1. December 2015
52/No.2
Vol.
Inside this issue
– Letter from the
Managing Director
– Farewell to Finlays
Horticulture
– Ron bids a fond
farewell
– News from around
the Finlays family
– Ever evolving
– Meeting consumer
needs
– Empowering women
– Biogas bounty
– David Dale - A life
– The health & safety
journey
– A day in the life

2. 2
December 2015
06
Farewell to Finlays
Horticulture
The reason for selling explained
04Letter from the
Managing Director
New MD Guy Chambers joins
the Group
Contents
22
Extracts & Ingredients
News
Tea tasting for beginners
08
Ron bids a fond farewell
Looking back on seven happy years
at the helm
10Head Office News
David Johnston and Christiane
Kuehne join the main board
14Tea Estates
Kenya News
Finlays Charitable Trust help
to make a difference
Environmental
Impact Statement
This magazine is printed by an
ISO14001 printer using vegetable
based inks on FSC accredited paper
which has been carbon captured
through the Woodland Trust scheme
which has the following benefits:
0.494 tonne
of carbon
captured
1521
car miles
12.36m2
of new native
woodland
= or
20
Casa Fuentes News
Alejo Ramirez celebrates
40 years service
17Tea Estates
Sri Lanka News
New green and oolong tea factory
opens at Waldemar

3. 3
Volume 52/No.2
25
Beverages News
New gifting lines from London Tea
32
Meeting consumer needs
Exciting times for newly rebranded
FEI USA
Finlays Magazine is published half yearly
by James Finlay Limited, Swire House,
59 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AJ.
Production Team: Duncan Gilmour,
Ash Kahrl and Michaela Halse.
Email: magazine@finlays.net
www.finlays.net
Printed by
21 Colour
www.21colour.co.uk
Designed by
Traffic Design Consultants
www.traffic-design.co.uk
28
Sri Lanka News
Colombo goes Hawaiian
34
Empowering women
Helping to ensure opportunities
for all
30Ever evolving
Finlays through the years
36Biogas bounty
Benefits from biogas explained
37David Dale – A Life
Life and links to James and
Kirkman Finlay
38The health &
safety journey
Providing a safe and healthy
workplace
40A day in the life
From London to Misiones
in a day!
42Announcements
Births, marriages and news of
former colleagues
Front and back cover images:
Finlays tea estates in Kericho, Kenya

4. 4
December 2015
T
his issue of the Finlays
magazine marks the
beginning of a new chapter
in our company’s long and diverse
history. I am both honoured and
excited to share our news in
this edition.
Firstly, there have been several
changes in the management of
our company since the last issue.
After seven years at the helm, Ron
Mathison has moved on to take up
the post of Managing Director of
Swire Pacific Offshore in Singapore.
I have moved from Hong Kong to
Swire House to take over from Ron.
I joined John Swire & Sons in 1993
and have worked in China, Hong
Kong and Taiwan with Swire
Beverages and Damin (a Finlays’
associated company). It is an
honour and privilege to take up
the post of Managing Director of
Finlays and fantastic to have the
opportunity to serve the company
at this exciting time.
In addition, there have been several
other changes to the main board
with the retirement of Giles
Weaver and Isabella Wemyss as
non-executive directors after
19 and 13 years respectively.
Our heartfelt thanks go to them
both for their many years of service
to the company. In their place, we
welcome two new members to the
board: Christiane Kuehne and David
Johnston. Christiane was most
recently the Head of the Food
Strategic Business unit of Nestlé and
a member of the board of L’Oreal.
David Johnston was previously Vice
President of Innovation and Design
at Firmenich, one of the leading
global flavour and fragrance
companies. We welcome them both
to the Board and look forward to
their valuable contribution.
Secondly, there have been three
major changes to the structure of
Finlays. In August, the company
increased its investment in Damin
from 20% to 40%. At the same time,
we have seconded Chief Financial
Officer Patrick Lee from the Swire
Group and Christian Johansen
(previously MD of Finlays Colombo)
has replaced me as Chief Operating
Officer. This is a sizeable
investment and deepens our
strategic partnership with Damin,
the world’s largest tea extracts
producer.
Letter from
the Managing
Director
Guy Chambers joins as the Group’s
Managing Director and introduces the
start of a new chapter in the Finlays story.
Guy Chambers
GROUP
It is an honour
and privilege to
take up the post of
Managing Director
of Finlays and
fantastic to have
the opportunity
to serve the
company at this
exciting time.”
Guy Chambers
Managing Director

