Sri Lanka: Tea and Travel

Contrary to what one might expect based on the news coming out of Sri Lanka over the last 2 and a half decades, the people of the old Ceylon are some of the most peaceful I have ever met and their country is a mecca of health and beauty.  The tiny island known as Serendip actually embodies the qualities of its most famous export, tea, and I have been fortunate over the last 6 years to become a part of the inspiring work happening there to spread the island’s vitality throughout the world by way of the ethical and sustainable trade of their tea and to use that trade to bring peace back to the island.

I first visited Sri Lanka in 2004.  After cycling around the island--from perfect surf beaches and ancient temples carved into rock to green mountain valleys full of flowers, waterfalls and exotic spice forests and ayurvedic treatments around every bend--I arrived at the world’s first organic tea estate, Indulgashinna, where I had come to meet the producers of the fine tea I was selling into the Australasian market.

I knew that Indulgashinna was an organic and Fair Trade tea estate, but the earth friendly agricultural practices, social development programs and state of the art tea packing and producing facilities I witnessed there far exceeded any expectations I had and rivaled anything I had seen anywhere in the US or abroad.  Indulgashinna follows strict biodynamic growing principles; has health care, housing and education for everyone and manages funds through a democratically organized joint body.

The fact that Ceylon tea has for a century been regarded the world’s best is how the industry can afford to raise the bar for global tea production’s social and environmental sustainability standards.  What is surprising is that the US, one of the world’s richest countries, does not partake in all that Sri Lanka has to offer.  We are not even on Sri Lanka’s top 10 list of tea importers.  The US gets most of its tea from low quality producing countries like Argentina and Tanzania.

However, current trends in tea are predicting a change as American consumers are looking to tea for quality, health, sustainability, flavor and accessibility.  These 5 traits are launching our thriving tea industry into record growth and tea drinkers are increasingly interested in origins-- just as 10 years ago, we were learning the difference between arabica and robusta beans and the terroirs of Kenya and Colombia, we are now wondering about the difference between green, white, oolong and red tea and about places like Assam and Ceylon.

Now, 6 years and many more trips to Sri Lanka later, I have returned to the US and developed a tea company that offers US consumers a chance to indulge in Sri Lanka’s health and beauty and to give back to the country’s wellbeing at the same time.  Partners Tea Company sells Fair Trade and Organic teas and unique tea blends.  Our Pure Ceylon Green Tea is a high grade OP1 leaf tea from Idulgashinna estate.  1% of all of our sales (not profits) are donated to the community of tea growers at Idulgashinna through their non profit association-- IBITAD_ Idulgashinna Bio Tea Association for Development.

Tea: A pathway to Peace

Since it’s first mention in European literature in Giambattista Ramusio’s Navigatione et Viaggi in 1559 and it’s first import to Holland in 1606, tea, “the China drink”, has been an object of European desire. Men have risked their lives smuggling it, Catherine de Braganza of Portugal secured her marriage to King Charles II with it’s inclusion in her dowry, it has instigated war, revolution and the enslavement of over one million tea workers bought and stolen to tend to the estates. The transformation from Empire to multi-national business in these days of the teabag have witnessed a new kind of slavery- one rooted in low wages, poor nutrition and a lack of opportunity for tea estate workers.

But modern times are changing the course of history and the world’s love for tea is being used now to promote sustainability, education and brighter futures for tea workers and for peace.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Sri Lanka, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, home of the world-renowned Ceylon teas. Here, visionary tea estate owners and exporters, like Zaki Alif at Stassen Pty. Ltd, are affording education, health care, dignity and opportunity by selling their top-quality organic teas for a premium. They are bringing together the children of Sinhalese land-owners and Tamil tea pickers in sport, to forge friendship and understanding. They are turning the world’s demand for an ethically sourced, organically produced tea into hope for a country’s widespread strife. One Sri Lankan family company, according to the BBC,”is challenging the multinational control of the global tea industry. Dilmah says it has become the third largest global tea brand by marketing its pure unblended Ceylon tea directly to the consumer in more than 80 countries worldwide…”

Similarly, in Tanzania, China, India and Taiwan, efforts are being made to instigate just and peaceful relations for the empowerment and betterment of every part of the supply chain, right down to the consumer**. Modern times have taught business that the only successful business model is a fair one. ‘Globalization”, widespread access to information and technology, is helping towards this effort.

Working alongside stakeholders in the ethical tea supply chain to maximize the positive global impact of the US $227 billion LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market, a growing niche of shoppers willing to spend money for products that let them feel they are acting in a socially responsible fashion, is the Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO). Based in Bonn, Germany, FLO grants the Fair Trade certification to producers practicing ethical trade and working towards social, environmental and economic sustainability.

Fair Trade sales are rising at 33% per year globally and now total 1.1 billion GBP. The global market is predicted to reach $25 billion USD by 2020. This growth coupled with that of tea globally, provides a platform for the tea trade to pioneer a pathway to peace.

• **At the Makaibari tea estate in India, the workers have created a community load fund. Small loans have been distributed to families to address specific medical and educational needs. They also have utilized funds to support women and children’s health programs that focus on nutrition and family planning.
• On the Da Zhan Shan tea cooperative in China, tea farmers have placed an emphasis on education. A portion of the premiums have been invested in building library and computer facilities for students. Funds have also been allocated to each of the tea farmers’ children to support their enrollment in high school and university.
• At Herkulu estate in Tanzania, workers have dedicated funds to repairing dilapidated housing and constructing new village facilities, including a medical center, grain mill and food dispensary.
• The small farmers of the SOFA tea cooperative in Sri Lanka have chosen to use the premiums toward tea-quality improvement initiatives, including organic inputs and tools, which increase efficiency and production. They have also used their Fair Trade tea funds for income diversification projects such as bookkeeping and dairy cows.

Photo: A tea picker at Indulgashinna Estate, Sri Lanka fills a woven basket, which keeps the tea aerated and fresh. Extra money earned from the sale of this quality tea affords wicker baskets (100 rupees (~$1 USD) each). Plastic bags used at other estates cost only~20 rupees each. Sarah Scarborough, 2006.