Tea Small Holder Factories recognised as best CTC Tea Manufacturer island-wide

Superintendent of Hingalgoda Tea Factory receiving the award from Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka Ambassador Akira Sugiyama and TEA Immediate Past Chairman J. Karunaratne

Tea Small Holder Factories PLC, a fully owned subsidiary of John Keells Holdings was recently recognised as the best CTC (Crush Tear and Curl) Tea Manufacturer island-wide. The award presented by the Tea Exporters Association was won by the Hingalgoda Tea Factory on 6 September. 

The award was presented following an assessment by a special selection committee appointed by the Tea Exporters Association. The selection criteria included the consistency in maintaining tea quality, compliance with tea grade nomenclature and no claims on quality and moisture. Hingalgoda Tea Factory has been producing top standard CTC teas over the years and have been consistently obtaining top prices at the weekly tea auctions. The selling broker of Hingalgoda CTC Teas at the Colombo Tea Auctions is John Keells PLC. 

Tea Smallholder Factories PLC operates seven tea factories in the low grown region of Sri Lanka and is located in the region/areas of Galle, Ratnapura and Ginigathhena. The principal business activity of the Company is processing green leaf procured from suppliers comprising of tea small holders and green leaf collectors, and sale of processed black tea through the Colombo Tea Auction. The Company employs a workforce of over 500 and caters to a green leaf supplier base of over 17,600, which is approximately 5.8% of the total tea small holders registered in the low grown region of Sri Lanka. Tea Small Holder Factories PLC is a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH), Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate in the Colombo Stock Exchange operating over 70 companies in seven diverse industry sectors. JKH provides employment to over 13,000 persons and has been ranked as Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Respected Entity’ for 13 years. Whilst being a full member of the World Economic Forum and a Member of the UN Global Compact, JKH drives its vision of ‘empowering the nation for tomorrow’, through the John Keells Foundation.