5. 5
Volume 52/No.2
In late November, we completed
the sale of Finlays Horticulture to
a US investment firm, Sun European
Partners. Details of the transaction
appear in pages 6 and 7. However,
we retain our flower farm business
in Kericho, Finlay Flowers, which
will continue to supply exclusively
to our former distribution
businesses in the UK and
Germany. Martin Hudson
has left the main board
of Finlays and remains
the CEO of Finlays
Horticulture, which will
soon be renamed.
The decision to sell Finlays
Horticulture was not taken
lightly and was made for strategic
reasons. Finlays has a unique and
integrated global footprint in the
beverage industry. We own and
operate tea estates, extraction
facilities for tea, coffee and plant
extracts, packing facilities and
R&D labs across four continents.
After a detailed review, it was felt
that it was increasingly important
for us to focus on beverages as our
core business area, rather than
trying to succeed globally at both
beverages and horticulture.
Also in November, shareholders
of Finlays Colombo approved a
resolution to de-list the company
from the Colombo Stock Exchange.
New regulations require that all
companies listed on the main
board have a minimum of 20% of
their shares in free float. As the
company’s shareholding in Finlays
Colombo stood at roughly 97%,
rather than sell down to meet the
requirement, the decision was taken
to delist and buy back minority
shareholders. This returns Finlays
Colombo to being a wholly-owned
subsidiary similar to its status
before it was listed in 1992.
The delisting is pending final
approval of the Stock Exchange.
As a side note, I believe that it
would be a mistake to view the sale
of Horticulture and the de-listing
of Finlays Colombo as a return
to the Finlays of the past.
Our company has changed in
many ways, including new
acquisitions (such as Autocrat and
Casa Fuentes), new investments
(in Damin) and the rapid
growth of the Finlays
Extracts & Ingredients
business. It will continue
to evolve as we pursue
the exciting opportunities
presented in beverage
markets around the world,
underpinned by our unique
position in tea. These changes
are clearly steps forward to
a new chapter, rather than
steps backwards.
Finally, regular readers will notice
changes to the design of this
magazine and the Finlays logo.
This is the first issue of the newly
designed layout which has been
refreshed to reflect a more
contemporary feel, whilst at the
same time preserving many of
the traditional aspects of previous
editions. In addition, we have taken
the opportunity to make a small
change to the company’s logo, by
adding ‘Since 1750’ as a tag-line
beneath “Finlays”.
These changes are small but
important. Finlays is a unique
company with a valuable history.
Few companies operating today
have the history or diversity of
Finlays. Yet, what is even more
important is that we are not stuck
in the past. We are proud of our
history, but are equally keen to
reinvigorate how we operate so
that we can remain in a leadership
position. Many challenges remain,
but we are passionate to create
a new chapter in our history.
We look forward to sharing news
of our progress with you in this
and future issues.
Investment
in Damin
increased
from
20% – 40%
Top:
Tea being nurtured in
our Kenyan nursery.
Finlays has a
unique and
integrated global
footprint in the
beverage
industry.”
Bottom:
Finlays Sri Lanka
tea estates.

6. 6
December 2015
A
s mentioned in my
introductory letter, Finlays
sold its Horticulture Division
to Sun European Partners in late
November.
Finlays Horticulture (previously
known as Flamingo Holdings) was
acquired in 2007. Regular readers
may recall that the 2007 editions
of the Finlays Magazine reported
that the acquisition was a major
landmark for the Group. Indeed,
group revenue doubled and our
presence in Kenya and the UK
increased significantly.
So why sell?
It would be fair to say that Finlays
Horticulture has a strong customer
base, an experienced management
team and is performing well. So the
decision to sell the business was not
taken lightly. However, this was a
strategic decision. Finlays now has
a unique and integrated global
footprint in the beverage industry.
We own and operate tea estates,
extraction facilities for tea, coffee
and plant extracts, packing facilities
and R&D labs across four
continents. We feel that it is
increasingly important to focus
on beverages as our core business,
rather than trying to succeed
globally at both beverages and
horticulture as part of one
company.
Finlays bids
farewell to Finlays
Horticulture
Guy Chambers, Group Managing Director provides some
background to the decision to sell the Group’s Horticulture
Division and wishes the business well under its new owners.
We feel that it is increasingly important
to focus on beverages as our core
business, rather than trying to succeed
globally at both beverages and
horticulture as part of one company.”
FLOWERS

