How Ceylon Tea made a mark in Papua New Guinea in the 1920s

Currently articles, pictures, discussions and documentaries are being released by the media in connection with the 150-year history of Sri Lanka’s tea industry. Papua New Guinea was a British colony in the Pacific Ocean. It is not only the largest island in the Pacific but also the second largest island in the world in terms of land mass.

Steamships Trading Ltd was the largest company established in Papua New Guinea in 1918. The company has published a 468-page volume to mark its existence of 90 plus years. I also received a copy. This book contains several reports on transactions with Sri Lanka way back in early 1920s. These transactions are noneother than tea imports from Sri Lanka.

In one of the articles the author has reproduced several newspaper extracts contain- ing advertisements published in “The Papuan Courier” in March 1924. The Papuan Courier was the only newspaper published during this period. One of the advertisements was published to inform that directly imported Ceylon Tea is available for sale. The advertisement further states the quality and size of the packs. Another advertisement informs the customers that the company is entertaining pre-shipment orders.

This report indicates that way back in the 1920s, countries like Papua New Guinea had tasted Ceylon Tea. Steamships Trading Ltd was established and operated by Australians. This may have led to a trade relationship with Ceylon where the British dominated the tea plantations and trade. This is proof that the British exported tea not only to Britain but to other countries in the world irrespective of the size and the distance. This led people in different countries to taste Ceylon Tea and to believe that Ceylon Tea is the best tea in the world.

Apart from this, school textbooks carry information about Ceylon Tea in many countries. When I was living in Japan some 20 years back, I was invited by a Japanese family and the parent told their son who was in grade 4 that the visitor is from Sri Lanka. He suddenly started talking about Ceylon Tea. When I asked how he knew about Ceylon tea he said from school. I gave him my gift that contained Sri Lanka Tea without any delay. He was very pleased to have it.

Like any other country, there are a number of different tea products sold in Papua New Guinea markets. But people still prefer Sri Lanka tea due to the publicity given in the early 1920s. P. M. N. Bandara Via email