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by Maxwell Fernando

The tea market is fast settling down to a more definite pattern after having remained rather unsteady for a considerable length of time. It appears that there had been a trend for the average tea consumer to gradually look for a better tea in keeping with their economic advancement in recent times.

Tea being just a beverage would have taken a longer time to enter the mainstream of pondering as to which item of food should get priority over others. After having adjusted their primary concerns, they have now turned to what they may consider the less important items in their shopping list. The market for tea is fast changing.

This change to their drinking habits surfaced some time ago but could not make an impact as the right type of tea was not available for purchase, and that also in substantial quantities.

"Tea for price" was a common terminology used in describing a particular type of tea. It did find a market but was saleable at relatively low prices. It appears that this type of tea is fast disappearing from brokers catalogues and a definite effort is being made by producers to improve the quality of these down graded teas.

It is not an undisclosed fact that the quality of our teas has over the past few decades has shown a downward trend. This perhaps was due to the natural reaction to a more important factor that had to be corrected particularly after the plantations were privatised. Loss of crop during the pre-privatisation period was a factor that needed immediate corrective measures to get the tea industry on track in keeping with other tea producers.

This was successfully achieved within almost a decade and the magical 300 million kilo mark was reached at the turn of the century. The main task ahead of the producers is to give back to the tea the "Ceylon" character that had been gradually taken away.

The activities at the marketplace only indicate that the buyers are starved of good teas and the price differential between the good and the rest is fast widening. It is most unfortunate that other major tea producers have got ahead of Sri Lanka in this regard, and we will have to act fast if we are not to be left behind in our fight for supremacy.

Our strength has been on orthodox, and during the initial stages it was our immediate neighbour India where the British opened up commercial planting of tea with great success that gave a start.

Almost thirty-five years later Ceylon followed with all assistance being given by India as all the teas produced in both countries were regarded as "Empire Tea". In the mid fifties India thought it wise to switch to the production of CTC or "Quick Brew" varieties as there was a tendency for consumers to look for convenience. Sale of tea bags took the world by storm.

The old conventional way of brewing tea that disappeared sometime ago appears to be fast appearing and for this ceremony to be perfected orthodox teas are a necessity. Further, the newcomers that are dragged to tea from the new world are all supporting orthodox teas. Russia and the CIS countries are our greatest supporters of these teas.

We appear to be making vast headways with our perfected orthodox teas whilst others are making a genuine effort to follow our ways and get a foot hold in these new markets. India has now realised the folly in becoming one of the biggest suppliers of tea to keep the tea bag industry buoyant. They are now having second thoughts. They are increasing their share of their orthodox teas. They may get back to orthodox form of manufacture, but the exceptionality of Ceylon teas cannot be duplicated.

Serious thought is at present given to the possibility of breaking away from the conventional farming methods and going the organic way. They see great potential in this form of farming but they also suffer from the fear that there will possible drop in production.

After almost 160 years of commercial planting of tea, based on external inputs they are now forced to follow the worldwide impulse towards sustainable agriculture. Cost of chemical fertilisers and pesticides are on a steady rise, and the laws of diminishing returns are now beginning to apply with soils having deteriorate to the extent that there is a noticeable drop in yields.

Vietnam to most of us is comparatively a newcomer to commercial cultivation of tea, but in fact had been the cradle of tea with 500-year-old still existing in Yen Bai Province, Vietnam. There, the tea pluckers climb the stunted "tea trees" to flick the ready green fleshy leaves into the baskets strapped on their slender backs.

Vietnam is capable of producing about 93,000 tones of tea per year of which around 78% of it is exported. Once into commercial planting of tea they wasted all their energies in increasing production. They are now happy with the progress so far made. They now see the potential in orthodox teas and are now inviting local expertise to produce a similar tea to what Ceylon is currently producing.

They have now mastered the art of producing, but now they are preparing themselves for the future. They regard January 1, 2001 as a symbol of the winds of change having blown away the cobwebs of Vietnamese bureaucracy in the new millennium.

All this is well and good. But our teas have an edge over others that have helped us to stay at the top of the beverage market. We are the largest tea exporter in the world. Colombo is the largest auction centre in the world. It has been declared that Ceylon tea is the cleanest in the world.

Ceylon teas have a famous name and a great taste that has yet to be penetrate certain sectors of the world.

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