7. 7
Volume 52/No.2
We took the decision to retain our
flower farms in Kericho (Tarakwet
and Chemirei) and Londiani
(Lemotit). This is for the simple
reason that these farms are
co-located and closely integrated
with our tea estates in Kericho. It
made sense to keep them together
and there is no plan to sell these
businesses. Finlay Flowers will
continue to supply exclusively to
Omniflora and Finlay Flowers UK
which will be renamed after the
sale is completed.
The transaction included the sale
of Finlay Flowers UK, Finlays Fresh
Produce UK, Finlays Horticulture
Kenya, Finlays Horticulture
Tanzania, Omniflora, Finlay Flowers
BV, FV SeleQt, Dudutech and Finlays
Horticulture South Africa. The
Horticulture Division’s management
team continues to lead the business
and every effort has been made to
ensure a smooth transition.
Our shareholders have always been
very supportive of our horticulture
businesses and we have continued
to invest in growth. We are confident
that we have found the right buyer
in Sun who will take this business
forward with the focus it deserves.
Many strong friendships have been
made over the years and I am sure
that these will remain in the years
to come. We wish Martin and the
entire Finlays Horticulture team
the very best of luck under new
ownership.
So where does this leave
Finlays today?
In the past few years, Finlays
has being changing quite rapidly.
Since 2012, Finlays has built a 40%
equity stake in Damin, the largest
manufacturer of natural tea extracts
in the world and the leading player
in providing natural ingredients to
the food and beverage industry in
China. In 2014 Finlays acquired
Autocrat, a leader in coffee extracts
in the United States. In the same
year, Finlays also acquired Casa
Fuentes, the largest tea estate
company in Argentina.
Broadly speaking, Finlays now
consists of two groups of
businesses. Predominantly,
we are a multi-national, multi-sector
provider of tea, coffee and botanical
ingredients, finished products
and services to brand owners.
The geographic scope of this
business covers the UK and Europe,
the Americas as well as Asia, driven
by our major investment in China
(Damin). In addition, we own and
operate a small collection of local
entrepreneurial businesses in
different locations (Finlays
Colombo, Finlay Flowers in
Kericho and Finlays Pakistan).
As far as I understand, today’s
Finlays is probably as ‘streamlined’
as it has been for very many years.
The emphasis is clearly on us as
a management team to bring the
moving parts of our beverage
businesses together to create a
winning proposition for current
and future customers. This will be
a huge challenge. But having met
all the members of our senior
management in each business
over the last three months, I am
confident that we have a fantastic
team to seize this opportunity.
I look forward to sharing our
progress in future editions of
this magazine.
Broadly speaking,
Finlays now
consists of two
groups of
businesses.”

