EATTA’s principal mandate is to run the weekly Mombasa Tea Auction Centre, currently the largest Tea auction centre in the world and the only one dealing in teas from more than one country. There are at present 224 EATTA members comprising 85 Producers, 86 Buyers, 11 Brokers, 19 Warehouses, 11 Packers and 12 Associate members. The Association is self-sustaining and draws its income through annual subscriptions paid by the membership.
The critical players in the tea auction are the producer, the buyer and the broker. The producers offer tea in the auction for sale but does not physically attend the auction. The producer appoints a broker as a selling agent who will represent him in the auction. The broker earns a commission of a percentage of the sales value for the tea they have sold.
The Mombasa Auction has more than, seventy buyers reflecting the Kenya export volume into the key markets of Pakistan, Egypt, UK, Sudan Yemen and UAE among many others.
The Mombasa tea auction is currently the largest black CTC tea auction centre in the world and accounts for 32% of global tea exports. The auction is known for high quality teas and operates on forces of demand and supply

EATTA insuperable history dates back to 1956, when a handful of tea producers, buyers and brokers came together and founded the Association. They decided that the practice of consigning all the Kenya and East Africa’s teas to the London Auction in the United Kingdom was not a very wise thing to continue doing. “Why should Kenya not have its own auction system?” This was the pondering question in the minds of the determined pioneers of the tea trade.
They established Kenya Tea Export Auction, as was then known. However, the amount of tea offered at the auction was very small. The new auction mostly dealt with the secondary grades. Kenya’s annual production of tea was just 10 million kilos then and the bulk of it was still finding its way to the London Auction. This however never killed the morale of the local auction initiators.
The auction was done after every two weeks at Plantation House, along Haile Selassie Road, Nairobi, which remained the venue of the tea business until 1969 when EATTA members resolved to have it relocated to Mombasa. The relocation of the auction from Nairobi to Mombasa was itself not without some controversy and strong opposition from a section of the members. For this reason, the process to relocate took nearly two years.
EATTA has continued to grow since then with current volumes traded rising to 10 million kilos weekely. EATTA has also proved its mettle as an effective self-regulator by successfully enforcing quality standards instead of depending on the government. The importance of the Mombasa Auction continues to grow. Containerized shipments introduced in the late seventies, created further interest from international tea buyers who soon realized the advantages of quick and safe shipment to destination. Thereafter, the conversion of packing to easily palletized paper sacks stretch-wrapped and containerized for shipment has been an additional incentive to exporters.
The introduction of bidding in US dollars in October 1992 has also proved a further strong incentive to producers offering tea in the Mombasa Auctions and additional quantities not only from Kenya but also from the other EATTA-member countries mentioned earlier. This allows payment for teas sold in US dollars ten working days from the date of sale and obviates any devaluation in local rates and ensures rapid payment in a stable currency.