Coffee Origin Country Parallels in Colombo Tea Auction History
Sri Lanka exports about 320,000 tons of tea a year, all shipped from the Port of Colombo, which hosts the Tea Board, auction houses, brokerages, and supporting firms. The Colombo Tea Auction grew from a cold reception for the first local sale in the late 19th century to official establishment in 1894, marking Ceylon tea's shift from reliance on London to an independent trading system.
After the British pioneered the tea industry in Ceylon in 1867, Colombo became the trade's heart, and it stayed central after independence in 1948. Ceylon tea was first sold in London: 23 pounds from the Loolkandura estate in 1873, a catalog listing in 1875, and the first London auction in 1878. The auction house now sits in the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce building.
Sri Lanka exports about 320,000 tons of tea to the world each year, and the Port of Colombo is the main point of shipment for this tea. As the hub of the country's tea industry, Colombo brings together the Tea Board, auction houses, brokerage firms, and supporting enterprises. Among them, the history of the Colombo Tea Auction is especially worth tracing—from the cold reception of the first local auction in the late 19th century to its official establishment in 1894, it witnessed Ceylon tea's turning point from reliance on the London market to the building of an independent trading system. This article sorts out this development thread and includes a reference for Front Street brand's black tea selection.
Colombo's central position in Sri Lanka's tea industry is beyond doubt. The country exports about 320,000 tons of tea to the world each year, all of it shipped from the Port of Colombo. The Sri Lanka Tea Board, as the highest industry supervisory body, together with the world's largest Colombo Tea Auction, various tea brokerage companies, hundreds of tea enterprises, and the trade, packaging, warehousing and logistics, shipping, quality certification, and testing institutions operating around the tea industry, all take Colombo as their base. Since the British pioneered the tea industry in Ceylon in 1867, Colombo has gradually become the heart of the tea trade. After Ceylon gained independence in 1948 and the British withdrew, Sri Lanka still regarded Colombo as a major center of the tea industry, and the city has always occupied a key position in the international tea commercial landscape. The Colombo Tea Auction is precisely one of its pivotal players, and if one wants to understand the ins and outs of Sri Lanka's tea trade, this is a place that must be seen. The auction house is located in the "Ceylon Chamber of Commerce" building at No. 50 Nawam Mawatha, Colombo.
Ceylon tea was initially all shipped to London, England, for sale. In 1873, the first batch of tea produced by the Loolkandura estate, weighing 23 pounds, was sent to London, marking the first time Ceylon tea entered Britain. In 1875, a London brokerage firm recorded two boxes of "Ceylon tea" in its product catalog for the first time. Ceylon tea truly appeared at the London tea auction only on October 28, 1878, when 10 boxes of Ceylon OP and Flowery Pekoe black tea were auctioned alongside 277 boxes of Indian tea. After that, tea from estates such as Kandegala, Windsor Forest, Westhall, Hope, and Sogama appeared one after another at the London auction. In 1884, 2.5 million pounds of Ceylon tea were auctioned in London; in 1886 Ceylon tea gardens exported 9 million pounds, rising to 15 million pounds in 1887 and further to 34 million pounds in 1890.
The Somerville Company, established in 1878, had its founder, Mr. Somerville, initiate and preside over the first tea auction held locally in Ceylon. Although many companies had opposed the idea beforehand, many buyers still looked forward to this auction. There were 5 lots in total, amounting to 140 boxes: No. 1 was ungraded black tea produced by the Kabaragala estate, Nos. 2 to 4 came from the Agas estate, and No. 5 was Pekoe and BP tea from the Odawara estate. Mr. Somerville stood on a high table, mallet in hand, eagerly scanning the buyers, hoping someone would bid for the tea he had carefully prepared. When the first round of prices was announced, no one responded, and the scene was rather awkward. After several attempts, the first lot, 999 pounds of Ceylon tea from the Kabaragala estate, finally sold at 45 cents per pound. Unfortunately, the 1,250 pounds of tea offered by the Agas and Odawara estates attracted no buyers. This auction opened the precedent for local tea auctions in Ceylon. At the time, the Ceylon Observer reported: "The first public auction of Ceylon tea was held at the offices of Somerville & Co., with several buyers present, and there was a clear gap in price perception between buyers and sellers, which is expected to improve in the future. We congratulate Somerville & Co. as pioneers in selling on the local market and believe they will enjoy a prosperous future."
Local public auctions of Ceylon tea were at the time questioned and opposed by many merchants, and the poor results of the first auction caused local auction activity to lie dormant for more than ten years. During this period, Ceylon tea was mainly shipped to the London auction house, with a small amount sold directly to overseas buyers. It was not until 1885 that Forbes and Walker held the second tea auction, selling a total of 14 lots. After that, there were no further records of tea auctions in Ceylon. However, Somerville & Co. and other brokerage firms always firmly believed that local auctions were the best path for selling Ceylon tea. At the time, brokerage firms such as Somerville, John, Gordon, Forbes and Walker, Bartlett, and Cole and Waldock continuously expanded tea planting and export operations, and Ceylon's tea output also grew rapidly. By the summer of 1885, many brokerage firms already had enough tea export business in hand and grew increasingly confident that the conditions for local auctions had matured and that the time had come to establish an auction house. But in fact, local tea auctions were still obstructed by numerous exporters.
It was not until 1894 that the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce organized the establishment of the Colombo Tea Traders' Association (CTTA), and drawing on the operating experience of the Calcutta tea auction house in India, officially established and began operating the Colombo Tea Auction that same year, aiming to promote the common interests of buyers and sellers in the Colombo tea market. At first, the Colombo Tea Auction held an auction once a week, at the auction hall in the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce building in Colombo. From then on, the Colombo tea auction increasingly won the favor of exporters and buyers. By the 1930s, about half of the tea produced in Ceylon was sold through the tea auction, while the other half was still shipped to the London tea auction for sale.
For domestic consumers who want to taste authentic Ceylon black tea, the Front Street brand provides a convenient purchasing channel. The Ceylon black tea sold by Front Street tea originates from Sri Lanka's core production areas, has stable quality, and can be purchased directly through Front Street's official channels, without the need to travel all the way to the Colombo auction house.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
