Sri Lankan tea company Chamwin Natural Foods Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd has come up with another novel venture providing a combination of water heater machine technology and pioneering tea tablet innovation to fill a cup of tea at a hotel, office or home. After changing the shape of tea to a tablet in the form of a tea pod as a fully home grown product, researched, developed and tested with a unique local identity, the company will be introducing a hot water machine, where the water is filtered inside the tank of the machine and heated up to 100 degrees Celsius to provide a pure cup of tea. “You only need to take the cup of hot water from the machine, put a tea tablet and allow it to dissolve for a few seconds, to prepare a good cup of tea at low cost,” Chairman of the company Chula Naotunna told the Business Times.
He said that water temperature is the most critical element in preparing the perfect cup of tea. Water should be heated to 100 degrees Celsius, before pouring it to the cup for the brewing of tea.
“Normally we prepare our cup of tea heating the water up to 70 degrees Celsius but the tea vending machines cannot control the temperature up to100 degrees Celsius and that is why my company is introducing boilers with tea tablets, “ he said. Tea boilers had been used in tea kiosks a long time back and it has now disappeared. Another reason for supplying a boiler with tea tablets is that it is convenient and saves time of water boiling.
The company recently received the Most Innovative Product award for its combination of water heater machine or boiler and tea tablet at the “Pro-Foods Exhibition” the country’s primary food show at the BMICH in Colombo.
For over a decade the company has adapted new technologies and designed new machines to lead and change the habits of beverage drinkers, in Sri Lanka. Mr. Naotunna said it was necessary to produce tea in a way the local consumer could have a good cup of tea at a low price.
He added that the company is planning to supply hot water machines along with tea pods to restaurants, canteens and hotels as well as offices and homes to prepare cups of tea instantly.
The newest format is the tea pod which would be wrapped like a toffee-wrapped format, and which easily dissolves in a tea cup or glass. One pod is sufficient for a cup of plain tea while 2-3 pods may be required for a cup of tea with milk/sugar, he added.
The tea pod which took nine years of research to develop has now been perfected. With its small surface area it has a much lesser likelihood of going stale which is a major advantage in storage over loose tea or tea bags. The small size gives another advantage of it being possible to pack more in a lesser space. This is another major cost saving factor of this product as the quantity that goes into each cube is the equivalent of a full teaspoon of tea leaves. It is different from other forms of tea consumption as it offers convenience, conservation, compactness and consistency, Mr Naotunna added |
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