Gachege tea farmers in Gatundu North have been asked to work hard towards delivering quality tea as a way of boosting their monthly tea payments as well as the annual bonuses.
The farmers who had gathered at Gachege open air market on Tuesday were advised on the importance of working towards delivering quality tea leaves at the factory and the impact it will have on their earnings.
Speaking at the market, Gachege Tea Zonal Director Benson Thuku said that Gachege Tea Factory farmers were now delivering better tea than they were doing few years ago but noted that they were yet to get to the desired standard.
"For the last six years I have been a director at Gachege Tea Factory, I can say I have seen a tremendous improvement in the kind of tea our farmers have been delivering at the factory. Among the factories in the larger Gatundu, we are the best in terms of processing quality tea but we are yet to be among the best factories countrywide," said Thuku.
The director said that other KTDA factories that were insisting in quality than quantity had seen their fortunes improve which had led to their farmers receiving better payments.
"It is no longer about quantity but quality. A lot of low quality tea does not help us at all as the competition in the global tea market is now based on quality. Unless we work towards that, it shall be hard to make any reasonable income to pay our farmers," he said.
Thuku further noted that quality tea started right from the farm to the collection centre and all the way to the factory.