8. 8
December 2015
A
fter seven very happy years
I left Finlays in September to
take up a new assignment as
Managing Director of Swire Pacific
Offshore in Singapore. Having spent
much of that time complaining
about oil prices being too high and
trying to reduce our reliance on ‘big
bad’ oil, I am now going to be doing
my best to talk oil prices up and
persuade everyone that a healthy
oil and gas industry is a good thing!
It is always hard to say goodbye
when you change jobs but somehow
this time it was even harder than
usual. There is something very
special about Finlays that
commands incredible staff
commitment and loyalty – that
sense of belonging to a very special
company. Perhaps it is the heritage
of a company that dates back to
1750. That is not to say that there
is no need for change. Companies
are living organisms that constantly
need to adapt to keep pace with
the changing world in which we live.
Finlays is no exception and there
has been a great deal of change over
the last seven years as we sought
to modernise Finlays and bring in
stronger governance and controls
whilst at the same time digesting
the various acquisitions made
during this period.
Part of that reenergising must come
from introducing fresh blood from
outside the company to bring in
new ideas, new skills and new ways
of doing things. We have beefed up
our tea science skills, brought in
more manufacturing and
engineering expertise; we have
introduced more financial
management skills as well as sales
and marketing skills, procurement,
risk management, project
management and quality
management skills.
I don’t know what it is about Finlays
but we always seem to have more
than our fair share of crises. In the
last seven years these have included
the collapse of the financial
markets, the unpronounceable
Icelandic volcano, apocalyptic hail
storms and droughts in Kenya,
floods and then a collapse in tea
and rubber prices. Perhaps it is
the inherently risky nature of our
businesses but there never seems
to be a dull moment. I can safely
say that running Finlays is as good
a test of character as you will find
but the remarkable thing is just how
resilient the Group is when faced
with a whole host of adversities.
For me the essence of Finlays’
longevity is our commitment to
sustainability: that means taking
good care of our people, the
environment and the communities
that support us.
Ron bids a
fond farewell
Ron Mathison, who recently left Finlays
to take up a new posting with Swire in
Singapore, reflects on his time as the
Group’s Managing Director.
GROUP
There is something
very special
about Finlays
that commands
incredible staff
commitment and
loyalty – that sense
of belonging to
a very special
company.”
Ron Mathison

9. 9
Volume 52/No.2
One of the best things about
running Finlays is the range and
diversity of the different businesses
in the group. I never imagined how
complex the tea and horticulture
industries were and I found it
absolutely fascinating. I was always
so impressed by the knowledge and
passion of our people throughout
the organisation; it is literally
palpable and incredibly infectious.
I always looked forward to visiting
the various businesses and seeing
what was actually happening on
the ground. I will particularly
miss my trips to the tea
plantations and flower
farms. I will never forget
the first time I went to
Kericho and the excitement
of coming in by air, passing
over the beautiful south west
Mau forest and seeing the rolling
green carpet of tea opening up into
the distance as we made that
banking turn into the final
approach. I would get that same
frisson of excitement every time
I flew there and I would then pinch
myself and think how lucky I was
to be part of something so special.
My friends were all so envious when
I told them about my travels and
life on the farms; about the leopard
and cobra we found sleeping in one
of our greenhouses, the warthogs
stealing our baby corn and the
baboons raiding our canteen in
Naivasha, the elephants in the
forest at Chepkembe; life in Finlays
is so much more colourful and
fulfilling than working in the City.
I am particularly proud of
the Group’s commitment to
sustainability: the diversification
into rubber on our tea estates in
Sri Lanka which has changed the
climate and improved soil health;
the biodiversity studies in Kericho
and the discovery of bongo in the
forest; the social impacts on the
community of our welfare and
outgrower models; the work we
have done on renewable energy
such as solar, biogas and
gasification; the ropeway in
Kericho, plastic fence posts
made from waste plastic
for fencing the forest;
vermicompost, the use of
bio rationals in Dudutech,
our wetlands, the
beehives, papyrus
regeneration, and of course
our famous flower donkey
carts. People are always blown away
by what we do and by the impact
we have on so many livelihoods in
developing countries like Kenya and
Sri Lanka. I found all this incredibly
meaningful and rewarding.
I have really enjoyed my travels
and meeting with staff, customers
and suppliers in so many different
parts of the world. I will miss
having the customary Asado
barbecue washed down by copious
amounts of red wine with our
charming Argentinian colleagues
up in Misiones, fishing on the dam
at Kericho, sundowners on the farm
in Naivasha, walking after work
in the Mau forest, playing snooker
in Hapugastenne bungalow, games
of drunken ping pong with Mr Jiang,
the good humoured banter at the
Chai Cup and softball in Battersea
Park, our christmas quiz and, of
course, golf at the historic Hill Club
up in Nuwara Eliya.
I will miss my tea and coffee tasting
sessions, learning how to slurp
with the best. They say it takes
seven years to become a tea taster
and I can believe that – it has taken
me seven years just to learn how
to slurp without choking and
spluttering all over the place!
But most of all I will miss the
many friends I have made right
across the Group.
Changing the group managing
director is also part of the
company’s renewal cycle and
I know that Guy will bring lots of
new ideas and new skills. For my
part, although I am very sorry to
be leaving Finlays I am also excited
about the opportunity to live in
a new country and learn about
a completely different business.
I will always look back on my
time with Finlays with many fond
memories and I wish you all the
very best for the future.
My friends
were all so
envious about
my travels
At a farewell reception in London, Ron was
presented with a silver tea caddy and a rare
book illustrating antique oriental carpets,
one of his many passions.
The rolling green carpet of tea at our
Kericho tea estates.

