Kirin gifts books to estate schools

Marks 20 of tea imports from Sri Lanka with social project

Kirin Beverage Company Limited of Japan launched a book donation project in Sri Lanka, which would benefit elementary schools in the tea estate sector. Kirin Beverages has been importing superior quality tea leaves from the island for over 20 years, and the project is an expression of gratitude by the Company to the country and also its estate workers for their support spanning over two decades.

Kirin Beverage is the manufacturer and distributor of Kirin Gogo No Kocha (afternoon tea), which first went on sale in 1986. Over 10 billion bottles have been sold since then, and the company imports close to 2,000 tons of tea leaves from Sri Lanka annually. The company claims to be the world’s largest exporter of black tea, with significant shares in beer, spirits, wine and the ready-to-drink segment. Two schools in the Nuwara Eliya District and the Uva Province have already benefited from this scheme, receiving 20 books, teaching materials and shelves, earlier this month. The programme would continue at a Haputale elementary school this week. These three schools would continue to receive similar donations over the next five years, building up Kirin Beverage Libraries. Thereafter, the donation activities would be shifted to new target schools.

Kirin Beverages Consultant Takeshi Isobuchi explained to The Bottom Line that Japanese consumers were extremely health and safety-conscious; and with Sri Lanka employing traditional methods to manufacture its quality teas, its products were deemed safe and best-fit for consumption. Isobuchi praised the quality and high standards maintained by the Sri Lankan tea industry, adding that Kirin would wish to continue this cooperation for decades to come.
This programme was part of its measures to say ‘thank you’ to Sri Lanka for his Company’s success, he said.