Sometimes the people who harvest tea don’t have the necessary equipment to process the leaves. In this case, they sell their crop to another farmer who is able to process it.
This is what happens in the south of Sri Lanka, where each tea factory dispatches vehicles to collect bags from small producers.
14 February 2014
In the south of Sri Lanka there are many small-scale producers who grow tea and then sell the fresh leaves to one of the local factories. For them, tea represents one…
20 September 2013
From one country to another, one region to another, the organisation of tea production varies. Sometimes I visit huge plantations that cover whole mountainsides. But many independent farmers grow their…
30 July 2010
In the south of Sri Lanka, tea is mostly grown by individual farmers who cultivate their own land. They sell the tea leaves just after the harvest, as they don’t…
21 December 2012
The low sun illuminates these bags filled with freshly plucked tea leaves, creating a contrasting effect of light and shadow. The men work quickly, emptying the bags and spreading the…
Which part of the production process walks away with the most to gain? The one growing the plant or the one selling it?
You share very good information Interesting, clear and precise. Well put François-Xavier.
@ Tom Difficult to say. The one growing the plant has other revenues (from agriculture or else) and is free to contract with one or another selling company. So it is a fai deal. Also the grower has no investment to support while the one proceesing the leaves in his factory has to face huge investments which make comparaison more difficult.