MADE IN KENYA: How 'Stir Me Tea' adds value to Kenyan tea with unique herbal and spice blends

With this, Kenyan entrepreneurs are adding value to Kenyan tea to make it more attractive on the global stage.

Stir Me Tea is one such venture adding flavour to Kenyan tea, targeting both corporates and the export market. 

Stir Me Tea was founded by Sheena Patel in 2017. Born and bred in Kirinyaga, tea farming was the main source of income for her family. This ignited her love for Kenyan tea, something she decided to pursue in adulthood.

"It was actually born out of a passion of bringing good quality tea to the local shelves. We brought export quality tea to bridge the gap in the retail shops," Sheena says.

A graphic designer by profession, Sheena decided to use her skills to make her venture standout. From packaging, to the contents themselves, Stir Me Tea specialises in loose tea leaves blended with different botanicals to make different tea flavours. 

Stir Me Tea targets the retail market, corporates as well as the export market.

"Our main clients are luxury hotel brands, some restaurants and cafes in Nairobi, we have a little clientele based in Qatar, but we do retail in like Chandarana, Carrefour, Montis, Fresh to Go… They sell from Ksh300 to Ksh1600 per product," she adds.

With sustainability as one of the brand's main objectives, Sheena looks forward to making more flavours, and coming up with more appealing packaging, using biodegradable materials.

"We make packaging that somebody can actually use. Once our client buys our package and removes the tea, kids use it to store crayons, pencils, toys, and people are using them in the kitchen shelves to store cutlery," she concludes.