Tea production at Waltrim state-of-the-art factory up 66 % in 2012

Annual tea production at Waltrim Estate, a flagship estate owned by listed RPC Watawala Plantations has shot up by 66 per cent to one million kilos of made tea per year after the construction of the new state-of-the-art factory two years ago, while energy costs have slumped significantly and productivity improved, company officials said.

“Production at the old factory was around 600 million kilos of made tea per year but thanks to the superior technology at the new factory made tea output a year has significantly improved,” said Watawala Plantations General Manager Binesh Pananwala.

Factory worker output which was at 48 kilos of made tea per worker at the old factory has also improved to 63 kilos, he said.

The 1,000 acre (400 Hectare) Waltrim Estate is one of the largest estates managed by Watawala Plantations. The factory claims an annual output of nearly 1.1 million kilos of black made tea of which 90 per cent are main grades.

The specialty of Waltrim Estate Tea Factory in Lindula extends beyond its taste and brand to Eco-friendly ethics and innovative technology. Waltrim is Fairtrade certified and a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, a non-commercial alliance of international tea companies that work together to improve social and environmental conditions in their supply chains. The estate is progressing towards meeting Rain Forest Alliance standards to ensure that it practices and provides the best in class facilities.

Waltrim is the only complete full scale tea processing factory built after a lapse of 40 years, in an island renowned for pure Ceylon tea. The facility was built from scratch in 2010, within a brief time frame of just 310 days and an investment of Rs. 340 million, after the original factory built in 1927 was reduced to ashes in 2008 by an inferno that struck from nowhere.

The new factory is nestled on a hillock on the upper reaches of Sri Lanka’s central hills of the Agrapathana mountain range. Amplified fresh air flows through the top floor of the tea processing factory naturally drying the dew drops on fresh tea leaves plucked early morning.

“With the automation of the process the leaves once withered are automatically directed to the rollers downstairs and then to the rotorvane with minimum intervention of labour or physical handling of leaves,” explains Pananwala.

“This has reduced the number of workers as opposed to the traditional factory, while the chances of leaves getting contaminated with ‘external’ factors are less, ensuring quality.”

The entire factory is illuminated by daylight during day time by transparent sheets of fibreglass that allow large quantities of natural light to enter the 45,000 square foot facility, significantly slashing the consumption of electricity. The new facility is built chiefly out of concrete making the structure fireproof while the floor is structured in terrazzo to ensure cleanliness and effective drainage.        

“This factory has a capacity to process 16,800 kilos of tea per day and we have kept provisions for 25,000 kilos to be used in future,” says the Estate’s Senior Manager Mr. Akber while observing the entire factory process from the ‘observation deck’ in the centre of the first floor thanks to its glass layout and open architecture which allows him to attend to administrative work simultaneously. Akber has been managing the facility for the past three and a half years.

Expenditure on firewood, a significant component of a tea factory’s energy cost has also been considerably reduced.

“We have our own purpose-grown firewood at Waltrim Estate,” says Pananwala.

“In 2011 we saved Rs. 1 million by using estate harvested firewood. That’s the money we would have otherwise paid to purchase firewood.”

Withering is the most energy consuming part of tea processing for which traditionally fans of high horse power are used. According to Akber a tea processing factory would on average use nearly 14 80-foot troughs with 7.5 hp for withering but the location of Waltrim atop a hill allows natural airflow during the day. When required the factory would use energy efficient fans with motors of five hp.             

“Earlier we spent Rs. 19.00 on firewood per kilo of made tea but at the new factory we have been able to reduce it to Rs. 12.00,” says Akber.   

The warmth of the smiles on the staff at Waltrim exudes a sense of satisfaction about the work environment.

“We want to ensure every one of the 55 employees here work in a safe and friendly environment,” says Akber.  “We conduct in-house as well as external training sessions to make sure all employees are educated about the occupational hazards of the factory.”    

Before, after and during breaks employees are allowed to use modern worker resting facilities, separated for men and women and equipped with lockers, toilets, showers and cafeteria.  

“Worker behaviour has changed a lot with the construction of the new factory,” says Pananwala. They are very happy now and are willing to work as constraints have been ironed out with new facilities,” he added.