History of Malaysian Tea
While Malaysians have been drinking tea for a long time, its plantations began in 1929. Cameron Highlands is located in the Titiwangsa Mountains above 1,500 meters above sea level. The average temperature in the highlands remains at 18 degrees Celsius, while the mildly acidic soil is perfect for growing camellias. Plenty of sunshine and sufficient moisture make the tea sweet and delicious. Cameron Highlands is also known as the "Green Bowl" of Malaysia.
The first tea garden
J. A Russell, a veteran of the rubber and tin industries, was the first to think of tea gardens. He saw that Malaysians continued to buy tea even amid the economic downturn. His collaboration with another professional tea farmer from Ceylon helped him expand his business. His company, BOA Plantations, is currently the largest tea producer in Malaysia. Apart from BOA Plantation, three other tea plantations are known for their tea production - Bukit Cheeding, SungeiPalas and Fairlie.
BOH
BOH Plantation is the largest tea grower in Malaysia, producing about 4,000 tonnes of tea per year. They also happen to be one of the companies that controls all stages of tea production - from cultivation to packaging. BOH is known for producing premium quality black tea.
About 70% of the country's annual tea is produced by BOH. The remaining 30% is done by the plantations of Bharat and Sabah. Both plantations are known to be producers of premium aromatic teas with a rich honey colour and smooth flavour. All the gardens have their own facilities where the tea processing takes place. Fairlie uses some of the most advanced machinery to produce tea.
Harvesting of tea leaves is usually done by scissor machines, by hand or using a raised tractor harvester. As the best company in Malaysia, BOH has a huge team of researchers who constantly strive to ensure that the quality of tea produced by their company is the best. The quality team oversees the work in their machining shop. Not only are they the largest tea distributor in the local market in Malaysia, but they have also spread their wings abroad. Their overseas clients are Singapore, USA, Brunei, UAE and Japan.
BOH's Best
One of BOH's famous teas is 'Palas Supreme', a gorgeous Pekoe (FP) black tea. Pekoe leaves are rolled into balls. There is a list of tea names, which are obtained based on how they were picked. For example, Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP) is the terminal bud and first leaf of each bud. Very tender leaves roll up in precise proportions at the tip and end of the bud, while Orange Pekoe (OP) are pointed, long leaves that are larger than the FOP and harvested when the bud opens into leaves.
Bharat tea
The Bharat Company was established shortly after the BOH in 1933. The current owner of Bharat Tea is Kesave Kumar. Although Bharat is also a contributor to tea production in the country, they still have to develop a retail strategy.
malaysian tea market
Tea production in Malaysia is one of the oldest industries, but there is much more potential in Malaysia that can be tapped. Today, global climate change and labor shortages in tea gardens pose problems for them. Despite the challenges they face, the country has contributed enormously to the tea economy.
