Ceylon Tea coming from the resplendent island nation, Sri Lanka is recognized for her well balanced tasting profile by tea connoisseurs all over the globe. Simply speaking Ceylon Tea is a hug in a cup. It has got the ideal strength, depth, aroma and flavour for a perfect cup of tea. Ceylon tea as an industry under-went many ups and downs in last few decades and faced many Challenges. Loosing Pakistan (World’s No 1 Tea Importing nation) and Egypt (Among top 5 tea importers) markets in 1980s is one of them & currently there is a risk of loosing her traditional markets due to higher price of Ceylon Tea. Political instability of Middle East has also caused loosing bit of demand for this wonderful beverage. With this background Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) Chairman Jayampathy Molligoda explained his views on “Tea Strategy Road Map for 2030” to Sunday Observer. Mr. Molligoda is optimistic the perennial and lucrative industry will bounce back from tough times due to the global factors that have eroded its market share and prices in the recent years.

However, the SLTB chief in no uncertain terms said the quality of tea and maintenance of standards has to be met if the industry is to compete and increase export volumes.

The chairman said “The good news is that after 18 years industry stakeholders comprising the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association, Tea exporters Association, Planters’ Association, the Tea Smallholders Association, The Plantations Minister and the SLTB met to deliberate the way forward for the industry,” He added further saying “if the industry could come to some consensus on the way forward strategy and look after the entire value chain from the grower to big retailer down to the grower export volumes will grow and exporters will be able to pay a better price at the auctions”.

He mentioned at the moment tea planters are facing severe cash flow problems due to the decline in global tea prices which are beyond the control.

“Production and export revenue was low and that partly due to the climate change effects. However adhering to good global agricultural and manufacturing practices productivity could be increased and quality could be maintained,” Mollogoda said 

SLTB expects tea production to go pass last year’s figure of around 304 million kgs and export income of around US$ 1.4 billion this year given good climatic conditions prevail.

The SLTB will be backing the tea replanting and infilling program that had been launched in the past and it will be accelerated according to Molligoda. Meanwhile tea exporters showed displeasure over the move to use part of the tea promotion levy on tea replanting as the levy is exclusively for promotion of the Ceylon Tea brand.

In addition to above view points my personal views are as follows,

1. Ceylon Tea Global Promotion Campaign is under going at the moment. A campaign like this is vital to uplift the image of Pure Ceylon Tea. Reviewing the effectiveness of the campaign is so vital to move forward.
2. Ceylon Tea Exporters must also be encouraged to compete for overseas shelf space with their own brand & OEM for global brands. It’s also vital for them to find new clients for bulk tea, but exporters often try to grab each other’s clients by quoting lower which is not a sustainable way at all.
3. Product Diversification: We should think of Innovations like Ready to Drink (RTD) tea (Real Brew / Cold Brew), tea capsules etc. Also Tea has now gone beyond a beverage. Tablets, food products made with tea & tea extracts are emerging at the moment. Ceylon Tea companies must think on this factor as well.
4. Focus More on Specialty Tea: Tea exporters should partner with producers & encourage them to produce more specialty teas, not only black but also green, oolong and white teas which are emerging in North America & EU. Few players like Lumbini, Herman Tea, Forest Hill Tea & Macduff are already following this direction.

These are just view points. Now It’s high time to prepare a detailed road map for Ceylon tea for the betterment of 2 million people who depend directly & indirectly on Sri Lankan tea industry.

Learn More About Ceylon Tea: https://www.pureceylontea.com/

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References

1. Original Post: http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2020/01/05/business/tea-strategy-road-map-2030-%E2%80%98lanka-cannot-continue-depend-exporting-black-tea%E2%80%99?fbclid=IwAR3B866KhmLGQhvKg_F3kXzyyxFGszHYkNvSheY_IYT1Z6BB7sEZgONq8oI
2. More Info: http://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Molligoda-appointed-Tea-Board-Chairman/273-180015