Our business model strives to increase local value addition – processing, blending, packaging – to fine foods and unique goods from Central Africa for export, to sustain authenticity and opportunity for our workers.
By increasing the value addition locally, we create more job opportunities, improve the livelihoods of local communities and promote economic growth in the region.
Kiyana’s vision is to provide farmers with a platform to reach global markets, enabling them to secure higher rewards for their efforts. We also strive to create employment opportunities in the production environment and to produce high-quality, natural tasting and healthy dry tea. Furthermore, Kiyana is committed to helping farmers build a more sustainable future for their families and for generations to come by relaunching the consumption of tea growth in Congo worldwide.
Vision
Kiyana’s vision is to provide farmers with a platform to reach global markets, enabling them to secure higher rewards for their efforts.
We also strive to create employment opportunities in the production environment and to produce high-quality, natural tasting and healthy dry tea.
Furthermore, Kiyana is committed to helping farmers build a more sustainable future for their families and for generations to come by relaunching the consumption of tea growth in Congo worldwide.
Sustainably
We believe that sustainability is a must when it comes to agricultural production.
We promote sustainable agriculture practices that consider not only the economic profitability of a crop but also the environmental impact of agricultural interventions.
We strive to ensure that our farming practices are not only beneficial for the present but also for future generations.
From farm to cup
We ensure that each cup of our tea is the finest quality, as we carefully select and source each ingredient from the most reputable sources.
Our commitment to sustainability and quality means that we have strict standards when it comes to selecting our tea leaves, ensuring that they are fresh, ethically-sourced, and of the highest grade.
We are proud to bring the best of the DR Congo to your cup.
Packaging
Our tea collection is packaged in biodegradable materials, ensuring that no harmful plastic ends up in your tea.
The silk tea bags are made with cane sugar and poly lactic acid (PLA) and are not hand sealed, but sealed thermally with extra-long cotton thread and paper labels printed in food safe colors.
Additionally, these organic silk tea bags are non-GMO, free of plastic and chemicals.
Business
Our relationships with business partners are based on the confidence in the quality of our products.
We have developed the policy of proximity to our customers, organizing open days with tasting which helps explain the type of partnership we can adopt with different business such as Hotels, Restaurants, Boutiques, Airlines, and other related companies.
Distributor
Distributors play an important role in helping us accomplish our mission of supporting tea farmers.
We welcome any and all distributors who share our mission and are committed to helping us sell our tea.
By working together with distributors, we can ensure that more tea farmers benefit from their hard work.
Our story
It all began with the need to create a sustainable business that would provide economic opportunity to the women and farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They wanted to create a safe environment for the women, create jobs, and improve the livelihoods of the farmers by manufacturing gourmet food and beverage products that are 100% made in Central Africa.
To bring their vision to life, Aphie and Ange conducted extensive market research and visited numerous tea farms.
After gathering the necessary information, they started Kiyana Tea Collection in their own garage in Houston Texas, using three production machines and mock-up labels.
They used the best ingredients sourced from tea farms around the world, including some from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they were born.
Seeing the success of their business, they decided to take it to the next level. In 2020, they opened their first factory and began to build their team, hiring all women.
In 2022, they opened a distribution center in Houston, Texas, and began exporting their products to the USA.
