Vol 48, No.1 Spring/Summer 2012 - Finlays

News
Leaf Tea and Tea Extracts Update
Neil Willsher
MD
38 Spring/Summer ’12
Having moved back to the tea side of the business. I would like to
thank the Horticulture team in Kenya for making my time there so
rewarding. I would also like to thank my predecessor here, Richard
Darlington, for leaving behind such an excellent and knowledgeable
team, many of whom I have known for some time.
The Tea role has changed: it will
now involve not only Tea Trading,
Decaffeination and Tea Extracts but also
Beverage Packing; this further step is to
ensure that we maximise synergies,
maintain customer focus and develop
value addition from “Bush to Cup”. In the
early days of my new role it has become
clear to me that there are many exciting
opportunities for the Group around the
globe. These will be realised through
continued investment, getting closer to
our customers and, above all, through
the passionate drive of all those who
work for the business. I will now be
spending several months meeting the
team, our suppliers and customers in
order to better understand how we can
continue to develop our business long
term in a sustainable fashion.
Turning to trading, from a sales
perspective the year has begun very
well for both businesses.Leaf tea trading
is 5% up on volumes compared to last
year, with Mombasa trading particularly
well, a performance all the more
impressive when set against a backdrop
of reduced supply due to Kenyan
droughts, severe port delays in Mombasa
and politico-economic issues affecting
Sudan and Egypt, two of our main
markets. Our trading businesses in
London and Dubai are broadly in line
with last year’s performance, whilst in
Vietnam, Malawi and China we are busy
with ambitious growth plans for what we
believe will be a very good season.
Our decaffeinated tea business in Hull
continues to perform ahead of both last
and this year’s targets. The finishing
touches are being put to a plan to sell
pure caffeine, previously a waste
by-product from the process, to the
energy drink sector. The partnership we
have with AV Thomas in India continues
to develop from the strong base we have
built in decaffeinated tea and has now
branched into projects involving
instant tea.
The Tea Extracts business is doing better
with production from our Saosa plant
four times greater than during the same
period last year. This, combined with our
Chilean, Chinese and Indian supplies, has
translated to sales volumes substantially
up on last year. In the USA the ready to
drink market continues to show growth
in spite of the supply issues we have had
with our Kenyan plant. We have been
assisted by our multiple sourcing policy
and strong relationships in South
America and by excellent customer focus.
Placed alongside the value added
nature of tea trading the extracts
business has huge global potential.
The Group recognises this and will
continue with its long term investment
programme, focusing on sustainable
growth, innovation and development
at our production sites, all designed to
meet and surpass our customers’ needs.
Of course none of this has been or will
be possible without our staff and it is to
them I would like to say a big thank you
for my warm welcome. I look forward to
continuing to grow and develop the
business together.
Appointment
With effect from 1 May 2012 Neil
Willsher has been appointed Managing
Director of the Leaf Tea and Extracts
businesses in succession to Richard
Darlington. Neil has been MD of Finlays
Horticulture Kenya since January 2008,
before which he was in charge of Finlay
Beverages for five years.
Leaf Tea and Tea Extracts
News
Farewell to Richard Darlington
The Oriental Club was the setting for a
reception on 19 April to mark Richard
Darlington’s departure from Finlays after
32 years. The large turnout of colleagues
from across the Group heard Managing
Director Ron Mathison review Richard’s
career including his rise, in 1997, to the
position of Managing Director of what is
now Finlay Tea Solutions UK, followed in
2010 by his appointment as MD of both
the Extracts and Leaf Tea Businesses.
Along the way both Ron, and Richard in
his reply, recounted some of the more
interesting and amusing incidents that
occurred during the latter’s time with
Finlays. In recognition of Richard’s
contribution to the Group, Ron presented
him with an engraved silver tea caddy
and spoon and a new driver to further
improve his already impressive golf
game. In his reply, Richard stressed
how difficult the decision to leave had
been and wished the Company and
his colleagues the very best for the
years ahead.
Bond’s Best Brew
Tim Bond, Technical Director, Finlay Tea
Extracts, recently made an appearance on
BBC TV’s Britain’s Favourite Supermarket
Foods. You can find the link on http://
www.tea.co.uk/news-article/how-tomake-the-healthiest-cup-of-tea
First up in the series of programmes
was ‘The Best Brew’. Tim was asked to
provide ‘the science bit’, showing how
anti-oxidants increase with brew time.
This was a great programme, promoting
Britain’s favourite drink as beneficial to
the nation’s health and showing that
brewing our tea a little bit longer can
make our cuppa even better for us.
Richard Darlington (l) receives a parting gift from Merlin Swire.
Tim Bond provides ‘the science bit’ for BBC TV viewers.
(l-r) Richard Darlington, Merlin Swire and Ron Mathison
Volume 48/No.1 39