The Sri Lanka Tea Board together with the High Commission of Sri Lanka to the UK kicked off one week of Ceylon Tea Promotional events alongside the participation at IFE Exhibition with an event at the High Commission in London followed by events in Glasgow, Auchenblae- the birthplace of James Taylor, (Father of Ceylon Tea) and Aberdeen in Scotland, from March 25 to 29, 2024.
In addition the High Commissioner and Sri Lanka Tea Board Officials met with the European Specialty Tea Association (ESTA) in line with Sri Lanka’s participation at the IFE 2024 on March 26. The ESTA presented a draft MoU in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tea Board and it was agreed to continue the interactions.
Nigel Melican, President of the ESTA, together with its Executive Director David Veal and the other directors and members of the ESTA who attended this interactive meeting mentioned that they are pleased to work with the High Commission to take forward the ideas generated to a strategy called “ Ceylon Tea, to make fashionable again”.
The meeting was also attended by Simon Nihal Bell, Chairman of Ceylon Artisanal Tea Association (CATA) and contributed with important ideas on the development of the specialty tea sector from Sri Lanka’s view point. The High Commissioner and Tea Board officials addressed as well as made presentations on Ceylon Tea at a session organized at the Glasgow Caledonian University which was a joint Ceylon Tea promotional effort by Sri Lanka Tea Board and Sri Lanka High Commission in London. The High Commissioner and Tea Board Officials also visited the house in which James Taylor, father of Sri Lanka tea grew up in Auchenblae.
High Commissioner Rohitha Bogollagama and Niraj de Mel, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tea Board hosted a Ceylon Tea Gala Dinner at MaryCulter Hotel in Aberdeen, UK, on March 29 which was attended by nearly 80 members of the Scotland tea and food trade, senior officials, trade chamber representatives, media and influencers and a host of Sri Lankans now domiciled in Scotland. During this visit, Sri Lanka Tea Board and High Commission officials understood that Sri Lanka needs to refocus its promotional activities with a view to regaining the UK tea market through various collaborations and joint actions based on the dynamics and the consumer preferences of the tea. Appropriate measures need to be taken to upgrade the quality standards by deploying new technology and innovation in the tea industry while protecting the indigenous methods, the ethical practices, the focused manufacturing and branding etc, in the tea plantations and to focus on specialty tea promotions in the UK.
Accordingly, a working committee to achieve such collaboration was proposed by High Commissioner Bogollagama as it required a deep study and research in order to penetrate the market. Currently, Sri Lanka is the third largest tea exporter to the world with exports around US$ 10 million worth of tea to the UK alone. As far back as in 1967, Sri Lanka had sold 78,484 MT of tea into the UK accounting for 34% of total tea imports.
