Shannon Estate wins Silvertips Golden Award at Leafies 2023 by UK Tea Academy
Daily FT: G&G group of companies, Hatton Plantation PLC’s Shannon Estate, located in the Hatton region, was crowned Gold for its unique silver needles (silver tips-white tea) at the “Leafies 2023” competition organized by the United Kingdom Tea Academy (UKTA) recently.
Hatton Plantation PLC is one of the leading Ceylon tea manufacturers on the island, producing varieties of high-quality teas in 13 tea estates located in the Hatton and Lindula regions (High and medium-grown) in Sri Lanka.
The Shannon Estate silver needles were graded and adjudged to have a golden award under the Retail Gold category. Dorothy’s Tea in the United Kingdom administered Shannon silver needle products to the competition. This was a great achievement in the Ceylon tea industry to catch up with the international market with uniqueness and purity.
In this annual Leafies competition, 320 tea brands around the world participated, each with unique tastes and cultures. 12 judges from eight nationalities were on the panel for the final grades in different categories. The final awarding ceremony was held at the Asia House in the United Kingdom with the grace of hundreds of guests and 25 award-winning teas sampled after the award presentation.
Silvertips in other words silver needles are known as handpicked tea, produced with special care to the highest standards to ensure the real quality in the art of tea. These selectively picked special buds from unique tea plants go through natural exclusive drying methods under soft sunlight and non-machinery utilizations until the end. The final product of this process is the so-called “white tea,” which includes many health benefits.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tea industry is focused on local tea products regaining the top slot previously enjoyed by Ceylon Tea in the international market. The recognition of Sri Lankan tea at an international forum is indicative of the high quality and standards of local tea. Tea exports are one of the key revenue generators of the country with the government of Sri Lanka looking at further increasing the revenue generated by the industry in the coming years. The many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by Sri Lanka with other countries have also helped boost tea exports to the international market. Identifying the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka’s tea industry, local authorities have also introduced several incentive schemes to encourage further investments into the industry and for the expansion of existing businesses. With Sri Lanka’s economy on a growth path and key economic industries also showing signs of growth, foreign businesses/investors could explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka, including the tea industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20240102/Z_1 |