Sri Lanka's Ceylon Tea Brand to be Registered in 40 Countries. Only Brand Awarded Ozone Friendly Manufactured Tea

03rd August 2010, www.dailynews.lk

In a partnership between the Industries and Commerce Ministry and Sri Lanka Tea Board, the ‘Ceylon Tea’ brand and ‘seven regional tea brands’ will be geographically registered in 40 countries worldwide which will be the first step towards the robust drive that is planned for in the Sri Lanka’s export industry under the new administration.

This was the key decision taken when the Industry and Commerce Minister Rishard Bathuideen met the key officials of the Tea Advisory Committee at the ministry premises with the senior officials of the tea industry and Sri Lanka Tea Board.

Minister Bathuideen who is in charge of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board said “Sri Lanka must cross the $2 billion mark in exports proceeds from tea in the near future and the advisory committee of tea must support the Plantations Ministry, Tea Board, Tea Research Institute and the private sector institutions like the TEA and CTTA so that we can achieve this target together for Sri Lanka.” CTTA Chairman Avindra De Silva and TEA President Jayantha Keragala were present with senior Tea Board officials who shared their perspectives of the industry and the importance of GI protection for the country.

Industries Ministry, Advisory Committee for tea Chairman Rohantha Athukorala said that special mention must be made of the Sri Lanka Tea Board that commenced this initiative and thanked the Minister for allocation 9.5 million rupees from the industries Ministry while the Sri Lanka Tea Board invested 3.5 million to spruce up the Ceylon Tea brand globally.

Ceylon Tea being the only brand in the world to be awarded the ozone friendly manufactured tea proposition and is poised to be a two billion dollar brand but the challenge is the marketing and promotional funding that is required.

Currently the country is estimated to invest around 17 million dollars in brand marketing spend from with one million coming from the Government. Sri Lanka is poised to achieve a record 320 million kilograms of tea out put this year and over ninety five percent will be exported globally to over 130 countries.

Image: Industries Minister Rishard Bathiudeen, Tea Advisory Committee Chairman Rohantha Athukorala, Tea Exporters’ Association President Jayantha Keragala and CTTA Chairman Avindra de Silva