10. 10
December 2015
Head Office News
Christiane Kuehne
Tea has been
Christiane’s
lifelong companion
As long as she can
remember there
has never been a
morning without tea.
Depending on the
locations it ranged from a superb
cup to just a warm one but it was
always tea !
Born an expatriate child in Paris
and raised for her formative years
in Brazil, Christiane hled a “modern”
nomad life into adult life, taking her
to Hong Kong and China in the late
80s, and later to Vietnam and then
to Switzerland, her home country.
In a global corporate role in charge of
Savory Food, she travelled all over the
world with frequent trips to Africa,
the US and Asia.
Christiane has had a long career with
Nestlé which encompassed a variety
of sales, operational and strategic
roles in very different environments.
Most rewarding has been the
nurturing of young talent and driving
the strategic shift of Nestlé into
nutrition and health. As a board
member of L’Oreal for the past four
years, she discovered the beauty
sector, a truly different but
fascinating world.
Having lived for many years in
different emerging countries,
Christiane and her husband are
convinced that the education of
children is pivotal for the future of
any developing country. As a result
they have set up the Wetter
Foundation which builds schools
in remote areas in Indochina.
When a child,
David developed
a passion for
innovation and much
to the annoyance
of his parents,
was continually
dismantling any
household mechanical instrument
to find out how it worked…
and needless to say was then unable
to put it back together.
Testament to his entrepreneurial and
innovative spirit, David has recently
started his own company which is
involved in taste modification
(reducing sugar, salt or fat in food
and bridging the “taste gap” to help
ensure consumer preference). The
“start-up” is funded by US based
Natural Advantage LLC a leader in the
area of natural flavour ingredients.
David has also started another
innovation company, based on a
partnership with a leading supplier
of encapsulated flavour systems.
Prior to going solo, David worked
for the world’s largest privately held
flavour company, Firmenich SA for
12 years latterly as a member of
the executive team leading global
innovation for their flavour division.
In the past David worked for the
Swiss Government and a research
institute in the UK.
He is also a Non Executive Director
of Treatt Plc, a leading UK based
provider of natural flavour
ingredients and solutions.
David is married to Helene, has two
children and is an avid sports
enthusiast who also likes to travel
to some of the world’s most
inhospitable places.
David J Johnston PhD
Over the past few months there have been
a number of changes to the composition of
the board of James Finlay Limited.
G
iles Weaver and Isabella
Wemyss retired as
non-executive directors
in July 2015. Giles had been a
director since 1996 during which
time he was a member of the Group
Audit Committee and Chairman of
The Finlays Pension Fund. Isabella
joined the Board in 2002 since when
her knowledge of tea and Kenya has
been invaluable to Finlays. The board
expressed its gratitude for the
contribution of both during a period
of considerable change for the Group.
David Johnston and Christiane
Kuehne were appointed
non- executive directors on 9 July
and 17 December respectively.
Both bring extensive and relevant
experience to their new roles as
outlined in the profiles elsewhere
on this page.
As reported elsewhere Martin Hudson
resigned as an executive director on
23 November 2015 following the sale
of the Horticulture Division to Sun
European Partners.
Board changes

