Green Tea News

Study Tour to India September 2009

A group of four, being Directors of the Manjimup Green Tea Company and associates, undertook a study tour to India. The aim was to look at Indian manufactured green tea processing, grading and packing machinery.

The tour included visiting the tea plantations of West Bengal where the processing of green and black tea was demonstrated.

The factory visits included viewing machines designed to steam and generally process the green tea. Other machinery of interest were the colour sorter, which sorts tea into several shades of green, and a stalk and tea grader, which removes any foreign matter and grades tea into different size particles.Once all the grading was undertaken the tea was then packed into bulk bags for repacking into retail packs.

Another area of interest was inspecting the new growth on the tea plants and comparing this to plantings in the Manjimup region.The Japanese style clonal green tea grown in the Manjimup region is a cool climate variety whilst the Indian tea is a tropical variety.This allows the Indian tea to be harvested over a longer period compared to harvesting in Manjimup.The green tea leaf, tested from Manjimup plantings, produces a greener tea with a very fresh flavour.

Included in the visit was a display of tea tasting and quality control. The tea was picked and processed on the same day and each batch was tested with a sample being stored for future reference. Every batch was being tested for quality, colour and taste.

At the conclusion of the visit, the Indian company that hosted the tour agreed to design a factory flow plan that will include all machinery required, the flow of the green tea from green leaf to bulk pack and ensure that the whole process is fully automated.This information will assist Manjimup Green Tea Company to finalise all costing for the machinery component of the project, and move the processing factory for Manjimup closer to fruition.

Some members of the study tour plus our hosts.

Tasting of various styles of tea.

Tea fields in India.

Hand picking of tea in India. (See machine harvesting for Manjimup)

Mr Ryozo Taniguchi, a specialist in green tea processing, visited Manjimup in early November 2008.

Mr Taniguchi is from, Fukujuen Ltd, Kyoto, a major Japanese tea company.

During his time in Manjimup he visited local tea plantations and assisted staff, at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, to successfully produce green tea using a research style green tea processing unit.

This machine is located at the Research Institute located just south of Manjimup.

Towards the end of his visit an information evening was held to allow delegates to view and assess traditional Japanese green tea and compare this to Manjimup green tea. The local tea had been harvested and processed during his time in Manjimup.

This proved very interesting and allowed participants to both smell and taste many styles of tea and compare Japanese and Manjimup production.

This interaction between a Japanese Company and Manjimup growers and researchers can not be under estimated and valuable interaction occurred.

Mr Taniguchi optimistic that high quality green tea would be produced in this area and was particularly impressed by the fact that it could be produced in a clean green environment.

Images opposite are of Mr Taniguchi inspecting green tea growing at Northcliffe and tasting of both Japanese and Manjimup grown green tea at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute.

12 December 2007: Green Tea Seminar, Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, Western Australia

The seminar was attended by research staff, nurserymen, business representative groups, processors and growers. Delegates viewed the Green Tea Research block and were given information on varieties, harvesting and growing of green tea. A demonstration of harvesting occurred showing how green tea tips were harvested and collected. These tips were then taken to the pilot plant processing unit, steamed and processed through the unit. Delegates were very interested in the whole processing stream with a lot of questions being asked.

This demonstration was followed by looking at all the different varieties of green tea that had been harvested and sampled during the current harvesting period.

A presentation was then given on growing the green tea from propagated plants to commercial production. This included soil preparation, weed control, water and fertiliser requirements, and information on commercial processing of tea. Tourism was also discussed as well as the many uses and benefits of green tea.

The seminar concluded with tasting of all varieties of green tea and an open discussion period.

Green tea is a potential new industry for the greater Manjimup region in Western Australia. Initial scoping has indicated that an industry of some 1000 ha, producing 3,000 tonnes of processed green tea for the Australian and world markets is possible. Green tea production uses a high level of mechanisation and requires nearby processing of the tea leaf for retail consumption. As such, it would provide not only production opportunities for the region but also mechanical support and processing opportunities. The small research sized processing unit at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute will enable the production of small batches of processed green tea from the plantation at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, for quality evaluation. This will initially assist in identification of market positioning and later will be of value for production and variety research evaluations.

Contact the Manjimup Green Tea Company for more information on this exciting industry.

Manual harvesting of green tea.

Feeding green tea leaf into processor.

Steaming green tea leaf in processor.

October 2007: First Green Tea Processed and Tested in Manjimup, Western Australia

The first Manjimup grown green tea has been processed using the Department of Agriculture and Food recently commissioned pilot/research processing line (see below). The green tea leaf was taken from research plants at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Station and processed over a 3.5 hour period. The leaf produced green tea of a very acceptable flavour and colour (see opposite). This initial production occurred on 11th October 2007 and as other green tea varieties mature they will also be processed and taste tested. This is expected to occur between now and the end of 2007.

Congratulations to all Department of Agriculture and Food staff involved in research and development of the exciting green tea industry for South Western Australia.

First Manjimup grown green tea poured and enjoyed.

September 2007: Pilot Green Tea Processor in Manjimup, Western Australia

Green tea grown in the Manjimup area will be processed to beverage and for testing in Japan, thanks to a pilot green tea processing plant set up by the Department of Agriculture and Food. The pilot processor can process freshly harvested green tea to 2kg of product per batch. The processor has been installed at the Horticultural Research Institute in Manjimup and will be used to process tea flushes harvested from Department of Agriculture and Food trial green tea plots during Spring and Summer 2007. The pilot processing will enable evaluation of the flavour of the green tea grown in the 'clean and green' Manjimup area. The Department of Agriculture and Food are advocates of the green tea industry as an exciting addition to horticulture in the South West of Australia.

Pilot green tea processor at the Department of Agriculture and Food Horticultural Research Institute in Jardee near Manjimup.

August 2007: Commercial planting of Green Tea at Northcliffe, Western Australia

Farmers in the South West of Australia are relishing the opportunity to plant green tea to add to the mix of vegetables, fruit and grapes which have proven to be successful in a region with rich soils and reliable rainfall. The latest entrant in the green tea plantation push is in the Northcliffe area. Green tea plants were supplied by New World Flora, an associate of the Manjimup Green Tea Company. Green tea was planted with a modified cauliflower planting machine, which was effective and didn't require additional machinery for green tea.

There are two main opportunities for participation in this exciting new industry:

green tea plantation of approximately 10 hectares plus associated processor to process harvest from the plantation; similar in structure and cost to a vineyard and associated small winery
green tea plantation with processing elsewhere; similar to a vineyard with processing at or sales to a winery elsewhere

Update: Comparison from August 2007 to March 2008

Photograph below right shows 7 months growth of tea plants as well as the excellent weed control of the site.

Plants were subjected to detrimental environmental conditions, such as cold winds and hail, immediately after planting and within the first three months. As can be seen, plants are thriving and showing no adverse affects from these storms.

Tea plants are being fertilised, with liquid fertiliser, on a regular basis, through the drip line, and responding well to their conditions.

Adrian Bowden of New World Flora and Northcliffe farmer with recently planted and trickle irrigated green tea on August 2008.

Green tea was planted with a modified cauliflower planting machine,
which was effective.

Adrian Bowden of New World Flora at Northcliffe site in March 2008. The grower is providing plants with optimal conditions and plants are responding accordingly.