Market Potential for Ceylon Tea Geographical Indication: An Economic and Policy Assessment
- DOI
- 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_6How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Geographical Indication; Legal framework of GI; Untapped potential; Ceylon Tea; market promotion
- Abstract
Sri Lanka’s tea sector is a cornerstone of the national economy and a major source of rural livelihoods, with both economic and socio-cultural significance. Since its introduction during British colonial rule in the 19th century, tea from Sri Lanka, known under the reputed designation Ceylon (the former name of Sri Lanka) Tea has attained global recognition for its high quality and origin-specific characteristics. The tea industry contributes substantially to Sri Lanka’s GDP and foreign exchange earnings, accounting for approximately 51% of agricultural exports, 10.9% of total exports, and nearly 4% of GDP in recent years. It also supports the livelihoods of over one million people throughout the value chain. Sri Lanka exports over 95% of its tea production, in bulk or consumer packaging. The country ranks as the third-largest global tea exporter and the second-largest black tea exporter, with key markets including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and the UAE. However, these markets show signs of declining in market penetration and overreliance, despite their high Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) for Sri Lankan tea. There is considerable untapped market potential for Sri Lankan black tea in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, and the UK, especially for consumer-packaged tea in quantities less than 3kg. However, Sri Lanka’s ability to expand into these markets is hindered by several challenges, including a heavy reliance on traditional export destinations, limited investment in branding and promotional activities, and ongoing difficulties in maintaining consistent product quality. This paper aims to identify emerging market opportunities and proposes the recognition and registration of “Ceylon Tea” as a Geographical Indication (GI) as a strategic branding tool to enhance international competitiveness. Using trade data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) and World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS), along with Key Informant Interviews and legal analysis of GI frameworks, the study explores how stronger legal protection and quality assurance through GI protection can facilitate entry into new, high-potential markets for Ceylon Tea.
- Copyright
- © 2026 The Author(s)
- Open Access
- Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Dilani Hirimuthugodage AU - Delphine Marie-Vivien AU - Malithi Ama PY - 2026 DA - 2026/04/15 TI - Market Potential for Ceylon Tea Geographical Indication: An Economic and Policy Assessment BT - Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 73 EP - 105 SN - 2468-5747 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_6 DO - 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_6 ID - Hirimuthugodage2026 ER -