Tea Harvesting 

The tea is harvested once a week, depending on the growth rate. Just the tips of the new growth are plucked, consisting of the top two leaves and the growth bud. 

 

The plucked green leaf is very delicate and needs to be handled carefully so as not to be squashed or damaged. So the plucker will put his green leaf into his plucking basket for carrying out of the field.  

 

All our leaf is plucked by hand without any mechanisation, leading to better quality leaf, as mechanised harvesting is indiscriminate as to new or mature growth, as well as being very harsh to the leaf. 

Since most of the plant’s supply of nutrients is directed to the growth areas which are removed by plucking, tea cultivation is very draining on the soil, as the tea bushes strive to keep up nutrient flow for continuous growth. Thus, every six months, we replace the nutrients in the soil by applying fertilisers to our fields in the form of Nitrogen and other essential elements, in order to avoid exhausting the soil. 

About half of our green leaf is supplied from our own managed estates. The other half comes from neighbouring tea farmers that are registered as our growers such that all the green leaf that is taken into the factory is 100% traceable. We have about 300 growers that supply us with green leaf each day.