Tea Smallholders Development Authority Chairman to assume Chairmanship of Asian Tea Alliance

 From left: Dave Maurice, Nimal Udugampola and Saman Rathnayake

• ATA chairmanship to strengthen Sri Lanka’s position in producing climate-smart, low-carbon and regenerative tea

Tea Smallholders Development Authority (TSHDA) Chairman Nimal Udugampola is to take up the Chairmanship of the Asia Tea Alliance (ATA) for the 2026-2027 time period.

This a victory for Sri Lanka as this would be the first time a smallholder institution leader would be taking up the ATA’s top position, Udugampola told the media recently.

This position also gives Sri Lanka a strong opportunity to advance decarbonised, regenerative tea and deliver fairer value across the supply chain, not only as a producer of high-quality tea but also as a regional hub for climate-smart, low-carbon output and smallholder-plantation collaboration, ADA Convener Dr. Shatadru Chattopadhayay added.  

Seventy five percent of Sri Lanka’s tea production comes from small estates and they have to meet a production target of 400 million kilos and a revenue target of US $ 2.5 billion by 2030, which is no easy feat, said Udugampola.

The sector produced a total of 220 million kilos last month and Udugampola hopes to increase production up to 300 million kilos next year.

“Our largest production output was in 2013, when we produced 340 million kilos,” Udugampola stressed, adding that they hope to achieve 262 million kilos by the year-end.

He said chairing the ATA would give the TSHDA the opportunity to encourage all tea smallholders to achieve their targets, adopt ethical practices in production and improve the quality of soil. 

He said the sector was strongly focusing on regenerative agriculture, which focuses on improving soil health, building climate resilience and adopting overall sustainable practices and techniques. 

Last year, Halgolla Estate, owned by Hayley’s Kelani Valley Plantations, was recognised as the world’s first tea estate to achieve the prestigious ‘regenagri’ certificate for regenerative agriculture. 

Udugampola is hopeful that small tea estates too can achieve such standards and said 150,000 hectares of small tea estates can be ‘regenerated’.

Additionally, Sri Lanka will also host the sixth ATA Annual Meeting at Colombo’s Lotus Tower on November 27. 

“At the annual meeting, we will also launch the ATA website with information related to our activities,” said ATA Secretariat Head for 2026-2027 Dave Maurice, who is also Nucleus Foundation Director. 

“We have planned a structured programme to deepen knowledge exchange, market information and support for producers. This will help Asia’s tea sector move forward in a more inclusive, sustainable and regenerative manner, with a focus on promoting low-carbon growth,” he added.

The ATA Annual Meeting will be preceded by Asia International Tea Summit 2025, under the theme ‘Tea Reimagined: Regenerative, Resilient and Carbon Free’. 

This technical session will explore topics such as building climate and market resilience for smallholders and plantations, expanding consumption and market access for sustainable and regenerative tea, emerging trade opportunities with the Russian market and beyond and more.

Last year, the small tea estate sector delivered US $ 1.4 billion in revenue. 

The Asian Tea Alliance was founded in Beijing in 2018 and brought together the region’s major tea economies to make the sector more sustainable, competitive and resilient. The alliance convenes annually and aims for an efficient, economic and regular supply of high-quality, sustainable tea, better working and living conditions for workers and fair returns for producers.