Tanganda Tea is the biggest grower and producer of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and one of the biggest tea producers in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It is a competing food corporation in Zimbabwe, and forms part of the

Meikles Meikles () is the popular name given to Meikles Hotel in central Harare, Zimbabwe, Meikles' department stores in Zimbabwe and Meikles Limited, the company which owns everything including the hotel, the department stores and Meikles' TM Supermarket ...

Group, a major Zimbabwean company which also owns hotels and department stores in southern Africa. Tanganda is based in

Mutare Mutare (formerly Umtali) is the most populous city in the province of Manicaland, and the third most populous city in Zimbabwe, having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 and approximately 260,567 ...

in the Eastern Highlands of

. The first tea bushes planted in Zimbabwe originated from a box of seeds smuggled out of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1924 by Mrs Florence Phillips, a tea-planter's wife from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, and were planted near

Chipinge Chipinge is a town in Zimbabwe, located in Chipinge District, in Manicaland Province, in southeastern Zimbabwe, close to the border with Mozambique. Location The town lies approximately , by road, south of Mutare, the nearest large city. This ...

. The success of the harvest encouraged the formation of a company, Ward and Phillips (Pty) Ltd, which owned New Year's Gift and Ratelshoek Estates near Chipinge, and which formed the nucleus of the Tanganda Tea company. The bulk of the company's tea is still grown around Chipinge, although the company now buys in substantial amounts of tea from small-scale independent growers. Tanganda Tea sells its brand of tea in Zimbabwe and throughout central Africa.

External links

Tanganda Tea company web siteEarly photos of the Tanganda estates
Food and drink companies of Zimbabwe Agriculture companies of Zimbabwe Companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Tea companies Tea brands Mutare