TRIP TO DERANGALA TEA FACTORY
TRIP TO DERANGALA TEA FACTORY

GROUP MEMBERS
Roshan Madushantha - 3889
Dilshan Sandaruwan - 3871
Thivanka Vithanage 3730 Aisha Al- sheraim - 3729

Acknowledgement
This report is based on the trip to Derangala tea estate which is situated in Akuressa. This report is made for Mr. Indrajith Aponsu who is our Microeconomics lecturer. In this report I and my group members have gone in death of the process that we learnt at the tea factory. The process that we learnt briefly and the main points, we have discussed it in detail during this report. Furthermore, we enjoyed the entire trip and I think we are really fortunate to learn about tea. To learn a subject like this is a once in a life time opportunity. This opportunity will not work to all the people. We drink tea in large scales, but we don’t realize how this is processed and graded for consumers. Though we don’t get a chance to taste the highest grade in Sri Lanka it is good that we saw how the tea is processed in a factory which is situated in the south. As we all know the highest grade is exported to all the European countries and other countries all around the world. Finally we take this opportunity to thank our instructor for taking us on this trip and also for joining with us to go on the trip.

History of Sri Lankan Tea The Sri Lankan tea history goes back to 1824 where British brought the very first tea plant from China. This tea plant was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya. This plant is considered as the first non-commercial plant in Sri Lanka.
Soon after two decades a Scottish person names James Taylor planted tea in nineteen acers of land in Kandy. The estate was named as Loolecondra. This plantation was mainly referred as the first commercial plantation in Sri Lanka. In the year 1872 the Loolecondra estate resulted a sales. Soon after the first sale in the year 1872, the authorities took steps to sell Ceylon tea in London. This was in the year 1873. These pioneering efforts were done by the Ceylon authorities, at this time the tea had many errors. The authorities of the tea board of Ceylon improved the quality of the tea by introducing new methods and new technology with the help of the Scottish authorities. To improve the quality of the tea many individuals and companies helped the Ceylon tea board.
The first broking firm was named as the John Brothers & company was mainly established in the year 1876. The first public Colombo auction took place in the year 1883 under the guidance of the Ceylon Chamber Commerce. This organization was mainly established in 1839. The Colombo tea traders association was formed in 1894 and 1925. Finally the tea research institute was established. These organizations helped the Ceylon tea to boost and improve the exports in the early stages.
Nine achievements of Ceylon tea. (Milestones) 1. One million tea packets sold at Chicago World's Fair - 1893 2. The prohibition of export of poor quality teas - 1932, 3. Ceylon as world's largest tea exporter for first time - 1965 4. Establishment of the Sri Lanka Tea Board - 1976) 5. Export of Tea Bags – 1976 6. Export of Green Tea – 1982 7. Abolition of Tea Export Duty and Ad Valorem Tax- 1992 8. Establishment of Tea Research Board - 1992) 9. Ceylon tea production exceeds 300,000 metric tons – 2000

