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JANUARY 2015 51
50 JANUARY 2015
T
wenty-five hours later I finally land in
Dibrugarh…Upon exiting the airport I find a
very similar climate to what I left back home in
Mombasa – temperature in the 30s with high humidity,
and I ask myself, “Is this really where tea grows?”
My name is Nick Yiannakis, and I run Unilever’s African
Tea Buying office in Mombasa, Kenya. My role is to
support Unilever’s ambition to source all their tea
according to the principles of sustainability. As the
world’s biggest tea company, we are changing the tea
industry with this commitment to sustainability. Since
2010 we are sourcing the tea for Lipton Yellow Label
and PG Tips in Europe from Rainforest Alliance
Certified™ estates.
By 2015, we aim to have the tea in all Lipton tea bags
globally sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified estates.
By 2020, all Unilever’s tea will come from sustainable
sources.
I am greeted at the airport and handed a most welcoming
letter. The letter is from Nisar Ahmed, General Manager
Dirok, welcoming me to Assam and Dirok, including the
words, “Hope you had a pleasant flight and the landing
wasn’t too bad.” This got me thinking if Dibrugarh
airport is indeed prone to bad landings. I’m yet to find
out as the landing was pleasant and I never did ask Nisar.
During my journey to Dirok I catch my first glimpse of
tea fields multi-cropped with trees. In Africa trees are
grown in independent blocks for fuelwood. I later come
to learn that the Assam practice is to create a micro-
climate and shade due to the high temperatures, whilst
factories in Assam run on other sources of energy and
do not require fuel-wood forestry.
I met my hosts, Nisar and Mimi, and was then taken to
the club for the evening. I learned that Wednesday is
sports/club day and gives all planters an opportunity to
maintain their physical fitness as well as socialize
afterwards in a relaxed environment.
My Dirok visit included a fascinating overview of the
estate, factory, Rainforest Alliance projects and
neighbouring forest reserve. I joined Nisar for his 6am
daily operational review. Nisar was in a good mood,
largely owing to the much needed 3.5 inches of rain we’d
had overnight. Each divisional leader reconfirmed the
day’s plan with Nisar in about five minutes or less –
labour numbers and operations were adjusted where
needed and priorities set. It was most impressive how
each unit head had complete clarity for each day.
I then had the luxury of spending a morning with
Devaya tasting MRIL South Bank invoice teas. Devaya
and I must have tasted at least two hundred of them,
which I found quite different to what we have in Africa,
especially the Orthodox, which is only made to order. To
make me feel at home, Devaya brought out some of
MRIL Rwandan Gisovu’s teas. My main observation
was that Assam teas have all quality attributes –
Mouthfeel, Taste and Colour.
The afternoon was spent with Sivaji visiting Margherita
estate. Both the factory and field visit was great – we saw
most operations in motion as well as an afforestation
project which had just started.The day concluded with an
in-depth conversation with Sivaji around the intricacies
of running plantations, accompanied by a few cups of
Margherita’s finest tea.
It was time to move on from Margherita/Dirok and I was
driven to Bordubi estate where I was to meet with
Ramanuj and Sarita. Ramanuj ensured I got a
comprehensive tour of the factory and drive around the
estate.The factory was in immaculate condition and estate
was well looked after with an abundance of shade trees –
I was delighted to hear Ramanuj had a passion for planting
trees. This got me thinking again how we can add shade
trees to the African Tea landscape. Ramunuj also included
a general tour of the area surrounding the estate, including
the Sunday market in DoomDooma town, which was
definitely bustling. On our return, I was shown the full
capabilities of a Maruti Gypsy and why it was the vehicle
of choice for both the Indian Army and MRIL Estates.
We then came upon a loaded ‘tuktuk’ (autorickshaw)
climbing a very muddy and bumpy hill without a hassle –
so possibly the future vehicle of the Army.
My final day was to be spent with Vivek and Tamanna at
Koomsong estate. This was a thoroughly interesting visit
with some leading edge organic solutions to fertilizer
(vermicompost), plant strength and pesticides. The crop
looked very good, with a bright green tinge – almost
fluorescent. We also drove past a 2 hectare conservation
area which has resulted in some indigenous birds to be
attracted back to the area – something the entire estate is
rightly very proud of. I was also extremely impressed with
the recovery Koomsong has made from the hail damage a
few years back. Lastly I have to give a special thanks to the
entire team at Koomsong, not only for a fantastic visit, but
also for finding a way to get Skype to work in Assam at
short notice, with network connections down, allowing me
to wish my wife happy anniversary and catch up with my
kids after a week of no connectivity.
Overall this has been a fantastic and insightful visit
which I would recommend to all. I am proud to drive
market transformation in tea with partners such as
McLeod Russel, focusing on achieving Rainforest
Alliance certification and driving a move towards a
sustainably sourced industry.
A special thanks to all that have helped to arrange my
visit and hosted me and sincerely look forward to
meeting again!
Editors’ Note:
Mr Yiannakis has since been appointed MD
of Unilever Tea, Tanzania
On 17 September 2014, seven executives from Taylors of
Harrogate, UK – KeithWriter, Simon Hotchkin, Cris Coats,
Pete Mullen, Chipiwa Zimbwa, Ian Brabbin and Frank
Tanner – escorted by a team from HO Kolkata, visited three
of our Company’s estates from which they source their teas
– Bukhial, Behora and Hunwal – in order to formulate
future strategies and areas of collaboration. In addition to
looking over the manufacturing units and facilities, they also
visited the Bodo Handloom Scheme outlet at Behora T.E.
and were favourably impressed with the standard of the
items produced by the BHS, one of the oldest community
welfare projects undertaken by MRIL.
“
Guests bring good luck with them.
”
~ Turkish Proverb
~ Nicholaos Yiannakis,
Unilever – Mombasa,
Kenya
Visitors from Taylors of Harrogate, UK