Newcomer to the UK market Devagiri Teas has introduced a range of ‘farm-to-table’ products which it claims has turned the 77-year old estate in Sri Lanka’s business model on its head, shortening the supply chain to make it fairer, more transparent, cost-effective and sustainable, all the while promising to keep the price approachable for average consumers.
The range includes a ‘Breakfast Tea’, Earl Grey, Vanilla, Cardamom Chai and Cinnamon, sold as loose leaf or in boxes of 20 teabags, on which co-managing director Roshana Gammapila guarantees a 30% margin for retailers, and the same RRP as well-known, mid-range brands.
The estate has been in Gammapila’s family for three generations, since her grandfather bought it in 1947, before the end of British rule in Sri Lanka. But having spent the first half of her career in the UK – working at PwC, and automotive digital services brand, Toyota Connected – Gammapila’s attention only turned to tea production on a family trip to Sri Lanka, when she and her husband Mike Bailey learned that the estate was likely to be sold.
This was due, she told FFD, to fluctuations on the market, and the prevalence of so-called middle men in the supply chain – dating back to colonial times. Historically, tea was produced as a commodity, sold at auction to an in-country exporter and blended as a ‘regional’ (in this case, Ceylon) tea. It would then be sold to an importer for blending with Assam (for colour) Kenyan or Senegal (for flavour) tea. After that it might then pass through a wholesaler, then a brand, and finally to a retailer before landing with the consumer. This obviously makes profitability and paying employees difficult for the estate.
“I can bring that to life for you,” she said. “At auction, we get paid between £2 and £3 for one kilo of tea, a kilo, and you use roughly two grams maximum, between 1.5 and two grams per teabag”. Meanwhile a box of 20 teabags, weighing just 40g, sold in foodservice for £2.50 a cup – puts just a fraction of the money into the producer’s hands.
By turning it into a ‘farm-to-table’ operation, they have been able to give the team a 20% payrise, and make a profit, without raising prices.
“That’s only possible because there’s just so much fat in the chain. But from our perspective, you know, who adds value? Well, it’s the end retailer, and it’s the person producing the tea.”
Plus, she argues, the tea is fresher, has traceability engrained and security of supply.
The producer is working with individual retailers, but is seeking wholesalers and individual retail partners aligned with its way of thinking.
This article first appeared in the December 2024 edition of Fine Food Digest
