Karatina University (KarU) Tea Institute was established in the year 2012 with the aim of training, conducting research/ innovations and community outreach on tea along the entire value chain. The institute is located in Nyeri County, Central Kenya and has about 20 acres of green & purple tea plantations. It also has a cottage plant of tea processing and a tea science laboratory.
The institute has a team of interdisciplinary academic and non- academic staff with vast knowledge and practical skills on tea agronomy, processing, marketing and trade.
Since its inauguration, the institute has been training Kenya tea farmers and industry personnel on tea husbandry, specialty teas processing & quality assurance as well as conducting research on tea organic farming & formulation of tea food products that is funded by NRF of Kenya. In addition the staff have been involved in development of national, East Africa region and global ISO tea standards and policy making on trade/governance of Kenya tea industry. Through collaborations with local tea stakeholder organizations e.g. Tea Board of Kenya, KTDA, Purple and Specialty Teas Association of Kenya(PSTAK) and international institutions (Zhangzhou College of Technology, China and Global Tea Initiative, University of California, USA) the staff have been trained on modern processing technology, which has benefited the country in promotion of tea trade locally and internationally. The institute has also organized and hosted two international tea conferences
As we join the world on 21st May 2021 in celebrating the International Tea day and the 2nd most consumed drink in the world after water, the Food Science and Nutrition 4th year students marked the day by formulating and enjoying different tea based beverages.
