Ceylon Tea - Billion Dollar Unique Product

The National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) conducted an interactive Seminar on Marketing, Branding and Value Addition of Ceylon Tea in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) recently.

An array of eminent speakers addressed the one day interactive seminar. Mrs. Indrani Sugathadasa Secretary, Ministry of Plantation Industries, and N. Rannuge, Secretary, Ministry of Export Development and International Trade were special invitees at the event. Lalith Hettiarachchi, Chairman Sri Lanka Tea Board delivered the welcome address, Rohan Fernando, President of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) said that the potential of the Tea Sector which crossed the 1 billion dollar mark in exports in 2008 to become a five billion dollar industry.

Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies, highlighted the importance of "Value Addition" in the Tea Sector from an economist's point of view. Dr. Uditha Liyanage, Director - Postgraduate Institute of Management - Sri Jayawardenapura University, explained the various elements of "Built-in Branding Strategies" from a marketing point of view with illustrative examples.

Niraj de Mel, Managing Director - Van Rees Ceylon Limited who is a former Chairman of the SLTB, addressed the Seminar on "Value Addition - Way forward for Ceylon Tea" from a practical industry point of view. Deepal Chandrasekera, Chief Marketing Officer - Imperial Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd, who was also a former Tea Commissioner of the SLTB outlined the elements which led to the "Success of IMPRA Brand Tea as a Truly Sri Lankan Brand" Rohantha Athukorala, Director Economic Affairs of the Government Peace Secretariat, addressed the gathering on "Doing Business in Sri Lanka & Post Conflict Strategy." He hight lighted the potential for investments in the liberated Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. Hasitha de Alwis, Director Promotions of the SLTB spoke on the "Tea Imports to Sri Lanka for Value Addition & Branding".

He explained the various issues related to import of tea for blending and re-export and its impact on value addition and branding, and clarified certain misconceptions that prevail among some related to imports of tea into Sri Lanka. Suraj Deen, Regional Director - MTI Consulting spoke on "Ceylon Tea - Driving Growth through Value Mappping". He explained the significance of the various elements in the value chain from production to marketing in relation to the tea industry. Mohamed Hamza, Senior Vice President - Nestle Lanka Limited, analysed the various elements that have led to the success of the "Nestle Brand" and drew attention to the comparable lessons for the tea industry.