Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)

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From Leaf to Cup: Forces Behind Tea-Based Radical Innovations in Sri Lanka

Authors
Chamila Pilapitiya1, *, Saliya De Silva2
1Agricultural Economics Division, Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Talawakelle, Sri Lanka
2Faculty of Economics, Saga University, 1 Honjo-Machi, Saga, 840-8502, Japan
*Corresponding author. Email: chamilapilapitiya@gmail.com
Corresponding Author
Chamila Pilapitiya
Available Online 15 April 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_7How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Tea (Camellia sinensis); Radical innovations; Incremental innovations; Value-addition; Sri Lanka
Abstract

Proven health benefits on tea (Camellia sinensis) directed many developed countries to produce tea-based innovations in commercial scale. Majority of tea producing countries including Sri Lanka retain only as a bulk tea supplier receiving lower gains from tea export. Objectives of the study were to 1) examine if producing tea-based radical innovations can have a significant impact on firm performance and 2) identify the determinants of producing tea-based radical innovations in Sri Lanka. A questionnaire survey was conducted for 43 exporters out of 180 exporters in Sri Lanka. Mann-Whitney U test, Principal Components Analysis and Generalized Linear Model were employed to analyze data. Results revealed that radical innovations contribute significantly on firm performance (sales gain). With respect to determinants, 1) firm strategy (no. of food technologists, no. of market destinations, no. of CIM/CIMA qualified employees): 2. firm resources (direct links to plantations and processing factories); and 3) CEO’s science and technology qualifications have significant positive impact on producing radical innovations. Firm size has a significant negative impact on producing radical innovations.

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.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)
Series
Advances in Biological Sciences Research
Publication Date
15 April 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-646-3
ISSN
2468-5747
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_7How to use a DOI?
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

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Chamila Pilapitiya
AU  - Saliya De Silva
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/15
TI  - From Leaf to Cup: Forces Behind Tea-Based Radical Innovations in Sri Lanka
BT  - Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 106
EP  - 126
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_7
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_7
ID  - Pilapitiya2026
ER  -