Tea's up after drought hits Kenyan crops

The price of a cup of tea is just one more thing Irish consumers can look forward to paying more for following a surge in the global price for the commodity.

The rising price of tea is the result of a severe winter drought in Kenya - one of the world's biggest producers - which has resulted in a 50 per cent fall in production.

The price of tea coming into Ireland has hit record highs

Tea importer FitzPatrick & Company said the price of tea coming into Ireland has hit record highs, increasing by an average of 55 per cent.

The company said: "The effects of the crop failure in the main tea growing areas of Kenya due to the drought east and west of the Rift Valley will most certainly have an impact on the price Irish consumers pay for their tea bags."

Arthur FitzPatrick, a partner at FitzPatrick & Company said: "Ireland is likely to feel the effects more significantly than other European countries for two reasons - we drink more tea, but in addition, we are a quality tea market and the areas affected by the drought are where the higher quality teas used in Irish blends are grown."

Per capita Ireland consumes more tea than any other country in the world, with the average Irish person drinking in excess of eight cups per day.

Kenya is the biggest supplier of tea to Ireland with over 55 per cent of all tea consumed coming from the east African country.

Mr FitzPatrick explained that Kenyan tea thrives at altitudes of between 1,500 and 2,700 metres and requires rainfall amounts of between 1,200 and 2,000 millimetres annually.

"Due to a lack of irrigation the country depends on two critical rainy seasons: the short rains from October to December, and the long rains from March to May," he said.

Last year the short rains failed and curtailed tea production from November onwards, the situation was exacerbated by poor long rains earlier this year.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: "If the short rains fail again later in the year the effects on the tea industry in Kenya, which provides the main source of income for at least 10 per cent of the population and is the country's main cash crop, will be catastrophic."