Tea Time Line

1824 A tea plant was brought to Ceylon by the British from China and was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya. (non commercial)

1839 Establishment of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce

1854 Establishment of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon

1867 James Taylor planted the first 19 acres of tea in Loolecondra Estate near Kandy, Ceylon and this marked the birth tea industry in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

1872 First sale of Loolecondra teas in Kandy/ 1873 Export of Sri Lanka’s first tea consignment of 23 lbs from Loolecondra Estate to London

1876 Founding of the first Broking firm John Brothers & Co.

1877 Manufacture of first “SIROCCO” tea drier by Samuel C. Davidson

1880 Manufacture of first tea rolling machine by John Walker & Co.

1883 The first public Colombo Auction was held at the premises of Somerville & Co.on 30th July, 1883, under the auspices of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce

1884 Construction of a Central Tea Factory on Fairy land Estate (Pedro) in Nuwara-Eliya

1891 Ceylon Tea established a record price of £36.15 per lb at the London Tea Auctions

1892 James Taylor, aged 57 years, died in Ceylon on 2nd May, 1892

1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893 in Chicago Ceylon was represented by C.W.Grairo the owner of Ceylona Tea Co

1894 Formation of the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association
1896 Colombo Brokers’ Association was formed

1915 Mr. Thomas Amarasuriya, first Ceylonese to be appointed as Chairman of the Planters’ Association

1925 Establishment of Tea Research Institute

1927 Sri Lanka’s tea production exceeded 100,000 metric tons Sri Lanka’s tea exports exceeded 100,000 metric tons

1932 Formation of The Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board Export of poor quality tea was prohibited

1934 World’s largest tea bush was found in Ceylon at Battawatta Group, Madulsima. It had a diameter of 24 feet and a circumference of 67 feet. Four pounds of green leaf were plucked from it on one day

1935 Set up the International Tea Market Expansion Board (ITMEB) in which Ceylon was a founder member

1938 The Tea Research Institute commenced work on vegitative propagation at St. Coombs Estate, Talawakele

1940 Biological control of the leaf eating Tea Tortrix Caterpillar by the Tea Research Institute

1941 First Ceylonese Tea Broking house, M/s Pieris & Abeywardena was established/ 1944 Ceylon Estate Employers’ Federation was established

1951 Export Duty on tea was introduced from 1st October, 1951

1955 First clonal tea fields came into bearing.

1958 Formation of the State Plantations Corporation

1959 Ad Valorem Tax was introduced on 1st June 1959 for teas sold at the Colombo Auctions

1961 Sri Lanka’s registered tea extent exceeded 200,000 hectares Sri Lanka’s tea production exceeded 200,000 metric tons

1962 Sri Lanka’s tea exports exceeded 200,000 metric tons/ 1963 Production and exports of Instant Teas commenced

1965 Sri Lanka became the World’s largest tea exporter for the first time

1966 First International Tea Convention was held to celebrate 100 years of Tea Industry

1972 State take over of privately owned estates

1975 Nationalisation of Rupee and sterling companies

1976 Sri Lanka Tea Board was established Formation of Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) Establishment of the Tea Small Holding Development Authority (TSHDA) Exports of tea bags has commenced

1980 Sri Lanka’s partcipation at Moscow Olympics as official supplier of tea/ 1981 Import of teas for blending and re-exports was introduced

1982 Production and Exports of Green tea commenced Sri Lanka’s participation at 12th Commonwealth games at Brisbane as official supplier of tea

1983 Centennial year of the Colombo Tea Auctions Production of CTC teas commenced in Sri Lanka

1987 Sri Lanka’s participation in ‘Expo 88’ as official supplierof tea in Australia

1992 Sri Lanka completes 125 years in her Tea Industry. An international convention was held in Colombo to mark the occation Formation of the Tea Research Board Abolition of the Export Duty on 21st December, 1992 Abolition of the Ad Valorem Tax on 21st December, 1992/ 1993 Privatisation of the management of Government owned tea estates

1996 Sri Lanka’s tea production exceeded 250,000 metric tons

1997 Tea Exports reached 250,000 metric tons

2000 Tea production exceeded 300,000 metric tons

2001 Commencement of on-line sales of tea by Forbes & Walker Ltd., at the Colombo Tea Auctions Establishment of a Tea Museum at Kandy

2002 Tea Association of Sri Lanka was formed