By JAMES NGUNJIRI, Ngunjirij@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
Kenya is pushing to increase its market share for
coffee in the United States (US) as a means of improving the global
visibility of the local commodity.
The government through the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Authority (AFA) Coffee Directorate on Tuesday said it is also targeting
China, South Korea, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland and Nigeria as
emerging markets for the coffee.
“Kenya has embarked on an aggressive marketing of
her coffee globally. In view of this, the country is set to be the
‘portrait country (main feature)’ during the 2017 Specialty Coffee
Association of America (SCAA) Exhibition in Seattle, Washington, US,”
said Grenville Melli, interim head of the directorate during a briefing
in Nairobi.
The SCAA event provides the largest coffee marketing avenue in the world, where producers meet buyers and consumers.
The government is seeking to leverage on various
platforms like SCAA, where Kenya is a member, to improve the visibility
of the country’s coffee.
“To address the challenges, we shall venture into
new markets through participation in various expos, both locally and
internationally,” said Richard Lesiyampe, Agriculture principal
secretary, in a statement.
As a portrait country in the upcoming SCAA
exhibition set for next April Kenya will be given exclusive priority in
marketing her coffee in the US during the period of the symposium and
exhibitions.
American coffee buyers will also visit Kenya
between November 28 to December 3, and tour growing regions, processing
plants, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange to order coffee to be brewed during
the event.
The event will provide direct marketing linkages
between Kenyan coffee producers with America coffee buyers. The country
will have a chance to place information about Kenyan coffee under the
umbrella of SCAA in selected American media for six months.
The US market is targeted as it has a high
consumption rate. This year, US imported 7,000 metric tonnes compared to
the previous year’s 4,000 metric tonnes according to the AFA.
The coffee sub-sector has been facing myriad of
challenges ranging from inadequate value addition, high cost of
production, negative climate change impacts, inadequate affordable
credit and poor infrastructure.
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