Financial Times

Creative packaging for all tea industry needs
By Randima Attygalle
With just one machine and one worker to help, a young Royalist, fresh out of school, was busily engaged in creating value-added tea packages in the backyard of his home in Pepiliyana in 1986.

Eager to satisfy a giant in the trade, Anselm Perera of Mlesna fame, this youngster toiled hard, only to be heartbroken later by Perera’s dissatisfaction over his maiden creation yet at the same time to be morally boosted by his words of encouragement.

“Tea industry always fascinated me and I was keen to be a creative hand in it rather than pursuing a business in tea manufacturing itself,” smiles Chamara Kulasinghe, Managing Director of Creative Packaging (Pvt) Limited, fondly recalling his ‘hard times.’ “Fate was such, Mr Anselm Perera happened to be our front door neighbour and it was he who first sowed the seed of the ‘value-added packaging’ concept in me,” says Kulasinghe who has since come a long way to be the proprietor of Creative Packaging (Pvt) Ltd – a company which offers a comprehensive package of value-added packing including flavouring of tea and printing.

Recipient of prestigious Lanka Star, Asia Star and World Star awards, Creative Packaging (Pvt) Ltd, renders its skills of creativity to household names in the tea export industry such as Standard Trading Co (Pvt) Ltd.

Housed in Boralesgamuwa, Creative Packaging is an organisation approved by the Tea Board, CISIR and Central Environmental Authority and currently employs around 75 workers who are assigned to various divisions such as wood cutting, polishing and carving, screen printing, flavouring and packing.

A refreshing sight which greets one in the wood division is an enterprising yet blind young man who is totally immersed in cutting wooden tea boxes oblivious to everything around him. “I believe that physical deformity is not a barrier to come up in life, to be enterprising,” says Kulasinghe – an advocate of sincere work and worker-satisfaction. “Once you reach a certain position, warming a chair, detached from the work force will bring disaster. I believe in making the worker feel appreciated in order to maintain better productivity,” says Kulasinghe who personally supervises his team with his day beginning at 7 a.m.
Essentially a self-made man, Kulasinghe’s chosen field in the industry is shaped by self-acquired skills.

“It was basically an on-the-job training for me. I did not master this art under anybody. What inspired me was various designs available in the market,” explains Kulasinghe adding that initially he had to run his ‘domestic business’ at a loss. “Although gradually I built up my small scale business, there were times when the entire order was rejected by tea export companies and the biggest challenge I faced was reaching the accepted quality in the market,” he said.

However, his unbridled determination to succeed finally emerged triumphant with his creative products fused with quality and hygiene becoming much sought after among leading tea exporters in the country. Explaining the value-added total packaging procedure, Kulasinghe says, “once the tea is sent to us by the exporters, we store them under sterile conditions and packing is done in triple-laminated aluminium pouches to ensure freshness of tea, irrespective of the caddy.” In addition to basic packing, flavouring is done depending on the needs of the exporters.

Choice of tea caddies is a hair-splitting one at Creative Packaging with its array of wooden, ceramic, clay and reed (pan) designs. According to Kulasinghe, wooden and pan designs which are exclusively designed by him are crafted by his special team of artisans at Creative Packaging (Pvt) Ltd. According to Kulasinghe, keeping abreast with the demands of each tea-importing country and the season of dispatching a cargo is crucial in sustaining the business. For instance ‘Tea Pot’, which is much sought after by Japan and ‘Christmas Tree’ are some of the innovative creations complementing the festive season.

The usage of machinery is minimal in all these creations. “Except for cutting of wood and screen printing of labels, everything is exclusively hand made,” explains Kulasinghe. Utility value of certain tea caddies seems to be a key factor and a new trend in the international market, according to Kulasinghe. “Especially the boxes with velvet lining seem to be much in demand owing to their removable compartments.

These can be used as vanity boxes or any other similar purpose,” he said. Gift packs catered exclusively to diplomatic missions and corporate companies, are another special facet of Creative Packaging. For instance, The Spice Conference held in April this year sought their creativity with their special gift pack of local spices to the delegates.

The biggest challenge encountered by the trade today is the soaring price of local raw materials which are often substituted by Chinese products. “The tea industry is becoming competitive day by day with many new comers entering the market and in addition, value-addition is also becoming a costly venture with many tea exporters opting for Chinese packages,” he explained. He further said that competing with these low-cost products is a Herculean task with electricity, fuel and labour charges sky-rocketing each day.

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