The The British tea trade waited diligently all these years to pay a tribute to Sri Lanka’s tea industry that they had nurtured up to recent times. The greatest recognition Sri Lanka ever got was at the last charity auction held on Monday 29th June 1998, when the curtain ultimately fell on the London Tea Auction. It was the last cuppa for London, when an excellent invoice from Hellbodde, broke a 319 year record by obtaining a price of pounds sterling 555 for a kilo of FP, a grand total of pounds sterling 24,420 for a single chest of tea. It is the rarest and the most expensive tea in the world today, so said the Financial Times. It will be served exclusively in Betty’s Café tea rooms in Yorkshire.

The lot that stole the show was auctioned by Mr Robin Harrison of Thompson, Lloyd & Ewart. His name deserves a place in the chronicles of the tea trade, for having performed the last rights on the oldest British institution firmly incorporated for the sale of tea by “Public Cry” in the year 1679. His task was discharged in the most appropriate manner, but he expressed a sense of sadness for having concluded operations of such an old institution. He expressed his feeling quite clearly to the many hundreds of tea packers, blenders and journalists from across the country and elsewhere, who had congregated at the London Chamber of Commerce to witness this heart-rending event, and to bid a moving farewell.

Amidst this emotional tangle, auctioning of tea got under way without much excitement, but paying up freely to promote an admirable cause. There was a deadly silence when the final lot of one chest of FP from Hellbodde Estate Pussellawa, Sri Lanka came under the hammer. This was the final opportunity for those present to help swell the coffers of the various charities this auction was going to assist. Bidding for the single chest, the final lot began at pound sterling 10, but soon reached pound sterling 200, leaving the final battle to two of London’s largest blenders, Twinings and Taylors of Harrogate.

Bidding hesitated for a while. “Take a deep breath,” Harrison told Wild amidst uneasy laughter, but bidding continued until it reached pound sterling 500 per kilo. There was pin drop silence once again, and there appeared to be no more offers.

“It’s 505 pounds I’m looking for." “It’s your place in history Sir” declared Harrison. “And five” said Wild, and “510” said Leader.

“I think it’s a snit (bargain) at this price.” “It’s historic and the last chest of tea to be sold at the London Auctions”, so said Harrison. The next bid from Wild was Pounds 555 for a kilo. With this bid the hammer came down hard on these 44 kilos of delicate tea from Hellbodde Estate, situated at Pussellawa, and managed by Pussellawa Plantations Ltd, sold for pound sterling 555 ($924) per kilo, and in all pound sterling 24,420. With this last drop of the hammer, the curtain fell on the London tea party.

After the bidding, Mr Wild staggered from the seat, flustered and perspiring, and all what he could say between loud cheers from the large crowd was that he needed a few minutes rest. As for the precious cargo that he had acquired, he said that the tea will be served to the customers of Betty’s Café tea shops across Yorkshire at specially discounted rate. It would still be sold to thirsty customers at Pounds 10 a pot. I will however give a kilo of it to Mr Leader. The winner Wild later disclosed that he had no ceiling in mind when bidding started, other than to make sure that Twinings didn’t get it.

With this last bid, the London Tea Auction ceased, but its reminiscences will linger in the minds of the veterans who had matured into tea at this historic spot. All the stalwarts of the London tea trade were present, and many were the sentiments expressed.

“There were a whole load of characters who loved having a laugh," said Jim Vast, managing director of Tea Services. “I will miss bidding against everyone. Anyone who says they don’t like the auctions is a very sad fellow.

David Panter, a senior retired broker, and now the chairman of the Tea Planters Investment Trust, traced the reasons for the clinical death of this institution. He said, “In the 1950’s when he started, there were 80,000 chests of tea sold a week at the auctions. It slowly declined down to 10,000, and now 5,000.

Chris Pinfold, director of tea buying and blending for Taylors summed up by saying “the final auction was a sad event, but this end has been coming for sometime, and on a similar note, former trader Claude Mole remarked, “the atmosphere was not the same as it was then."

The London Tea Auction no doubt served a useful purpose during the pioneering days of tea marketing, but today it has outlived its usefulness. It has failed to keep abreast of new technology and changing patterns in trading. The gavel had to fall permanently for the trade to turn a new leaf. “It was a sad event” said Mike Bunston, chairman of the International Tea Committee, and a director of Wilson Smithett. “We will continue to sell tea, it will be directly to private buyers."

A shadow fell on the most celebrated locations such as Mincing Lane, The Plantation House, and the London Chamber of Commerce, that acquired fame and esteem over the years, due to its commitment to tea. Tea will not be traded in these locations anymore, and the London Tea Trade will have to reset their sights, if they wish to continue in tea business. This no doubt is going to be a trying time for those Britishers involved in tea, but with the experience gained through centuries in tea marketing, they will unfold new methods to remain in business.