Page 71 - #52 English

Before settling down with tea, Although 101 Tea Plantation the average tea picked is around 20-30 kg
Rungroj used to do corn and livestock. used to export most of its teas to USA per picker.
He turned to tea as he wanted to stop the and Taiwan, the company now turns its In addition to teas grown on the
practice of shifting cultivation. He began attention towards China’s market. “Now plantation, 101 Tea Plantation buys tea
with 3 plots of tea in Doi Mae Salong be- we are heading towards China because leaves from other plantations and provide
fore expanding to the lower land, which is they are highly interested in our organic tea processing services for clients who
now the present 101 Tea Plantion. “Twen- teas. Taiwan is still our market, but we don’t have processing equipment. “Tea
ty-one years ago, this land used to grow no longer export to USA because they farms without processing equipment
fruits, but fruits only yield the produce underprice our products.” Rungroj has sometimes contracted us to process their
once a year compared to tea which yields been working on China’s market for tea. They would also consider that the
4 times a year. Now we grow Soft-stem over a year and we wish to export more tea is from 101 Tea Plantation and use
Oolong, Oolong No. 12, and 4 Seasons there next year. Domestically, 101 Tea our name to guarantee the quality. Tea
Tea on our 450 Rai of land,” Rungroj said. Plantation gets a very positive respond leaves bought from other plantations have
Different tea has different cup quality, for from consumers, because the name of the to pass our quality standard. Pesticide
example, Soft-stem Oolong is light, palat- plantation guarantees the quality. and chemical tests are done at Chiang-
able, and refreshing while Oolong No. 12 mai Rajabhat University and Kasetsart
is stronger. 101 Tea Plantation’s products Encouraging Better Lives University,” Rungroj emphasized on the
are sold domestically and internationally. All 101 Tea teas are manufac- quality of tea leaves.
tured right on the plantation. The planta- Besides producing quality tea,
tion employs around 50 full-time staffs Rungroj is proud to see the happiness of
and farmers in the area are employed his staffs and the villagers. “Tea plantation
as part-time labour when they are on requires a lot of investment. I’m happy to
a season break. Tea can be harvested 4 get less return if villagers are able to make
times a year and each harvesting period extra income and everyone is happy.”
is around 20 days. As all leaves are hand-
picked, important tools for the pickers Expanding Quality Tea
are a basket and their hands. Around 50- Rungroj plans to expand his
60 pickers work from 8.00 to 14.00 and 101 Tea Plantation to 1000 Rai and cover
more aspect of tea. “It will be bigger in the
future. We are planning to have over 1000
Rai of tea plantation, and the current fruit
farm will be turned into tea plantation.
We will also add other facilities such as
restaurant and rooms for tourists to stay
here.”
Rungroj believes Chiangrai’s
tea industry is heading towards quality,
not quantity, because quality tea is more
rewarding. “If you produce a lot of low
quality tea, you won’t be able to negotiate
higher price. We don’t need huge amount
of tea, but we need quality tea. Thai con-
sumers nowadays know their tea, and
they know which tea is good or bad.”
“Tea is a drink from nature. It’s
harmless and it helps prevent diabetes,
high blood pressure, and toxins. Instead
of overloading yourself with sugar from
soft drinks, tea offers a much more
healthy alternative. You don’t need to buy
teas from overseas because the quality of
Thai tea is not any less. Sometimes people
buy teas from overseas and realized that
the teas they bought are from Thailand,”
Rungroj concluded.

Special Thanks
Rungroj Limpanapruek: 101 Tea
Plantation
69