Protecting the family jewels
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Many years ago in July 2006, I was part of a team of journalists, which included a veteran newspaper editor, visiting Poland on a Polish government-sponsored trip to learn about the economy, business, culture and people.After arriving in Warsaw and having refreshed at a hotel, we were taken to a Polish restaurant and to my pleasant surprise, amidst the salt and pepper shakers, was our own Dilmah Tea on the table. It was a surreal moment and one of joy. Ceylon Tea is indeed the most famous global brand.
I was reminded of this when delving into today’s topic: Protecting the Ceylon Tea brand and the champion of this exercise, with consistency, was the late Merrill J. Fernando, Founder of Dilmah Tea.
For years there has been this tussle in Sri Lanka’s tea industry: single origin tea (tea sourced from one country) versus tea from multiple sources. One part of the industry favoured mixing Sri Lanka tea with other cheaper sources to make it price-competitive. Dilmah and a few others, however, strongly opposed Ceylon Tea being mixed with tea from other countries, saying that it affects the price as single origin Ceylon Tea is sold at a premium and any mixed stuff endangers the brand for which Sri Lanka is famous for.
Over the years, while a few other brands sold single origin tea, multiple brands in the West and Eastern Europe, in particular Russia, sold under the Ceylon Tea label. These brands had just a small component of tea from Sri Lanka and the rest from other sources. In fact, many Sri Lankan companies helped Russian traders to mix tea labelling it as ‘Ceylon Tea”.
Why was this done? Because the Ceylon Tea brand was respected and highly acclaimed the world over and mixing it with other cheaper teas meant it became price competitive and led to unconscionable profits.
Proponents of pure Ceylon Tea say the brand has been subjected to counterfeit teas posing as ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ and selling at a premium. The Sri Lanka Tea Board says that ‘Ceylon Tea’ and the famous Lion logo that goes with it indicates the tea is grown, manufactured and packed entirely in Sri Lanka, conforming to strict quality standards laid down and administered by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. You cannot guarantee tea mixed with other sources and sold as ‘Ceylon Tea’, the board says.
So why hasn’t Sri Lanka or any local manufacturer challenged tea brands posing off as Ceylon Tea with just a small component of tea from Sri Lanka?
This is the crux of today’s conversation (Kussi Amma Sera and her ilk were on a different page; more on it later in the column). I was drawn to this issue after learning of a case in the US earlier this year, where PepsiCo has been sued by a consumer alleging that the company misled consumers with claims of its tea being ‘Made in the USA’.
Trouble started brewing when Garo Daldalian, a consumer, sued PepsiCo, Unilever and Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership, claiming the companies violated state and federal consumer protection laws. The case was filed in federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
This was reported by Reg Wydeven in www.Post-Crescent.com, who said that the suit, which has become a class action, alleges the companies’ Pure Leaf tea was falsely labelled as ‘Brewed in USA’, despite containing foreign-sourced, grown or manufactured ingredients, primarily tea leaves.
The plaintiff argued that the labelling misleads consumers into believing the products are made entirely in the US, influencing their purchasing decisions. He asserted that the beverage companies should have been aware of the strict regulations on ‘Made in USA’ claims, but chose to ignore them for financial gain.
According to the lawsuit, Daldalian purchased a six-pack of Pure Leaf Lemon Real Brewed Tea at a California grocery store, believing it was made with US-sourced ingredients. He claims he relied on the ‘Brewed in USA’ label, which also featured US flag imagery, reinforcing the impression that the product was of American origin.
The lawsuit asserts that like Daldalian, consumers across the country paid a premium for the misleadingly-labelled products, believing they were supporting American jobs and companies. The main ingredient in Pure Leaf tea is tea leaves, which are actually imported from India, Kenya, Indonesia or Sri Lanka.
In a news article on November 6, 2016, a veteran tea industry expert wrote that he found himself constantly defending and protecting Ceylon Tea for the nation.
He said: “Amidst the reality that every kilogramme of Ceylon Tea, whilst the most expensive in the world, is sold, the only motivation for importing tea for blending is to reduce the cost of tea, and in that process, substitute tea from cheaper origins for quality Ceylon Tea. Most of the vociferous advocates of a tea hub are traders, whose only interest is their bottom line.”
Whew! After this discourse on Ceylon Tea and why no one has challenged labels pretending to be ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’, I walked to the kitchen to fetch my second mug of tea. The conversation on this Thursday morning under the margosa tree was about the next day, Friday’s mega opposition rally protesting against the government.
“Aei may viruddha paksha udhgoshana karanney aanduwata viruddawa. Aanduwa thavama avuruddak ney palanaya karala thiyenney egollangey pas-avurudu varen (Why are these opposition parties protesting against a government which has only completed one year of its 5-year term)?” asked Kussi Amma Sera. “Eh, aanduwa porondu itukarala nethi nisa ney (That’s because the government has failed to fulfil its promises),” noted Serapina. “Viruddha paksha walata kattiya ras karaganna puluwan wevi, mokada nugegoda kaaryabahula nagarayak nisa. Wedata giya kattiya gedera yanakota, navathila katha-walata ahunkam dei (They should be able to get a crowd as Nugegoda is a busy place with many workers returning home who will stop and listen),” added Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Having listened to them and winding up the column, I thought that it may be time for local authorities to challenge global brands selling multiple sources of tea under the ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ label. Such sales are misleading and duping consumers who believe these brands contain single origin tea from Sri Lanka and not from multiple origins.
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