The firm stood accused of blending low-grade imported tea leaves with high-quality Kenyan produce and exporting the mixture to Iran as premium tea. When Iranian authorities discovered that Cup of Joe Limited had blended low-grade imported tea with premium Kenyan leaves and fraudulently labelled the mix as pure high-quality Kenyan produce, they immediately suspended all imports of Kenyan tea and jailed several officials at the implicated buyer (Debsh Tea Co.) for their role in the scam.
The Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) swiftly deregistered the company when the scandal erupted, but the damage had already been done. The consequences of this fraud reach far beyond one rogue operator. Iran, once a vital market, imported 20 million kilograms of Kenyan tea in 2023, valued at US$80 million, equivalent to KSh 10.34 billion at today’s exchange rate. In 2025, that figure collapsed to just 13,000 tonnes worth US$33 million, or KSh 4.26 billion. This scandal, coupled with grave political miscalculations by Kenya’s political elite, is costing the country dearly.
This represents a staggering 60 per cent drop in value from a single market, a direct blow to Kenya’s foreign exchange earnings, government revenue, and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers.
The central question remains unanswered- what concrete action has been taken against the individuals behind Cup of Joe Limited? The narrative has focused on the company, not the people. Licences have been revoked and the firm deregistered, necessary, but insufficient.
Prosecution, conviction, or even public naming of the director(s) responsible appears delayed, opaque, or absent altogether. If the economy is being undermined by trade malpractice that damages not just a private entity but Kenya’s global reputation and the incomes of ordinary farmers, then robust regulatory follow-through is non-negotiable.
Yet public records reveal no prominent legal consequences for those who authorised the adulteration. One would expect formal charges, court filings, or a widely publicised settlement with strong deterrent value.
Such weakness in enforcement sends a perilous message: that it may be possible to sabotage a national industry with impunity, while the burden falls on powerless smallholder farmers and tea workers. The sector’s credibility is jeopardised, markets are lost, and perpetrators remain insulated.
The government’s formation of a joint Kenya-Iran committee to design stricter quality-control frameworks and revive the market is a welcome step. But regulatory reform without individual accountability is incomplete. Deregistration is a slap on the wrist; justice demands a fist. The authorities must ask themselves, have we targeted the person(s) behind the malpractice, or merely cancelled a company licence? If not, the loss to Kenya is not merely economic, it is moral.
Exposing which director(s) authorised the blending, pursuing them through the courts, and publicising the outcome would send an unequivocal signal- economic sabotage will not be tolerated. Without that, the long-term health of Kenya’s tea export industry, and the trust of international buyers, remains at grave risk. Kenya cannot afford to protect fraudsters while punishing farmers. The time for accountability is now.
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