Boost for Ceylon Tea in Japan
Stemming from effects of the diverse agro-climatic conditions of Sri
Lanka, speciality Ceylon Tea has been synonymous with excellent quality
and taste for over a century. As part of a program to specifically
promote straight line Garden Marks and Single Origin Estate teas of Sri
Lanka, the "Ceylon Speciality Estate Teas of the Year" competition was
launched in Japan by the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the private sector tea
trade in consultation with the Japan Tea Association recently. The event
was well accepted by the Japanese tea connoisseurs and the tea traders
alike, which has given a tremendous momentum to Ceylon Speciality Tea in
Japan.
Ceylon Tea has been synonymous with excellent quality and
taste for over a century |
This speciality tea promotion project was launched for the first time
by the Sri Lanka tea industry in USA during the year 2000, and again in
2002 and 2008. This is the fourth occasion that the event has been
carried out, and it is the first of its kind to be held in Japan.
"The Ceylon Speciality Estate Teas of the Year competition was
launched with the objectives of promoting speciality tea in
international markets whilst recognizing and rewarding Sri Lankan tea
factories for excellence in manufacturing and to encourage them to
continuously manufacture and market top quality single origin unblended
teas", said Sri Lanka Tea Board, Director Promotions, Hasitha De Alwis.
"The main aim of scheduling the Ceylon estate tea of the year
competition in Japan was to take advantage of the tremendous popularity
of the tea houses concept in that country and since both straight line
Garden Marks and Single Origin Estate teas show a good potential of
marketing directly to end-consumers," he said.
This event was considered extremely important to rekindle the
popularity of Ceylon tea amongst the Japanese consumers especially since
Japan is considered as the most sophisticated tea market in the world
with great opportunities for expansion with expensive garden fresh
speciality teas. It was intentionally scheduled just prior to the FOODEX
2010 exhibition in Japan in order to effectively utilize it as a
platform to promote the winning teas, as well as to advertise the sales
propositions. The Japan FOODEX Exhibition is undisputedly considered as
the largest food and trade exposition in the entire Pacific Rim where
approximately 100,000 business visitors gather once a year.
The competition was advertised to the trade through the tea brokering
community last year. A total of 441 entries were received for the
agro-climatic tea categories as well as the newly introduced innovative
speciality tea category - which added a new dimension to this year's
competition. The entries selected for final judging were of a very high
standard and it was a tough task for the expert panel of independent
tea-tasters from the private sector - jointly with the Sri Lanka Tea
Board - to go through the samples in December 2009 and short-list the
entries which were then dispatched to Japan for the final competition.
40 entries obtained eligibility to participate in the final contest in
Japan.
All the winning speciality teas were displayed at the Sri Lanka Tea
Board booth within the Sri Lanka pavilion at FOODEX 2010. The winning
teas were canvassed to Japanese buyers and customers during the entire
exhibition period from March 2 to 5. The project itself had also been
publicized to members of the Japanese tea trade several weeks before the
competition.
An eminent panel of specialized tea-tasters from Japan supported by a
couple of members from Sri Lanka evaluated the finalists to select the
winners of the competition during March 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. Each of
the seven agro-climatic regions as well as the innovative category had a
Gold winner (first place), Silver winner (second place) and Bronze
winner (third place).
All the winning teas and runners-up of the 40 entries which were sent
to Japan were included in the sales offer that was allocated to the
highest bidders. Due to the tireless dedication of the Sri Lanka team,
the majority of the winning teas were sold at record prices.
The highest bid went to Lovers' Leap, OP at Japanese yen 24,000 (Sri
Lankan Rupees 30,000) per kilo purchased by Musica Tea House in Osaka.
The gold winner of the Innovative category, "Jayachakra" of Lumbini Tea
Gardens also received a record price of Japanese Yen 20,000 (Sri Lankan
Rupees 26,250) per kilo from F.T.I. Corporation in Kobe. The sales bids
of the Japanese buyers for the winning teas in each of the categories
were opened on March 5, and the proceeds amounting to 3.55 Million Yen (Rs.
4.6 Million) will be utilized for charitable projects involving the
welfare of families in the tea sector.
The winners of the competition were presented with Gold, Silver and
Bronze awards at the Awards Ceremony graced by the Ambassador of Japan
Kunio Takahashi on May 5 at the Hotel Ceylon Continental in Colombo
amidst a gathering of eminent personalities from the tea industry.
The competition provided immense promotional mileage for Ceylon tea
in Japan whilst helping the popularization of winning garden marks among
tea connoisseurs who patronize speciality tea houses/tea shops in "the
land of the cherry blossoms".
While the project re-emphasized the power of close partnership
between the public and private sector, it is hailed as a model case
study of sustainability for a Corporate Social Responsibility program in
the tea industry since the proceeds go towards funding several projects
relating to the welfare of tea plantations/estate workers.
The Tea Board is making arrangements to hold the next speciality tea
promotion event in the Russian Federation during 2011. |