Tea no longer popular in the land of Ceylon Tea, say experts
Tea houses are set to open in the island aimed at popularising the tea drinking habit among locals, against the coffee houses that pose a challenge, for a country selling the world’s best teas.
Despite Ceylon Tea being marketed globally as a brand identified with one of the best tea in the world, the country in which it originates has today become more akin to drinking coffee and is even served at funeral houses, an expert in the industry, Tea Exporters Association Secretary General Niraj De Mel said in an interview with the Business Times on Thursday.
Funds for this purpose, interestingly, is coming out of the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB)’s promotional levy. The levy, introduced two years back, was specifically stated to be used for the promotion of tea globally through an international campaign.SLTB Director General H.D. Hemarathna said in an article published in the Business Times on September 26, 2010 that in a bid to implement a new promotion and global marketing strategy for “Ceylon Tea” they would be establishing a special fund through a levy on tea sales at Rs.3.50 per kilo.
The global promotional campaign is currently on hold as the Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee was still working out on finding a suitable agency to carry out the Ceylon Tea global campaign.
Mr. De Mel however noted that for a country which attracts one million tourists it was only vital that Sri Lanka should provide more places for these visitors to enjoy a good cup of tea and thereby promote the product through tourists.
In fact, he observed that the Sri Lankans were bad ambassadors of tea as most would popularly now drink coffee.
While India and China consume nearly 80 per cent of the tea produced in their respective countries, Mr. De Mel observed that less than 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s tea production is consumed locally.
He noted that the local launch of the Ceylon Tea Houses would be carried out through the use of Rs.3 billion from the development fund.
The promotional levy is separate from the cess fund already set up as the latter is sent directly to the Treasury.
SLTB Deputy Director Promotions Chandramani Bandara told the Business Times that the promotional levy would be utilised to fund the project to establish Ceylon Tea Houses in the country.
The SLTB had called for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the management of Ceylon Tea House last week highlighting that they were in the process of opening a chain of “Ceylon Tea Houses” as part of a campaign to promote a tea culture and appreciation of a cup of good tea among Sri Lankans as well as tourists visiting the country.
Ms. Bandara pointed out that this was the first ever promotion of Ceylon Tea within the country and they would look at marketing the seven regional teas namely Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, Uva, Uda Pussellawa, Kandy, Sabaragamuwa and Ruhuna in addition to the green teas and other flavoured teas including ice teas, cocktails and mocktails for consumption at these locations.
The first such location would be the Race Course Grand Stand building at Reid Avenue, Colombo 7 and other locations would be worked out later, she said.
This concept was developed by the management of the SLTB and it was noted that all of the Sri Lankan major brands marketing Ceylon Tea would be displayed at the tea house.
Management of the tea house would be outsourced to a management company with sufficient experience in the field of promotion of tea and in the running of a tea house or cafe.
The SLTB trade mark with the lion logo would be positioned in the marketing and branding of the tea house but the details needed to be worked out, she stated.
The EOI says that the SLTB would own the brand, trademark, all concepts and arrangements of interior designs, Ceylon tea ceremony functions and a special menu among others for the running of the tea house.
The promotion of tea in Sri Lanka, though unique, was considered a requirement by the SLTB, which observed that when tourists visit the country they have to be offered a good cup of tea.
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