Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) along with Colombo Tea Traders’ Association and other industry stakeholders are planning a grand scale celebration of 150 years of Ceylon Tea during 2017.  

Many large scale tea industry related events are being planned from February to August 2017 throughout island which includes Ceylon Tea Expo, a tea convention, tea festivals, tea workshops, seminars and other related events.

Sri Lanka tea industry has already initiated extending invitations to the international tea fraternity to join in these celebrations including all Tea Associations, Tea Councils and Tea Boards.  

A series of celebrations is to commence from February 2017 which includes educational workshops and seminars in the 12 identified tea growing areas and also none tea growing areas. 

Ceylon Tea Expo will be an exposition by Sri Lanka tea exporters, manufacturers and distributors of tea sector machineries and accessories, packaging and printing suppliers, other service providers, and research and development industries in the tea sector.  

These events are expected to attract international tea buyers, value chain developers, international tea associations and industry entrepreneurs and tea professionals.  It is also planned to carry-out a tea festival and tea oriented tours for international visitors.  Sri Lanka Tea Board has planned to issue a series of stamps to mark the commemoration of 150 years of the tea industry.

The organizing committee comprises of officials of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, Colombo Tea Traders’ Association and the Ministry of Plantation Industries and all stake-holders of the tea industry. It has also been decided to have a felicitation ceremony for James Taylor, the founder of the Ceylon Tea industry.

Sri Lanka is one of the top tea growing and exporting countries in the world and the tea industry provides direct and indirect employment to around 2 million people.  Revenue from Sri Lanka tea exports in 2014 topped US$1.6 billion.