya in February dues to the chaos and confusion caused by the coffee reforms.
The miller, a member of Germany’s Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, announced it would lay off staff by the end of February, saying it did not secure a licence following the regulatory changes in the industry.
This was after the implementation of the Coffee Regulations, 2019 and Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange) Regulations, 2020.
“Following these changes, NKG Coffee Mills Kenya Ltd has not been able to secure the milling license and it is in this regard that the company has taken the decision to close the milling operations. In these ongoing changes, there is a potential/possibility of certain posts within the company’s staff establishment becoming redundant,” the company said in a letter by the company’s regional head of Human Resources Hellen Akumu.
