MTI tea strategy forum to feature industry experts

The MTI Tea Forum to be held on January 23 will feature several industry experts representing the entire tea value chain.

Secretary General of the Planters Association, Malin Goonetileke will focus on the challenges encountered by the plantation sector, which comprises the 23 RPCs (Regional Plantation Companies) and over 300,000 tea smallholders.

CEO of Tea Smallholder Factories PLC, Anil Perera will highlight the challenges faced by the tea factory owners, given that Sri Lanka has over 780 factories, which results in high fragmentation and high competition to collect the leaves from the small holders.

The dynamics of the Colombo Tea Auction and the role of the brokers will be the focus of President and MD of Asia Siyaka Commodities PLC, Anil Cooke.

On the demand chain front, there will be three diverse tea exporters sharing their experience and responding to any questions from the audience in what is expected to be a lively debate. This includes Chairman of HVA Foods PLC, Rohan Fernando, Joint MD of Ceylon Tea Marketing, Jayantha Keragala and MD of Imperial Teas Group, Jayantha Karunaratne all of whom have extensive experience in different geographical markets.