The Island

An article published in DailyFT and The Island

Page 4

TEA brews toxic blend for its own survival

Sri Lanka produces approximately 330 million kg tea per year and every kilo is sold at the highest prices in the world, a value dictated by the uniqueness of "Ceylon Tea". To dilute that advantage by the uncritical emulation of the highly-efficient, volume-driven strategies of multinational giants who rely on cheap, multi-origin packs, is a sure recipe for disaster. Selling cheap, one can only scramble at the bottom end for an uncertain survival – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara