The International Food and Drink Event (IFE), a premier food and drink trade exhibition was held at ExCel, London from March 21-23, 2022. The Sri Lanka Tea Board participated in the exhibition which was facilitated by the High Commission of Sri Lanka in London, where ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ was received with great enthusiasm by international buyers and visitors.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board pavilion was inaugurated by the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom, Saroja Sirisena, along with the Director (Promotions) of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, Pavithri Peiris, High Commission officials and other invited guests from the UK tea trade and the media.
Artisanal tea collections were exhibited at the Sri Lanka Tea Board pavilion by Ceylon Tea Land Pvt Ltd and the Ceylon Artisanal Tea Association. An interactive tea tasting quiz was conducted to encourage visitor engagement. Furthermore, visitors were served Ceylon tea from the seven regions of Sri Lanka and Ceylon tea sample sachets were distributed at the pavilion.
Since the pandemic, IFE 2022 is the first major UK event to take place with over 30,000 buyers and visitors around the world. The IFE has been held for over 40 years in the UK and this year provided a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to capatilise on the global tea market.
Currently, Sri Lanka is the third largest tea exporter to the world with exports around US$ 9 million worth of tea to the UK alone.