Two leaves and a bud, no more!

Tea representatives say quality of Ceylon tea seeing significant decline amid poor manufacturing practices  

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Industry representatives yesterday expressed fears over the Ceylon tea cup losing its appeal in the global market with increasing amounts of low-quality leaves continuing to enter the manufacturing process, hampering the standard of the end product.

As the emphasis on quality has diminished over the months, the industry expressed fresh concerns on the Ceylon tea brand failing to live up to its promise of being the world’s best.

“We are not happy with the quality we are exporting. If we are saying pure Ceylon tea is the best in the world, then we have to live up to that.  Sadly it is not the case. Until we get our house in order, we cannot get people from outside to be patriotic to drink Ceylon tea,” said Tea Exporters’ Association (TEA) Chairman Rohan Fernando.

Pointing out the dire need to adhere to trade nomenclature, which has been violated, Fernando said it was imperative for the industry to produce high-quality tea without any enhancement and contamination.

However, he highlighted that the primary reason for the drastic drop in quality is the manufacturing practices.

“The logo that promotes the Ceylon tea brand has two leaves and a bud and this is what we are and want to be famous for. We can give a margin for maybe three leaves and a bud but today the entire bush is brought to the factory to manufacture,” quipped the TEA chief, while charging that there are factories willing to buy poor-quality tea for the sake of increasing production.

The ideal situation to get high-quality tea, according to tea experts, is to get two leaves and a bud that is succulent and immature.

The only solution to the issue is to penalize factories purchasing poor-quality tea, said Fernando.
 
According to him, the fact that Sri Lanka has too many tea factories that have opened without establishing proper processes is a key reason for the drop in the standard.

Sri Lanka manufactures 390 million kilogrammes (mkg) of tea with 456 factories, whereas Kenya, the third largest tea producer in the world, manufactures 400 mkg with 110 factories.  Affirming the sentiments of the TEA chief was Sri Lanka Tea Factory Owners’ Association (SLTFOA) Chairman Anil Alwis, who said, he “wholeheartedly agree that the quality has been dropping.”

“We don’t get two leaves and a bud anymore. Because of unhealthy competition stakeholders had to basically lower their quality. If they stick to two leaves and a bud, a single tea factory might lose about 75 to 80 percent production,” said Alwis. He elaborated that standards have dropped a great deal mainly due to the demand and supply situation.  “We have the factory capacity to accommodate the leaves but the availability is so little. Because of that, some factories accept anything and everything.”

The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) launched the B-Leaf 60 programme in 2014 to ensure the quality of tea exported. The initiative made it mandatory for factories to accept nothing less than 60 percent of fine quality leaves. While the industry reaped benefits at the inception of the programme, it appears the requirement is not strictly adhered to anymore. Today, only less than 40 percent of high-quality leaves are pulled into the production process, noted Alwis, giving an estimated figure.

“There are only a handful of quality manufactures. The people who are manufacturing good tea are doing well, but with most are not focusing on quality, when collectively looking at it, the standard has dropped.”

Two other factors that have attributed to the current quality scenario are adverse weather conditions that have led to delays in the plucking rounds and the shortage of labour. While the industry is at the mercy of the weather gods, he said the relevant authorities will have to think out-of-the-box to resolve the recurring estate labour issues.  

Stressing that there should be commitment to bring about change, Alwis noted it was too early for the SLTB to address the issues given the recent change in leadership.

Stating that the SLTB should be given time to get its act together, he opined that the newly appointed SLTB Chairperson Rohan Pethiyagoda is “definitely in the right direction” as he was looking for quality and was taking a lot of measures to bring all stakeholders together to steer the ship.