The Ceylon Tea industry The early days The tea industry of Sri Lanka is of great important to the

economy and GDP of the country, bringing in an annual income of approximately $700 million. . We are also the fourth largest exporter of tea in the world. The industry is also a main source of income to the 1 million labourers that are employed in the tea industry. Tea was introduced to Sri Lanka in the year 1867 by the British planter James Taylor, who arrived in the country in 1852. The cool climate, rainfall and humidity of the central province were ideal for tea plantation and is the heart of the Sri Lankan tea industry; tea from this region is commonly known as up country tea . However the tea industry also has plantations in other areas of the island, tea from these areas are labelled as low country tea . The first tea bush was actually brought to Sri Lanka from China in the year 1824; however this was not for any commercial purpose, but rather was planted in the Peradeniya botanical gardens. Following this many bushes were brought to Sri Lanka from various places, such as Calcutta and Assam by the British East India Company . However none of these were for the purpose of actually starting a tea industry, until 1867 when James Taylor began his small 19 acre estate in Kandy (Loolecondera). By 1872 James Taylor had added the required equipment to his estate for full fledge tea processing. That year the first shipment of tea was shipped to London, a consignment of 23lb. It is understood that the consignments of Ceylon tea received much acclaim, because soon other areas close to Loolecndera estate was transformed in to tea plantations as well. Hope, Rookwood and Mooloya, Le Vallon and Stellenberg were amongst the first tea estates to be established on the island. As the tea industry slowly grew, the Ceylon Chamber of commerce was established in 1839 followed by the tea planters association in 1854. However it was the 1880 that was the golden era for the Ceylon Tea industry. British tea planters began arriving in the island and purchasing land; among them was Henry Randolph Trafford, who is considered to be one of the pioneers of tea cultivation in Ceylon. Much of the land that was purchased were coffee plantations, which were quickly transformed into tea plantations, and coffee shops converted to tea factories. By 1888 the tea plantations has grown to nearly 400,000 acres.

As the popularity and demand for Ceylon tea grew globally, tea was sold through auctions. The first auction was held with the backing of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 1883 in Colombo. Following which one million tea packets were sold at the Chicago World Fair in 1893. That same year the tea established a record price of 36.15 per lb at the London Tea Auctions. In 1894 the Ceylon Tea Traders Association was formed and today virtually all tea produced in Sri Lanka is conducted through this association and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. By the year 1996, Sri Lanka's tea production had exceeded 250,000 metric tons, growing to over 300,000 metric tons by the year 2000. The first online sale of tea took place in the year 2001 at the Colombo tea auctions. Following this the Tea museum was opened in Kandy.