11. 11
Volume 52/No.2
This takes many forms,of which
perhaps the most important
is education. This is provided by
community schools on Finlays’ estates
in Kericho but also through financial
support by Swire which pays for two
members of the Kericho community
to attend a UK university. Where
possible, the hope is that following
graduation, scholars return to take
up employment within Finlays,
reinvesting their knowledge and
further building their skills in the
practical environment of the workplace.
Current scholars Vicky Chepkorir
and Gilbert Bett visited Swire House
in September where they had lunch
with Robert Cutler, General Manager,
Personnel for Swire, and Anthony
Perkins, Group HR Director for Finlays
followed by a look around head office
and a visit to the Finlay Extracts and
Ingredients technical lab.
The investment in university
education in Kericho goes back some
years and is part of Finlays’ broader
investment in our communities.
Since his appointment as Managing
Director, Guy Chambers has
initiated a monthly “tea time with
Guy” session. Everyone gathers
together late in the afternoon in the
tea tasting area on the first floor in
Swire House, to drink tea, eat cake
and chat about topical issues.
Guy explained the idea behind the
tea time saying, “we all enjoy taking
a break and having a cup of tea so
I thought why not do this together
once a month? I use the opportunity
to give the team a quick update on
what’s happening around the Group.
It’s also a chance for anyone in the
team to ask questions. I always
promise not to talk for too long
because otherwise I won’t have a
chance to grab some cake before
it all disappears!
Our resident tea experts, Ottilie
Cunningham, Mark Peters and Huafu
Wang have treated us to some
wonderful and various infusions
grown from our own leaf on our
estates in Kenya and Sri Lanka.
It’s good to be able to have the
opportunity to try teas which we may
not otherwise get a chance to taste.
Guy has covered several interesting
topics so far including the history
of Finlays, the origins of the words
“chai” and “tea” and his thinking
behind the development of the
updated logo which Ash Kahrl
speaks about on pages 30 and 31.
Tea time with GuySwire scholars
Finlays have always been keen to invest in the communities
in which it operates.
Enjoying a cup of tea at the recent
tea time session
Gilbert Bett, Scholar (l); Anthony Perkins,
Group HR Director for Finlays (c), Vicky Chepkorir, Scholar (r).
35th pensioners’ reunion
This year’s Pensioners’ reunion
broke with past tradition being a
much more informal affair held in
the roof top restaurant of Glasgow’s
Carlton George Hotel on 18 June.
The absence of goody bags didn’t
seem to be too much of a concern
for the 35 or so pensioners who
spent an enjoyable few hours
reminiscing about old times. The
event was hosted by Duncan Gilmour,
now himself technically a pensioner,
and Bob Gray, both of whom gave
brief presentations on what was
happening in today’s Finlays.
The new venue and less formal
atmosphere were generally thought
to have been a success. As yet we
have still to agree final details for
next year’s London reunion but the
date has been fixed for Thursday
2 June. Invitations will be issued in
April next year but if you know that
you are not on our mailing list for
this event and would like to attend
please contact Michaela Halse whose
details are shown on page 3.

12. 12
December 2015
Group News
Road safety week
The main focus was of the
initiative to promote safer roads
for all users by encouraging people
to “drive less, live more”.
Head Office and FEI in Swire House
showed a series of road safety videos
to raise the awareness of safe cycling
and driving, as well as being prepared
for winter weather and reduced
visibility in dark mornings and
evenings.
Finlay Beverages showed a
presentation on a loop every hour on
their canteen televisions focusing on
drink driving, using mobile phones
whilst driving and vehicle safety on
site. Staff also had the opportunity
to enter a wordsearch competition
to win £25 of Tesco vouchers.
JFK put together a road show on 24
November led by Reuben Langat of
the H&S Committee. The Kenya police
were invited to participate and led a
procession of vehicles which started
from the Kapsongoi barrier
at the main entrance to Finlays
all the way to the Kymulot stage.
High vis jackets were given out to
motorbike riders and signs were
posted at strategic locations with
anti drink-driving, anti speeding
and anti overloading road safety
messages for road users.
Sri Lanka Tea Estates at Ingiriya
held several awareness sessions
to celebrate Road Safety Week.
The traffic divisions of the various
regional police stations were also
drafted in to help get the message
over about traffic regulations and
the responsibility of all road users
to comply.
In Colombo, education sessions were
held promoting the “drive less, live
more” message encouraging people
to reduce vehicle use by walking,
cycling or using public transport.
All businesses throughout the Group took part in Road Safety Week from 23 to 29 November.
This is an initiative which is run annually by a charity called Brake and was observed by
thousands of schools and workplaces throughout the UK. Julian Davies, Director Compliance
& Risk, challenged businesses across the Group to take part.
Brakethe road safety charity
Kindly sponsored by
sober
silent
slow secure
Pledge at brake.org.uk/pledge
Pledge to
save lives
sharp sustainable
JFK road safety week
activity team

13. 13
Volume 52/No.2
James Finlay Kenya
Colombo
Beverages
Head Office
Tea Estates Sri Lanka
A selection of the activities that took place across the Group during road safety week.
We share photos here from across the Group.

