| Business |
||||||
|
Finlay
to launch instant tea in ME "We're now in the product development and test marketing phase," he said in an interview. "We now market teas under our own brands in packets and bags in retail packs of various sizes, as well as flavoured teas and green tea. The time is now opportune to introduce instant tea to provide further variety to our customers." The product would be exported in powder form in tins under the company's Alwazah brand which is doing well in the Middle East, he said. It is like instant coffee to which water is added, hot or cold, before consumption. James Finlay is one of the most integrated tea companies in the island with its own plantations and warehousing, as well as being engaged in blending, packing and value addition for export. 'We also produce speciality teas such as green tea and instant tea,' Jayasuriya said. The Finlay Group has two regional plantations companies, Hapugastenne Plantations and Udapussellawa Plantation, which produce about 15 million kilos a year from five of the six agro-climatic districts, namely Udapussellawa, Uva, Nuwara Eliya, Matale (Medium) and Sabaragamuwa (Low Growns). The company ships 75 percent of its exports in value added form. It has two major brands in the Middle East, Alwazah and Istikan, and exports five million kilos a year in packets and tea bags under these brands. It also packs for international brands and is the largest exporter of tea bags to Japan from Sri Lanka. It has a green tea plant in Haldumulla with a capacity of 500,000 kilos. Green teas are much in demand these days for health reasons and command premium prices. James Finlay also owns one of the two instant tea plants in the island, the other being owned by Unilever. Most of its instant tea is exported to USA and UK in bulk, and sold to big firms like Coca Cola and Nestle which sell ready-to-drink teas under their own brands, Jayasuriya said. The company's strategy is to introduce its own brands to markets in which it is strong such as the Middle East. Western markets are more difficult to break into. Jayasuriya said James Finlay was going through a "consolidation phase" having invested more than a billion rupees in replanting and improving tea factories under the 'food factory' concept since 1992, when it acquired its first plantation firm, Hapugastenne Plantations. "We're
seeing the results coming through," he said. "We get top
prices for our teas." "We're concentrating on making quality teas and trying to push prices up. We want to drive volumes up and get margins up through productivity gains," Jayasuriya said. "Sri Lanka is a high cost producer so we have to compete on quality. But we have to increase our competitiveness with enhanced productivity, both land and human. The firm has taken a "very long-term view" of the industry which was "fairly run down with low yields, factories in bad shape, and poor productivity" when estates were privatised, he said. "We see a good future for tea," he added. But the task at hand is a "very uphill struggle." The company is also getting into forestry in a big way since it has a lot of land not suitable for growing tea. "We've planted large extents especially in Passara and Hali Ella with eucalyptus," Jayasuriya said. "We have to be self-sufficient in firewood and look at timber harvesting as a form of revenue in 15 years. This will provide jobs and prevent soil erosion." To support its export operation, the firm has a tea blending and packing plant in Welisara with a capacity of about 12 million kg. It now does about eight million kg a year. It also has a 70,000 square foot warehousing complex manned by just ten people with the capacity to handle 100,000 packages of tea at any given time. Don't
forget social responsibility Certainly, the speed with which the trade and industry chambers have moved to revive links with their counterparts in Jaffna and their efforts to highlight the needs of the business community in the north, are indeed commendable. The influence of Colombo-based business leaders would definitely be useful in overcoming obstacles their northern counterparts face in reviving enterprise and in bringing their produce to the market. The visits by chamber delegations to Jaffna in recent weeks have focussed attention on the problems facing northern businessmen. The most critical are the lack of cold storage facilities for their main products, fish and vegetables, and the limited transport available to ship them to the main markets of the south where they can fetch far better prices. But too much focus on purely business interests might be counter-productive and create a negative impression. There is hardly a building in Jaffna that remains unscathed by the conflict. The psychological scars borne by the people who have lived through the fighting and the deprivation that accompanies war are yet to be fully assessed, let alone treated properly. Unemployment in the region runs high - a fact exploited by the Tigers in recruiting discontented youth to their ranks. The people of the north lack the most basic facilities that those of us in the south take for granted. They don't have access to a proper supply of electricity, running water, public transport, education or health service. There is a chronic shortage of teachers, doctors and nurses as well as medicine. The leaders of the Tamil community themselves have drawn attention, during the recent debate in parliament, to the need to get our priorities right in the rehabilitation of the northeast. R. Sampanthan, the Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group leader, last week described as "shameful" and "pathetic" the neglect of education in Tamil areas. It could be said that repairing infrastructure and providing doctors for hospitals and teachers for schools is not the business of the private sector but rather the responsibility of the government. However, in a situation where the government is clearly strapped for cash and there is an urgent need to rebuild a shattered society, the business community's contribution would certainly be helpful. Some kind of public sector-private sector partnership should be considered. Equally important is the need not to ignore the south. The southern region has suffered from years of neglect by successive governments and twice has become a hotbed of insurgency. Unemployment levels there are among the highest in the land, just like in the war ravaged northeast. Even in the south, the war's effects are clearly evident. Another concern that should be borne in mind is that the government and the private sector, in their zeal to exploit the economic benefits of the peace dividend, must be careful not to raise expectations too high. This can be a double-edged sword. It is fine if the private sector is seen getting involved in the development of the war-ravaged areas and in making investments that will create jobs and wean youth away from militancy. But raising peace hopes to unrealistic levels would indeed be reckless. If talks collapse and it's back to war, the backlash that might follow could be unpleasant. Bringing the economy of the northeast back on stream would certainly help accelerate economic growth in the entire island. What's required is a more co-ordinated effort and a more focussed and sophisticated approach by the different business chambers in their work to revive the economy of the north. A better balance between business interests and corporate social responsibility, on which there is so much hype in the south, is called for. |
||||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
