All-time record price for Sithaka tea

Tuesday, 2 October 2012 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Once again Sithaka obtained an all-time record price for its OP1 grade at Rs. 820 at the Colombo Tea Auctions on 25 September 2012, surpassing the previous record price of Rs. 810 per kg.

This all-time record price has been purchased by Ceylon Plantations through tea broker John Keells PLC. Sithaka also won second place at the Gold Medal Tea Competition 2012 held in North America recently.

Sithaka-Avissawella Tea Factory is situated in the Ratnapura District in the Sabaragamuwa Province. It belongs to the well-known RTS group of companies.

Lalith Liyanage (son of E.L.W. Fernando) is the present Chairman of this diversified group. The Group has nine subsidiaries inclusive of two tea factories. The vision of the RTS Group is to actively foster Sri Lanka’s image as a global leader in tea exports in the international tea market.

Sithaka-Avissawella Tea Factory is an orthodox tea factory with an annual production of 750,000 kilograms. The factory is fed predominantly through bought crop with approximately 6,000 small holders, in addition to a few tea plantations.

The state-of-the-art factory is equipped with some of the most modern machinery in the tea manufacturing process and is fully automated to improve productivity, minimize costs, and improve quality – via production under good hygiene conditions.

To ensure the factory delivers a quality product, strict quality control measures have been put in place. These are consistently monitored by a team of dedicated staff. To assure the customers of the best quality in line with international standards, the factory has obtained prestigious certifications such as ISO 22000: 2005, HACCP, CQC one star certification, ETP, SLSI/SLTB and 5S. The on-going improvements to the factory has culminated in this mark being recognised as one of the leading marks in the Low Grown Sector with the distinction of achieving the highest net sale average in the Ratnapura District. In addition to the numerous awards won by it, the Avissawella Tea Factory has produced many grades that have fetched all-time record prices at the weekly Colombo Tea Auctions, apart from producing a tea which is much sought after by many buyers. Grades such as OP1 and BOP1 have set all time record prices on numerous occasions, which at the end of the season, has exceeded the 100 mark.