Land of a thousand Hills- covered in golden tea!

As you may well know from our previous posts- Rwanda holds a special place to us at Taylors as it forms an important part of our Yorkshire Gold Blend, producing tea with unique character and truly golden brightness. We have been buying Rwandan teas for many years and I visited Rwanda as part of my training trip to see first-hand the tea and the people who grow it.

The first thing that strikes you when entering Rwanda after leaving the airport in Kigali, the capital, is the cleanliness. The government here actually banned plastic bags a number of years ago and my, what a difference it makes.  Clean streets with virtually no litter line well built roads with neat pedestrian walkways. Cosmopolitan buildings sit alongside neat villages, the most modest of which are built from clay bricks and tiled roofs, as opposed to tin. All these sites are very remarkable when you consider the trauma this country endured 16 years ago during the conflict that took place here.

And then there’s the tea. I had the privilege of visiting three factories producing some of the best tea in the country- and by that fact, some of the best tea in the world. Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills and that it is- specacular rolling hills with steep escaprments that lie often above the clouds.

I visited estates that are part of a project part funded by DFID and ourselves to support 10,000 Rwandan farmers in quality improvement and sustainabilty in partnership with Rainforest Alliance. The areas where the tea estates lie are covered in lush green tea bushes. The volcanic soils and high altitude make for unique growing conditions that set Rwandan tea apart. When the sun shines the tea bushes  shimmer a golden glow that illuminates the landscape and translates into a rich golden liquor in the cup- just what we’re looking for for Yorkshire Gold.

Illuminous yellowy green leaf, fermenting, and the stunning Lake Kivu.

As we mentioned on our facebook page recently, our head of tea, Ian, has just returned from Africa, where he’s been catching up with lots of our key suppliers.

Ian tasting teas at Imenti Tea Factory

His first stop was Kenya, where he went to discuss working towards Rainforest Alliance certification. As well signifying that currently a minimum of 30% of the tea we buy comes from certified farms, that little frog on our packs also represents a commitment to gradually ensuring that 100% of the farms we buy from are certified. We could, of course, switch to buying from farms that are already certified – but that would mean turning our backs on suppliers who we’ve worked with for many years. That’s why these trips and discussions are so important.

A new tree nursery at Ngere Tea Factory

One example of the work already underway is this tree nursery at Ngere Tea Factory in Kenya. Young trees are given to smallholder farmers to plant out as part of the Rainforest Alliance standard. The picture below shows some of the steps they’ve been taking to improve recycling too.

Recycling at Ngere

Another measure is ensuring that all smallholder farmers have got the right ‘Personal Protective Equipment’ for when they spray other crops growing near to their tea – like this gent below.

A Kenyan farmer shows Ian his new kit

While visiting Makomboki Tea Factory, some of the staff showed Ian their mounted Yorkshire Tea ‘Rewarding Quality’ plaque, which we presented to them in 2003. As you can see, the factories really do appreciate this recognition of their quality.

Staff at Mokomboki show off their quality plaque

Ian also visited Rwanda to check on the progress of our project to help improve the country’s tea industry – so look out for more on that in the very near future.

We’ve talked a lot about ‘our work in Rwanda’ over the last few months. Here’s a little more information to explain what we mean by that.

Anthony from the Rwandan Tea Authority is pleased to see Season’s Pick Rwandan on sale

Rwandan tea is a vital part of our Yorkshire Tea and Yorkshire Gold blends. And as the country’s number one export earner, it’s very important to Rwanda too.

However, while the last decade has seen improved infrastructure and new economic opportunities for Rwanda, the disruption of the civil war in 1994 is still evident. For example, there are now only a few factories processing consistently top quality tea, which threatens the competitiveness of Rwanda’s tea industry and the livelihoods of many farmers.

That’s why we’ve matched a grant from the Department for International Development (DfID) to fund a project supporting 10,000 small-scale Rwandan tea farmers – it’s part of a wider UK government initiative called the Food Retail Industry Challenge fund (FRICH).

Our aim is to raise the quality of the tea being produced in Rwanda, through training in cultivation and processing, and to improve social and environmental practices, by partnering with the Rainforest Alliance. We’re even investigating the potential for farmers to raise extra income by protecting (or ’sequestering’) carbon.

