t-sips comes from a family of award winning tea that has been a prolific exporter for over 20 years. During this period, the company has emerged a top 10 exporter, making their products available in more than 35 countries.

t-sips is marketed locally by Castle Commercial (Pvt) Ltd., the recently-incorporated distribution arm of Expolanka Group.

SLS certification is a scheme granting an ultimate guarantee on the quality of a product that confirms to Sri Lankan standards. While SLS certification has been awarded in many sectors, it is for the first time in history that SLS certification has been awarded to a brand of tea.

The certification mark on t-sips signifies that it is consistently manufactured in accordance with Sri Lankan standards and could be purchased with a sound assurance on quality. Compliance with the requirements of the specification is made certain through regular monitoring of the quality assurance system by audits carried out by qualified auditors of the institution and through thorough product testing.

A fast-rising competitor in the local tea market, t-sips comes in two main variants, namely: t-sips Supiri Kahata and t-sips Supiri. A range of t-sips green tea and flavoured tea are also marketed.

Expolanka Teas is already GMP, HACCP, ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certified. Stringent quality assurance systems are in place to ensure compliance with all quality standards.

Expolanka Teas is part of the Expolanka Group, a diverse conglomerate listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The vision behind t-sips was best described by its CEO who stated: “It is the birthright of every Sri Lankan to enjoy a great cup of tea.”

The auction was to raise funds for the National Cancer Institute of Maharagama in collaboration with the Colours of Courage trust in an event dedicated to the welfare of cancer patients.

‘t-sips’ the premier brand of Pure Ceylon Tea produced by Expolanka Teas Limited, stepped in to support the cause of the Colours of Courage Trust by conducting an auction of 15 lots of the premier Limited Edition t-sips ‘Silver Tip’ tea to an elite gathering with international. Following the inspired introduction to the National Cancer Institute’s aspirations to become a better health care facility, eloquently presented by its Director, Dr. Kanishka Karunarathne the auction raised Rs. 6.4 million.

A company that believes in establishing strong ties and maintaining the welfare of the local community, Expolanka Teas has headed and collaborated with many corporate social responsibility campaigns and hopes to do more in the future. Its most recent initiative is the cancer project in collaboration with the Colours of Courage trust to uplift the present conditions and facilities of cancer patients thereby giving hope where there has been none.

One of the world’s biggest killers, cancer causes more deaths worldwide than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined, and is on the rise. In Sri Lanka cancer is the 3 biggest cause of death and an average 15,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. The Colours of Courage trust was established with the aim of developing the facilities in the National Cancer Institute in Maharagama – the only cancer care public institute in Sri Lanka — in terms of machinery, buildings and maintenance, as well as promoting cancer research.

Veteran tea broker Asia Siyaka Commodities President and CEO Anil Cooke conducted the auction supported by Senior Vice President Dammikka Wedanda and Expolanka Plantations Director Inthikab Naufal.

Expolanka Teas Ltd., is a member of the Expolanka Group — a leading diversified conglomerate in Sri Lanka with interests in transportation, manufacturing, international trading and strategic investments with an established presence in over 13 countries across the globe.

Commenting on the campaign, Mr. Dhilshad Sideek, Chief Executive Officer, Expolanka Teas said;
“Expolanka Teas is looking to expand its brand, t-sips, in the Maldives, we hope to cover important Atolls in the Maldives and take steps to reach the consumer in the key islands. Maldives being a key tourist destination, we hope to tap in to these high potential customers too. In the medium term we would be aiming to make t-sips as one of the top brands in this market. “

Further strengthening its position as the preferred brand of tea in the Maldives, ‘t-sips’ has entered into an agreement with the Sri Lankan owned Dinemore restaurants in the Maldives. Now visitors to Dinemore are served tea exclusively from t-sips, giving them a true taste of Ceylon tea.

Healthy rivalry will prevail among the 160 participants from 14 clubs competing in the 69th Amateur Rowing Association of the East (ARAE) and the Far East Amateur Rowing Association (FEARA) – 2011 Regatta.

