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| Thursday, 2 October 2003 |
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Major tea promotional drive in Ottawa From Lakshman Jayawardane in Ottawa, Canada As a first step in a major tea promotional drive in Canada to increase the volume of pure Ceylon Tea imported into the Canadian market the High Commission of Sri Lanka conducted "A Taste of Ceylon Tea", a promotional evening, recently. The event held at the official residence of the High Commissioner attracted over 50 targeted participants from tea importing companies, hotels and restaurants in Ottawa, supermarket chains and food and beverage journalists among others. The highlight of the evening devoted entirely to tea was the demonstration on making a perfect cup of Ceylon tea. Executive chef of the Courtyard Marriott Hotel Justin Peiris explained the various steps involved in the ritual of making a cup of tea and the variations to natural tea by adding thin slices of ginger or lemon. Participants who were invited to taste Ceylon Tea by a Sri Lankan lady wearing an attractive Kandyan saree, relished the iced tea and hot tea served to them. The programme for the evening commenced with the lighting of the traditional brass oil lamp by high Commissioner Geetha de Silva, President, Tea Association of Canada, Louis Roberge, and five randomly selected invitees. The High Commissioner presenting an update on Sri Lanka's tea industry through a Powerpoint presentation focused on the diverse areas Sri Lanka's tea industry has expanded into. She said that the objective of the day's event was to provide information to Canadians on the dominant position of Sri Lanka as the world's largest tea exporter and the third largest producer and carve out a larger share for Ceylon tea in the Canadian market. The High commissioner referred to the varying range of value added Ceylon Tea and said that Sri Lankan companies are now producing packages of tea to specific Canadian regional markets such as Anne of Green Gables Tea to Charlottetown, Peggy's Cove Tea to Halifax, Mist Tea to Niagara Falls, Northern lights Tea to Yellow Knife and White Horse. She also referred to Maple Tea produced in Sri Lanka exclusively for Canada, as a symbolic merge of two cultures. High Commissioner de Silva expressed the hope that these promotional events would eventually increase consumer awareness and result in an overall increase in the volume of pure Ceylon Tea getting into the Canadian market. President of the Tea Association of Canada, Louise Roberge, spoke on health benefits of drinking tea and said that it was an established medical factor that black tea has antioxidant properties which would help to lower blood cholesterol. |
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