Our tea buyers know that at its best Rwandan tea is hard to beat. To see for yourself, try our Season’s Pick Rwandan tea, which is currently available in selected supermarkets.

By creating a premium market for high quality, sustainably-grown tea and committing to purchase a significant volume from farmers in Rwanda, we’ll be supporting local tea communities, providing good living and working conditions for farmers and their workers.

That’s what our recent visitor, Anthony Butera, had to say about the UK. The reason why that’s particularly striking is that he is Director General of the Rwandan Tea Authority. Rwanda, land of a thousand hills. A place so beautiful that our tea buyers get a bit of a glow about them whenever they start talking about their visits there.

The rolling hills of Rwanda

Nevertheless, Anthony insists that to him the Yorkshire Dales are more beautiful than the lush tea-covered peaks of his home. But this is more than a simple case of the ‘grass being greener’.

Yorkshire’s beauty is less obvious during such a grey and chilly February, but it is still a place where life is good for the vast majority. And though Rwanda is unquestionably gorgeous and Anthony’s passion for it is clear, it is a country in great need of development.

Anthony with our tea buyer Sanjay

We’re working with people like Anthony to help Rwanda build a stronger tea industry, which will, in turn, improve the lives of over 10,000 farmers and their families. As one of the country’s biggest exports, tea is vital to Rwanda’s future. With support, the industry can drive development and provide the country’s rural population with the means to build a better life for themselves. Look out for further updates on this in the near future.

So yes, at first glance, it’s impossible not to be struck by the natural beauty of Rwanda’s ‘thousand hills’, but this is still a country with a mountain to climb.

Regular readers will know about our long-standing relationship with Rwanda and the work we’re doing out there to help farmers.

Their tea is vital to our Yorkshire Tea and Yorkshire Gold blends – in the words of our head of tea, Ian, adding Rwandan tea to our blend is like ‘turning the lights on in your cup’.

Well, soon you’ll be able to try Rwandan tea on its own and when it’s at its very best. Our new Season’s Pick range switches from Assam, which has been on offer since last October, to Rwandan from Monday. To find some, just head down to your nearest Waitrose or Booths.

The tea we’ve picked is truly exceptional stuff – lively, refreshing and with a brilliant colour to it. Our tea-buyers reckon it’s as good as Rwandan tea gets.

Let us know what you think!

We’ve been buying tea from Rwanda for several decades, so we’ve got a special connection with this incredible country. Rwandan tea has a certain liveliness about it and a really refreshing character – that’s what we love about it, and that’s why it’s such a vital part of our luxury blend, Yorkshire Gold.

This month, the well-respected glossy food mag Waitrose Food Illustrated published an article by writer Kevin Gould about his trip to Rwanda with Ian Brabbin, our Head of Tea. Together they toured the gardens that grow tea for us so Kevin could see firsthand the standards we achieve together.

Here are some excerpts from his article:

Rwanda: genocide, insane Hutu-Tsutsi identity politics, atrocities, bad news. This tiny, mountainous, Central African country has had all of these. But Rwanda also produces some of the world’s liveliest, loveliest, costliest black teas.

I’m with Ian Brabbin, head of tea for Taylors of Harrogate. Since 1973, this family firm has bought Rwandan teas, always paying top prices to secure the best teas from the very best gardens – it has also recently put funding in place for Rwandan tea to become certified by the Rainforest Alliance. We’re off to Gisovu, Rwanda’s top estate, whose finest leaf goes into Yorkshire Gold tea bags. Ian says, “Gisovu makes up at least 50% of this blend. It is wonderfully coppery, brisk and bright – like turning on the lights in your cup of tea!”

Up at Gisovu, tea bushes fill the lush horizon. Factory manager Emmanuel Matesu tells me that it’s now against Rwandan law to discriminate between tribes. “There is no more Hutu or Tsutsi,” he says. “We are all Rwandans now, and our country is super strong.”

Ian Brabbin is correct – Gisovu tea is like turning the lights on in your cup. It’s also a lovely metaphor of hope. So, next time you treat yourself to a pot of Yorkshire Gold, reflect on the fact that this brew comes from a beautiful, hope-filled place.

Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine is available from all Waitrose supermarkets, or you can visit their site to subscribe