On-line sales to stir Lankan tea industry

Colombo, May 15: SRI Lanka will begin selling some of its tea crop on-line on Friday in what industry officials say could be a first step towards opening up the world’s biggest tea auction.

The JV between Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers (Pvt) Ltd and Teauction.com, a firm based in India that set up India’s on-line tea exchange, will offer teas sold in private sales outside the weekly auction. "Private sales are under 10% of our production," said Chrisantha Perera, chairman of Forbes & Walker. (Reuters)