Wilehena tea factory which was one of the finest Low Grown factories in the by gone era was closed for over a decade, re-commenced manufacture under a new ownership on June 15, 2013. Wilehena was renowned to produce the finest Low Grown teas with excellent twist, style and liquors and was reputed to regularly achieve the top prices at the weekly auctions for most of the grades. The tippy teas manu
factured at Wilehena was by far the best available at that time and these teas have often ended up fetching record prices. Under the new management, the factory has been completely modernized with state of the art machinery and a fully automated process of manufacture in the rolling room as well as in the sifting room which minimizes human handling and thereby also reduces the breakage of particles. This factory has for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka introduced a fully computerized electronic grade sorting machine which has the capacity to separate out particles in accordance with the required linear dimension and density. This is indeed a novel approach to making Low Grown grades as even as possible, in particle size. The factory is now owned by Wakeel Hajiyar, the Chairman of Pathma Group, Galle who has also several other Low grown tea factories which include Kurunduwatte, Manikkanda, Golden Leaf and Magedara and all these factories are directly managed by Mohamed Rafi who has acquired a reputation for manufacturing high quality teas. The acreage surrounding the factory has also been re-planted with tea and the immediate factory environment has been landscaped which makes this factory one of the most beautiful and scenic sites in the Southern province. The initial manufacture carried out at Wilehena will be up for auction on July 23, 2013 and these teas are almost certain to a attract the top most prices as the majority of the leading Low Grown buyers have already expressed a very keen interest in securing these teas which are of exceptional high quality and value.
