Ceylon Teaโs 150 year celebrations, the Global Ceylon Tea Party has hooked the biggest tea company in the worldโs largest per capita tea market.
โOur tea brand in Beta Tea and our firm, Beta Food Industry and Trade Inc of is one of the largest firmsโ stressed Chairman of Tea Food Industry and Tradeโs Besir Ugur, who is also the Chairman of Turkeyโs Foreign Economic Relations Boardโs (DEIK) Sri Lanka Business Council.
Beta Tea Chairman Ugur was meeting Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen at the Ministry offices on 19 July. Joining the discussion was HE Turkish Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tunca รzรงuhadar.
โI was greatly inspired by the Global Ceylon Tea Party event held in Ankara. We are a major importer of Ceylon Tea and we use it heavily in our blends in Turkeyโ said Beta Tea Chairman Ugur and added: โOur tea brand in Beta Tea and our firm, Beta Food Industry and Trade Inc is one of the largest firms in Turkey with branches in 16 countries. In fact, my Beta Food Industry and Trade Inc is the 12th largest tea firm in the world. The Ceylon Tea we buy are sold in Turkey, and Central Asia. We like to expand our tea cooperation with Sri Lanka and during my visit here, I intend to study more.โ
Even though China is worldโs largest tea market, Turkey is the biggest per person tea consumer in the world (at 6.87 kg per capita).
Minister Bathiudeen welcomed Chairman Ugurโs interest to partner with Ceylon Tea and said: โAccording to the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka under me, two thirds of our annual exports to Turkey is Ceylon Tea. In fact, Turkey was the fourth largest buyer of Ceylon Tea after Iran, Russia and Iraq, last year. Also we exported $ 1.2 Bn of tea to the world last year and 8% of it was taken by Turkey. Our exports to Turkey last year of all products were at $154 Million and tea exports were two-thirds of it at $ 100 Million. We are encouraged that Beta Tea wants to buy more and more from Sri Lanka and seeking bigger cooperation here.โ
HE Turkish Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tunca รzรงuhadar stressed of the importance of continued trade between both countries and added that time has come to go for bigger bilateral trade from the present annual $223 Mn (2016).
In the five year period of 2012-2016, Sri Lankaโs trade with Turkey has surged by 15%-from 2012โs $190 Mn to $223 Mn in 2016.
Leader of All Ceylon Makkal Congress