Meet Chinese national behind ‘wonder’ tea

By Steve Umidha

Kenyan-based Chinese David Yang had a few secrets of his own when he first arrived in Kenya, some 25 years ago.

His stopover in Nairobi steered wide-ranging opportunities and soon Mr. Yang dived into free enterprise in the busy capital and often relied on his contacts back at home to boost his businesses that mainly involved exporting Chinese medicinal and health products for chronicle diseases such as cancer, diabetes and asthma.

“I have been in Kenya since 1994 and we did several businesses. In 1995 we brought the Chinese health products and the business got better and saw us expand in Mombasa, Uganda and Dar es Salaam. We did this for about five years, and during that time, we treated about 50,000 people who relied on our wellness products,” he opens up during an interview in his Hurlingham office.

It only took him five years before folding the first business in the year 2000 and later started three others that included import business. It was the third enterprise, ARKMAN Limited, registered in 2015, which the fluent English-speaking Chinese reckons has experienced tremendous success thus far.

“In 2015 we started Arkman limited that purely deals in Health Tea and Safaris Tours. This tea, what we are doing is totally different. Before we were importing it from China and selling it in Kenya. Now we are doing the reverse, we produce it here (Kenya) and exporting it to China other European markets,” he says.

Arkman Limited has contracted about 20 Kenyan tea farmers across the country, who it relies upon to consistently supply the commodity – which Mr. Yang says is “carefully hand crafted’ and a pure nature plant.

He describes the tea as being,” Invigorating and deliciously sweet.” The Oolong tea has a taste resembling tie guan yin, but with the sweet and refreshing aroma of ginseng, he says the Oolong tea is produced using superior Oolong tea mixed with ginseng roots, resulting in a healthy drink that nourishes the body and enriches the soul.”

Today, the company produces an estimated 102tons every month, but he says, the capacity could increase depending on the market’s demand, which is fast growing with the product expended in major hotels and restaurants.

“The oolong tea can either be taken as it is without adding milk or sugar, if you want it for health benefits, but if yiu want to take it for pleasure it is still fine,” says Mr. Young.

The company already has an agreement with online retailers such as Jumia who sell on their behalf. The oolong tea is also available on several retail stores and supermarkets.

“Since we are using more labor and time, and packaging, you will realize that our pricing is slightly higher compared to other tea brands in the market, putting in mind that this product is also medicinal and can be re-used with different taste as well,” says Yang- a medical doctor by profession who spent nearly his life studying the tea product, about 50 years.

“I have a small dream of making people understand the meaning of taking tea, and I recommend having it without lacing sugar or milk, because it will add you more energy and other health benefits,” he says.

Other benefits of the rare tea strip shaped tea leaves originally from Kenya, include improving mental health, performance and refreshes the mind as well as controls metabolism of fat in the body to reduce cholesterol level.

“The business is promising, because those who consume it after two weeks they realize the difference and come back for more.”

Arkman limited now plans to diversify into other products mainly health and wellness products but Young is mum about those plans. “We have ambitious plans for the company, one of them being to diversify into other products as well as expand to other regions.”