Cheers in US for the Cup that Cheers

Sri Lanka embassy in Washington launches campaign to promote Ceylon Tea:

The Sri Lanka embassy in Washington in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tea Board launched a campaign to promote Ceylon Tea in the United States.

Ambassador Wickramasuriya

The focus of the campaign is to strategically and effectively position Ceylon Tea in the US market, which is experiencing a notable increase of tea consumption.

The Ceylon Tea campaign was launched in conjunction with the inter sessional meetings of United Nation's FAO Intergovernmental Group (IGG) on Tea hosted by the US Tea Council at One Washington Circle Hotel last month.

The IGG meetings were attended by a number of tea producing and consuming countries and was followed by a well attended Fifth International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health at the US Department of Agriculture in Washington DC. Sri Lanka Tea Board chairperson Janaki Kuruppu led a 14-member delegation comprising both government and private sectors from the tea industry of Sri Lanka.

Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya, hosted a dinner reception in honour of the Sri Lanka tea delegation on September 19 at the Sri Lanka Residence.

The gathering included leading US tea importers, retailers, scientists who presented papers on growing health benefits on tea particularly on the black tea and high ranking US government officials.

Ambassador Wickramasuriya assured embassy support to promote Ceylon tea in the US market.

He invited US consumers to look for a quality cup of tea, which would naturally originate from Sri Lanka.

"Under the directions and vision of the President, the embassy is committed to very closely working with all stakeholders to enhance Sri Lanka's economic partnerships with the USA," he said.

He also underscored the immense opportunities present in the steadily growing US tea market for the Sri Lankan tea producers.

The United States has become the second largest tea importer and the sixth largest tea consuming country. Sri Lanka is the third largest tea exporter of the world but has only three market share in the US market, the ambassador said.

Ambassador Wickramasuriya stressed that it is incumbent on the Sri Lankan tea industry to realise the full potential of the US tea industry with increased partnerships with US importers and through a well-focused marketing strategy.

The guests were introduced to the seven agro-climatic brands of Ceylon Tea as they enjoyed a traditional Sri Lankan menu.

The tables were named after the seven agro-climatic regions namely Dimbula, Nuwara Eliya, Uda Pussellawa, Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Kandy and Ruhuna.

The teas belonging to each region were available for the guests to enjoy.