Category: Agriculture

NAIROBI, Nov 27, 2006 (AFP) – Global tea experts meeting in Kenya Monday called for tough minimum quality standards to address the growing problem of poor tea entering the international market and depressing prices.“In targeting potential growth markets, recognition of and compliance with food safety and quality standards is essential,” said Kaison Chang, a senior […]

November 24, 2006 (LBO) – Young urban Sri Lankans are steadily patronising India’s Barista Coffee Co.‘s, chains in Colombo, for a piece of cheescake and sip cappucino, while they surf the Internet, play board games and browse through magazines, officials said. “Our aim is to add two stores every year.We managed to do that this year, […]

Nov 23 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea plantations are battling weather, wage hikes and unofficial trade union ‘go slows’ on estates that have already eaten into October crop production, the lowest since 1995. Workers want a daily wage package of 295 rupees, up from the current wage of 180 rupees a day. Employers say they can […]

Nov 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantation sector trade unions are to hold crisis talks on Tuesday on stalled wage negotiations with companies, and any strike action, if at all. Employers say union demands for a 100 rupee a day increase over the current, without other added costs or employee benefits, would amount to five billion […]

Nov 16, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantation companies have asked estate worker unions to compromise on a wage increase, in efforts to jumpstart talks that broke down this week. Talks between plantation sector trade unions and employers broke down after both sides failed to reach an agreement on a wage increase for workers under a […]

Nov 08 (LBO) – Sri Lankan branded tea exporter Imperial Teas may look at setting up subsidiaries in countries like China and even Kenya, to develop its brands and manage its supply chain.The company commissioned a study by MTI Consulting to develop a game plan for expansion and jumpstart almost stagnant growth over the past three […]

Nov 02 (LBO) – Sri Lanka posted record tea production in September, as estate worker trade unions thrash out a wage increase for over 250,000 plantation workers. Wage Talks Meanwhile, estate worker trade unions say they expect a quick closure in wage talks, with union officials downplaying strike action on some estates in Hatton over the […]

NAIROBI, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – Kenya’s tea production surged eight percent in the third quarter of this year from last but remains below the 2005 cumulative total due to the lingering effects of a killer drought, officials said Monday. Production shot up between July and September to 75 million kilos (165 million pounds million […]

Oct 19, 2006 (LBO) – The European Union has lifted year long restrictions on Sri Lanka’s cinnamon exports, following approval of a new standard for the spice.The disagreement stemmed from sulphur residue levels in Sri Lankan shipments, with the EU not having a fixed standard on allowable levels, until now. “Exports to Germany came to a […]

Oct 05 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has shipped less value added teas for the eight months to August, as a key buyer Libya is yet to place any big orders, a commodity broker said Thursday.The island main export crop earned 56.48 billion rupees by shipping 218.13 million kilos from Jan-Aug, a growth of 12 percent […]

NEW DELHI, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) – Tata Tea, the world’s second-biggest branded teamaker, said Thursday it has bought a 33 percent stake in leading South African tea firm, Joekels Tea Packers, as part of its global expansion drive.Tata Tea, part of India’s hotels-to-steel Tata conglomerate, has signed an agreement with Joekels Tea Packers, South […]

October 3, 2006 (LBO) – Indian tea giant Tata Tea is in talks with a Sri Lankan firm to sell off its plantation venture here, officials said.Tata has invested in Sri Lanka through a controlling stake in Sunshine Holdings Ltd, which in turn owns 51 percent in Estate Management Services (Pvt) Ltd, who controls 58.75 percent […]