1. Sunbird Ceylon (Pvt) LtdFK Ceylon Corporation

2. Sri Lankan Tea HistoryIn 1824 a tea plant was brought to Ceylon by the British from China and was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya for non-commercial purposes.[13] Further experimental tea plants were brought from Assam and Calcutta in India to Peradeniya in 1839 through the East India Company and over the years that followed. In 1839 the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was also established followed by the Planters' Association of Ceylon in 1854.[13] In 1867, James Taylor marked the birth of the tea industry in Ceylon by starting a tea plantation in Loolecondera estate in Kandy in 1867. He began the tea plantation on an estate of just 19 acres (76,890 m2). In 1872 he started a fully equipped tea factory in the same Loolecondera estate and that year the first sale of Loolecondra tea was made in Kandy. In 1873, the first shipment of Ceylon tea, a consignment of some 23 lb (10 kg), arrived in London. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle remarked on the establishment of the tea plantations, the tea fields of Ceylon are as true a monument to courage as is the lion at Waterloo.Soon enough plantations surrounding Loolecondera such as Hope, Rookwood and Mooloya situated to the east and Le Vallon and Stellenberg to the south began transforming into tea plantations and were amongst the first tea estates to be established on the island.The total population in Sri Lanka according to the census of 1871 was 2,584,780. 3. Tea Grades In Sri LankaBOP - Well-made, neat leaf of medium size without excessive stalk or fiber. There should not be any fine particles (fannings and dust) which are not true-to-grade. BOP Sp - Larger in size than a BOP lack and clean in appearance. Note: BOP & BOP special be treated as two grades, but for cataloging purposes treat as one grade. BOPF - Neat leaf, fairly clean. .. but smaller than the BOP grade. There should not be any fine dust present. BOP 1 - Should be wiry and twisted, but shorter than an OP1. FBOP - Smaller/shorter than BOP1 with presence of tips, but larger than FBOPF1. FBOP 1 - Long, twisted, wiry leaf. Fairly tippy. Longer than BOP1. 4. PEKOE - Shotty, curly or semi-curly leaf of large size of any elevation. PEKOW1 - Same as Pekoe, but smaller in size than Pekoe of any elevation. This replaces the Flowery Pekoe grade. Note: Pekoe and Pekoe 1 will be treated as two grades, but for cataloguing purposes treat as one grade. FBOPF (FF) - Similar in size to BOP and must contain tips. FBOPF 1 (FF1) - Larger than BOP. Smaller than a FBOP with a show of tips. FBOPF - Similar in size to BOP with a fair presence of tips. FBOPF Ex. Sp. - Small leaf and must have an attractive show of golden or silver tips with little black leaf. FBOPF Ex. Sp1 - Leafy and must have an attractive show of golden or silver tips with little black leaf. 5. OP 1 - Long, wiry well or partly twisted. OP - Less wiry than OP1, but much more twisted than OPA. OPA - Long bold leaf tea with air twist. BP - (Off Grades) Should e choppy, hard leaf. BOP 1A - (Off Grades) Any flak leaf without stalk and fiber (Clean tea). BM (BROKENS) - (Off Grades) Mixed flaky leaf tea. Can have more fiber and stalk than BOP 1A. BT - (Off Grades) All mixed teas of varying sizes, with or without stalk and fiber. FNGS 1 (FGS1) - (Off Grades) Flaky leaf of small size. Can contain more fiber than BOPF, but reasonably clean. FNGS (FGS) - (Off Grades) Same as Fannings 1. Can be more fiber and uneven and not as clean as Fannings1. 6. OF - Smaller than the PF 1. Larger than PD. PF - (Off Grades) Similar or slightly larger than PF1 and may contain some fiber. PD - Grainy Dust grade. Should be smaller than OF. DUST 1 - Less grainy than PD. Clean. DUST - (Off Grades) Inferior to Dust 1. Could be powdery and fibry. 7. DUST1 - Smaller than BOPF. (Rainy even well-made and reasonably clean) DUST - (Off Grades) size to Dust 1. Could be flaky and contain some fiber. SILVER TIPS - Long tippy leaf, silver in colour, with hardly any black leaf. GOLDEN TIPS - Long tippy leaf, golden in colour, with hardly any black leaf. Note: Tips and Golden Tips are not catalogued, but sold only privately. BP1 - Equivalent to size of a high grown BOP, but granular. BP Special - Larger particle size than BP1. PF 1 - Equivalent in size to grainy high grown BOPF, but granular. 8. Tea CultivationLAND PREPARATIONPrior to planting of tea the land must be cleared of existing growth, be it old tea, jungle or bare land. This is followed by deep forking the land to the depth of 18 to 24 by which all old roots and stones are removed and the land leveled. After leveling, lateral and leader drains are cut to prevent erosion caused by heavy rains.Rehabilitation of the soil is achieved by planting Guatemala or Mana grass which is sustained for at least two years. This grass is fertilized twice a year with a special grass fertilizer and lopped regularly (twice a year) and provide 10 to 15 tons of mulch per lopping which enhances fertilizing of tilts of the ground.PLANTING OF TEA While the prepared land is under rehabilitation, a nursery of tea plants is nurtured one year prior to planting. Planting would generally need to take place during the monsoon so that there is adequate moisture for the tea plant in its first one to six months after being planted.The tea plant growth phase requires it to be trained for the next two to three years through regular fertilization and selective trimming to develop its frame into becoming a mature tea bush. Tea plants could be selected from various clones to suit the requirements of the locality and also that of the grower such as yield, agro climatic conditions, type of land, quality of the tea product itself etc. Generally, the new cloned tea could yield 4,000 to 5,000kg per hectare in Sri Lankan conditions and in the virgin soils of Africa and Indonesia, production can even be as high as 10,000 to 12,000kg per hectare. 9. HARVESTINGWhen the bush develops and a complete ground cover is established (which would take two to three years depending on the climatic conditions and elevation), the tea bushes could be harvested on a regular basis which is approximately once in eight to ten days. The following potential of the tea plant would be achieved only after it receives its second prune and should continue for around 30 to 40 years. Pruning is carried out on a regular basis, once in every three to five years depending on the growing conditions which are related to elevation and climatic conditions. 10. Sunbird Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd is incorporated with the objective of supplying the quality Sri Lankan tea to the world Tea lovers and Sunbird Ceylon tea is another synonym to the expression of pure Ceylon tea, which redefines the essence of quality, associated with the logo "Ceylon tea". We serve nothing but the best, tantalizing your taste buds with our collection. The key to the success of our products is that we never compromise with quality. In keeping with superior international standards, Sunbird Tea invests time and resources in ensuring quality and consistency at each stage of the production process up until delivery to the end consumer.About Us 11. Our Logo 12. Tea MAQAM 13. Our StrengthSunbird has placed greater emphasis on supplying the niche, quality oriented markets in Russia , Malaysia & China. The company has never veered away from this original strategy. The Sunbird collection can be divided into two categoriesThe premium end of the volume marketGift market teas 14. Sunbird Ceylon uncompromising in its dedication to quality and this zealous perfectionism is evident in its people, processes and products. The Company was awarded the Certificate of Registration of ISO 22000 in recognition of its existing standards, Sunbird Ceylon has also obtained the HACCP certification. Control Union CertificationQuality Assurance 15. Factory Images