A tea plantation grows camellia sinensis for tea production, with different stages including growing, harvesting, processing, and selling. Climate, soil, and rainfall affect tea growth, limiting it to certain regions. Green and black teas are popular, while white and oolong are also grown. Tea making involves fermentation and packaging, which can occur on the plantation or in separate facilities. Plantations may have their own processing facilities to reduce costs and ensure quality.
A tea plantation is a farm dedicated to growing varieties of camellia sinensis, the plant commonly known worldwide as tea. The cultivation and sale of tea has become a worldwide practice, although some areas are better suited to growing it than others and it is generally regarded as a valuable commodity. Tea production usually occurs in several stages, including growing, harvesting, processing and selling. Plantations can keep all processes beyond the growing and harvesting stages or sell the leaves to other companies for processing.
Growing tea requires the right climate, soil conditions and amount of rainfall for success, which limits the crop to different areas of the world including parts of China and India. Consequently, a tea plantation is usually located within one of these regions. Tea leaves come in different varieties, which may or may not be grown separately. While some plantations blend different varieties during the growing process, others separate their tea crops during planting and any blending is done during processing.
There are a few main varieties of tea leaves grown in a tea plantation. Green and black teas are generally the most popular varieties. White and oolong teas are also often grown and sold. A tea plantation can be a large commercial operation or a small boutique farm. These smaller tea estates focus their efforts on high-end crops that are coveted as specialty teas and, therefore, attract higher prices.
Lighter teas such as white and green varieties are often harvested from early to medium growing leaves. Ripe leaves are often used to make oolong and black teas. Once harvested, most tea leaves are fermented, which breaks down some chemicals in the leaves and produces other chemicals, such as caffeine. This fermentation process could occur in the tea plantation where the tea is grown or in a factory after the leaves are sold.
Tea making involves taking the fermented leaves and putting them into a form that can be sold. This process can occur in a tea estate, although it can also occur in separate facilities. Loose teas are often sold loose in sachets, and single-serve teas are processed before being individually packaged. Various types of packaging processes are involved in tea production, depending on the variety and quantity available on a particular plantation.
The tea making process is often staged in different facilities. One tea farm may sell its product to multiple facilities for use in different products, while others may sell to a particular customer. Tea plantations may also contain their own processing facilities, because it can minimize costs and help ensure product quality.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