The Derangala tea estate and its production. The tea estate and the factory is situated in Akuressa. In this factory there are more than 200 people working. The factory compound is approximately fourteen acers. The factory have many rules towards the employees. All the employees who are plucking tea should pluck twenty-six kilograms within a day. If an employee’s pluck a kilogram extra the company will add fifteen rupees extra to the labor’s monthly salary. All the employees should work for eight hours. As we go into the factory the first place is the receiving point. After the tea leaves are plucked from the estate all the employees should bring it to the receiving point. After the tea leaves reach the receiving point of the factory, the tea leaves will be weighted. Out of the twenty-six kilos, a crate should have sixty percent of best leaves which will be considered as the best grade. As they mentioned the best tea leaves should have two leaves with a bud. This is mainly referred as the immature tea leaf. After all the checks at the receiving point the leaves will go to a machine which will clean all the tea leaves. This process is important because the leaves contain dust and sand. After cleaning all the leaves, the workers will put the leaves to a truff. This machine is mainly used to dry all the leaves. The Derangala factory have eleven truffs, which has a length of eighty feet and a width of five feet. A truff can hold a maximum capacity of thousand two hundred kilos. Before the leaves reach its next processing step the weathering is required to reduce the moisture by fifty-five percent. To reduce the moisture towards this level the weathering is required for twelve hours. A member of our team asked about the weight of a daily process, according to this they said that they receive tea leaves between eight thousand to fifteen thousand kilos. Furthermore, when the raw materials are more than eight thousand kilos, the work force will be different considering the weight. For an example if the raw materials are more than eight thousand kilos there will be two labors working in a single truff. The truffs which are fixed in the factory are divided into two main categories. Such as, supper leaves and the normal. Apart from truffs, the factory use hot air weathering to reduce the moisture of the tea leaves. This method is widely used during rainy seasons, but according to the staff members they use hot air weathering throughout the year. As we go along, these steps are different for green tea. When they produce green tea, the factory will do the weathering in normal room temperature. This proceeding consumes more time and the green tea production takes time to happen. According to the staff members the color ‘green’ will not stay if they put the leaves into the truff. So they do the weathering in normal room temperature. After weathering all the tea leaves will go a place which is called the rolling section. It mainly refers to the second step as the tea production. In the Derangala factory there are eleven rollers functioning. Each row has three rolling machines. Two machines will function in a daily basis, but when the weight of the raw materials increase more than eight thousand kilos all the three machines will work. So in this case, they have an extra machine for an each row. The advantage is that when a machine is out of order the production will continue with the other remaining machines until the machine is fixed properly. But, when the production line faces a breakdown of a machine, the production will be delayed for a short time period. As we go into detail of the rolling process we found out that, one machine can hold two hundred and fifty kilos at a time. One machine will take entire ten minutes to complete the rolling process. From this process the machine will reduce seventy-eight percent of humidity which is containing in the tea leaves. Looking at the machine maintenance, it costs three hundred thousand.
One machine = 300,000
Total number of machines = 11
Total cost for maintenance = 3,300,000
Apart from this, these machines are usable for more than twenty years. The only main aspect is that the machines should be oiled at least once a week. According to a question asked by one of our team members, we found out that they do oiling in a daily basis. According to the staff members they do the maintenance part once a week. We found out that all the staff members have the right to notify the technical department if they find any malfunction of a machine during the day’s proceedings. As we go along, we went to the third section of the tea factory. The section is dedicated to collect the processed tea and to check fiber pieces and also the final product will go through a hot air dryer to check the moisture level has come to the right position. The Derangala tea factory uses firewood. The fire wood is purchased outside the factory, so the factory will encounter extra spending. A cubic yard of firewood cost nine hundred to thousand rupees. According to the employees they use ten to eleven cubic yards of firewood in a daily basis. This amount of firewood is used only for eight-thousand kilos of production. For instance if the production is higher than eight-thousand kilos, the factory will use more firewood for the hot air dryer.
Considering the lowest price of firewood,
One set of firewood =Rs.900
Weight of the production = 800kg
Number of firewood sets for a day = 10
The total cost for ten days = Rs.9, 000 When the climate changes the firewood amount will increase rapidly because the staff will require more firewood to maintain the temperature of the department. As we go in detain we found out that the staff members are maintaining a temperature of two hundred and forty Fahrenheit. The main reason is to maintain a high temperature is mainly because, the tea leaves should have a moisture level of less than three percent. As we completed the section which is dedicated to the hot air dryer, we came to a section where the tea is graded according to many aspects. The grading is mainly done in four major aspects. Such as, the weight of the tea leaves, color and also the length will mattered when the tea is graded for different sections. The newest machine was an all in one machine which can perform all three tasks in a single time. When we consider the cost of the machines, the newest machine was about four billion Sri Lankan rupees. As we asked the older machine’s price, they said it was about three-point-five billion rupees. The grading section is the most interesting part of the factory because, the highest grade should contain with silver and gold leaves after production. At the same time, this type of tea costs more than five thousand rupees. The prices will differ according to the weight of the tea leaf. As we go to the final stages of the tea factory, the staff members reveled that, the machines are more expensive when the camera is in a higher quality. For an example they said the price will differ according to the camera’s megapixel. As we reach the final step of the tea production which is mainly refers as the packaging section. As I have mentioned earlier when the tea leaves go through the hot air dryer the moisture level is bellow than three percent. But when the factory is doing the packaging, the tea should come to a moisture level of six precent. This is a basic requirement of every factory. The staff members say that, the moisture level in the tea bag does not make a big difference. This is mainly because of the materials that have been used to make the pack. As we go along the packaging section, there are thirty to thirty-five grades which are different from the other main grades that I have mentioned in the above paragraph. Mainly the FF grade is the most popular grade for exports. The FF grade has a big value for the market. The BOPF grade is the most common grade that is specially manufactured for all the local consumers. The BOPF is a grade that is widely manufactured by many tea factories in Sri Lanka. For an example Unilever produce the grade BOPF for the local market. As we asked about the product details and the places where we can purchase, the staff members told that they have not started sales directly, but according to the staff members they say that, they sell their product to the John Keels the group of companies. This multination company will do the special packaging according to their wish and they will send the product to the other countries. Apart from this the John Keels Company sell the product to all the businesses who are willing to buy the product. In conclusion, visiting a tea factory was a wonderful event because, we learnt many things and also we got an idea of the entire process of the tea leaves. As we visited all the main departments of the factory we learnt how that tea is cleaned, dried within the first step. As we move along we saw how the tea is being rolled and also we got to know about the hot air weathering process. Apart from these steps how the tea is being graded and also how it is packed for sale. By visiting a tea factory we got a vast knowledge that other people rarely get. Though we don’t think tea leaves go in a big process like this, we found out that many people are behind this massive process. If these people are not there working for the factory, tea will be a hard product to find in our day-to-day life.