Ceylon Tea brand still sells worldwide
Ceylon Tea still has brand value and this need not change to Sri Lanka Tea as some in the industry believe necessary. That is how a marketer and renowned hotelier described the world famous beverage at the 22nd AGM of the Tea Exporters Association in Colombo on September 6.
Hotelier Rohan Kaar delivering the keynote address queried from the gathering of tea exporters on Friday, “Why move away from Ceylon Tea to Sri Lankan Tea? You have a name Ceylon so why do away with it?”
He noted that in Russia Ceylon tea is mixed with other teas and marketed as Ceylon Tea without the Lion logo which clearly shows the value of Ceylon Tea because Russians still prefer drinking Ceylon Tea.
Mr. Kaar explained that the tea sector needs to evolve as this is the key reason the industry is currently facing the crisis situation it is in today.
Commenting on the industry’s own outlook for its image building, he noted that the tea packs had different brands with some displaying the Ceylon Tea tag on it, some had nothing and some just had the Lion logo. This clearly indicated there was no common branding in keeping up to the Ceylon Tea branding, he pointed out.
He noted that tea exports had come down consistently by about 10 per cent and noted that the industry needed to increase its quality by sticking to the two leaves and a bud concept in the plucking of tea leaf.
“Two leaves and a bud is three leaves and a bud and soon it will be a tree and a bud,” he said.
Mr. Kaar observed that a road map for Sri Lankan tea is being drafted by the Ceylon Tea Traders Association (CTTA) and added that when it comes out there needs to be focus first on recovery and success to be followed in later years by bringing all together.
Japanese Ambassador Akira Sugiyama, chief guest on the occasion, pointed out the need for Sri Lanka to maintain its high quality standards in the manufacture of Ceylon Tea.
He pointed out that tea is an important export to Japan and that 20 per cent of the total exports is to Japan. The ambassador spoke of the problems faced by the industry concerning weedicide and noted that the industry needs to maintain and upgrade quality of tea and food quality.
The outgoing TEA Chairman Jayantha Karunaratne spoke of the numerous issues the industry was faced with from sanctions in different markets to climate change and the rising cost of production.
He also pointed out that the issues faced in Japan and Europe caused immense damage to the industry adding that the absence of glyphosate was a key factor in these issues.
The industry had also requested the government to come out with a policy on the use of chemicals and added that the lack of financing affected the sector. Mr. Karunaratne also said that finance was not made available for branding and in fact the industry had pointed out to the minister to put an end to the collection of the cess fund for promotions as they would carry out their own branding. However, this amount is still being deducted, he said. He also said that they were working with the government and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to market tea to Iran by reducing debts of the CPC. Newly-appointed TEA Chairman Sanjaya Herath said that the brand value of Ceylon Tea is fast depleting.
He expressed the opinion that exporters should obtain Japanese assistance to carry out research and also indicated that fully automating the tea making process would eliminate corruption in all quarters; and they hope to work with all.