First shipment of Tetley Ceylon Tea leaves Lankan shores

Watawala Plantations commenced the packaging and export of Pure Ceylon Tea under the world-renowned brand name Tetley recently.

The first master carton of the first shipment of Tetley was presented to Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe by Managing Director of Watawala Plantations PLC, Vish Govindasamy,

Minister Samarasinghe said that this was significant for Sri Lanka as well as the Ministry of Plantation Industries and will benefit the country's economy.

The producer of popular brands, Zesta and Watawala Kahata, Watawala Plantations is a joint collaboration with TATA Global Beverages, India, of which the Tetley Group has been a member since March 2000. The company was also the first to introduce the concept of 'plantation fresh', where tea is directly sourced from the plantations, which was a major factor that attracted Tetley to commence its packaging operations in Sri Lanka.

Govindasamy said, "this was a significant achievement for Sri Lanka as the Tetley brand was previously packed in UK and India. This venture will bring great esteem and a surge in export revenue to the country. The packaging will be done at the export packing facility of Watawala Plantations".

The first consignment of tea was shipped to an overseas market. Projected volumes for Tetley Plantation Fresh Ceylon Tea are expected to cross 100 million teabags per annum.