It is being organised by the Bolgoda Lake Rowing Club (BLRC), Sri Lanka from 3rd to 5th February 2011 in collaboration with ‘Tharunyata Hetak’ and T-sips as the exclusive sponsor of this event.

This was revealed to the members of the media, at a briefing held on Wednesday at “Olympic House”, by the Chairman of the organising committee Chanaka Talpahewa. He further went on to say that the ARAE Regatta had its origin in the year 1933 during the colonial era and, that the FEARA came into being in Singapore 1954.

Talpahewa, explained for logistical convenience the two regattas were emerged in the year 2006, with the ARAE for those under 36 years and the FEARA set apart for the masters category. He concluded by saying that this event was a showpiece for Sri Lanka, to impress that the country was fast becoming a sporting country. Both, the CEO Expo Lanka Holdings (T-Sips), Hanif Yusoof and Dr Chula Senerath of ‘Tharunyata Hetak’ whilst dwelling on their intentions and purposes that sports should be taken to the youth of the villages.

According to the Vice President Lasantha Welikala, the Bolgoda Lake Rowing Club, successfully participated at the 2009-2010 ARAE-FEARA regatta and was an associate member at the 68th AGM of the ARAE held at the Madras Boat Club in January 2010. This regatta the 69th will take place at the Bolgoda Lake Rowing Club.

The countries participating are India, Pakistan, Singapore, Philippines, Dubai and Sri Lanka as host – the clubs associated are Lake Club Ltd, Kolkata, Calcutta Rowing Club, Kolkata, Bengal Rowing Club, Kolkata, Calcutta Rowing Club, Madras Boat Club, College of Military Engineering (CME) Pune, Rowing Centre Chennai, Kodaikanal Boat Club, Karachi Boat Club, Lahore Boat Club, Colombo Rowing Club, Sri Lanka, Singapore Rowing Association, Manila Boat Club and Dubai Boat Club.

The open events for ARAE for Men will be single sculls, Double sculls, pairs and four – the same events will be held for women.

The FEARA events Masters over 36 yrs for men will be Single sculls, Double sculls, Pairs and Fours – for the women it will be Double sculls and single sculls, with a mixed Double scull event.

The opening ceremony will be held in the evening on Wednesday February 2 at the BLRC.

~ Richard Dwight

T-sips will be sponsoring the event for the second successive year. Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Hanif Yusoof, speaking to the media at the press conference held on Friday, 15 at the Colombo Rowing Club said that Expo Lanka Teas, who are one of the pioneers in the tea industry with over 20 years of experience are not only looking forward to sponsoring this event for many more years to come, but are also eager to promote the sport in other parts of the country as well.

The Sub warden of S. Thomas’, Dr. Harsha Perera stressed the need for old boys of both schools to take the initiative of taking the sport to the rural areas as   there are many waterways in the country that can be utilized  for rowing.

Prasad Vithanage of the Organizing Committee stressed that unlike in previous years, this year all events will be worked out with clock-work precision. The opening event will commence at 12.00 p.m. and the final, the Boat Race, at 5.00 p.m.

The event which is the most sought after in the rowing calender of the country is Regatta and the Thomians who are the Sri Lanka National Champions will be led by third year coloursman Sajeev De Silva who is also a Sri Lanka Asian Games poolist. Even though they have only two coloursmen doing duty for them this year, the Thomians have done well to become National Champions by winning the Open Category at the Sri Lanka Rowing Nationals. The team is coached by former captain Chevantha Sirimanne.

Leading the Royal team will be Radhika Weerasekera a fourth year coloursman. They also have ten other coloursmen to do duty for them with five of them sporting club colours. The Royalists too have done well this year having won the under 16 and 19 categories at the Rowing Nationals. The team is being coached by former skipper Asiri Abhayaratne.

Last year the Thomians under Dhanushka Jayanetti rowed out winners by 40 points to 12. This year the Regatta will have 11 events with the inclusion of the under 16 coxed fours being introduced for the first time.

Furthermore, this year a boat carrying a camera crew will be accompanying all the races and a giant screen will be installed at the club for the benefit of the spectators.

By Bruce Maurice

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