14. 14
December 2015
Tea Estates Kenya News
A
t the time of writing the
intense rains that were
predicted to start falling in
early October have yet to materialise.
The low production levels caused by
the drought in the first quarter
resulted in our cost of production
being higher than budgeted. This,
despite improved prices on the
Mombasa tea auction, has resulted in
our financial performance remaining
behind budget, with little chance of
full recovery by the end of the year.
The recent depreciation of the
shilling against the US dollar will
provide some benefit in the long
term, but in the meantime has simply
led to an increase in the cost of
imported goods. Chomogonday are
to be commended for attaining
second prize in the Commercial PD
(Pekoe Dust) category at the annual,
trade show in Nairobi. Under the
speciality tea category we took top
place in the Orthodox, White tea and
Purple tea classes.
The Central Services division has also
experienced a torrid year, with hydro,
logging and sawmill all performing
below budget. As a result, with a view
of reducing cost and increasing
efficiency, we have carried out
detailed reviews of each of these
service providers.
At the end of June, 14 colleagues
from around the globe converged in
Kericho to attend the biennial inter
country plantation meeting.
Stephen Mosongo retired at the end
of May after 32 years of dedicated
service. We wish Stephen and his
family well in their new endeavours.
David Kirui, formerly factory
manager, Changana, was appointed
as group manager to succeed
Stephen. Caroline Lloyd, who was
instrumental in strengthening the
Maintaining Ethical Business (MEB)
programme, has relocated to France
with her husband Matt. We are very
grateful for the significant progress
made by Caroline in the short time
that she was with us and welcome
Dorothy Booker to take forward this
most important programme as the
new Kericho Welfare Manager.
Simeon Hutchinson
Managing Director
The weather, on which so much of the
success of our business depends, has been
fairly erratic throughout 2015, and by
mid-year there was an increasing amount
of coverage in the media about the
potential development of an El Nino and
the predictions that it was likely to be
stronger than the 1997/98 event
On 9 September the senior
management team together with their
spouses met at Mara Mara Club, to
say farewell to Ron Mathison ahead
of his move to Singapore, and to
welcome Guy Chambers as the new
Group Managing Director.
The Tea Futures 2030 Initiative for
Sustainable Landscapes (ISLA) South
West Mau project was launched at the
end of June in a function attended by
the Governors of both Kericho and
Bomet counties. A number of ‘kick
start’ projects have commenced,
including the rehabilitation of various
degraded areas within the forest.
Finlays are leading the rehabilitation
of an area adjacent to the Mara Mara
forest station, using trees purchased
from community tree nurseries that
had been established under the
Bongo Surveillance Project – such
involvement of the forest adjacent
communities will be key to the long
term prosperity of the forest.
Business update

15. 15
Volume 52/No.2
Appointment of
Dorothy Booker
Ball games/Tea directorate
marathon
On 15 November Finlays Kericho
personnel congregated at
Kaproret stadium for the finals
of various sporting competitons.
This years’ winners, who all retained
trophies won last year, were football
– Central Zone, volleyball – Northern
Zone and netball – Kitumbe Zone.
In May a group of 30 employees
participated in the Kericho Tea
Directorate of Kenya International
Marathon. In addition a further
four participated in the national
championships held in Nairobi.
Since its inception in 2010, the
Finlays Charitable Trust (FCT) has
completed 30 projects, 20 of which
have now been commissioned. There
are 32 ongoing projects, all worth
over Ksh. 75M. From the dry Cherara
secondary school in Chilchila ward
to the green Kaptebeswet secondary
school the story has been the same;
great appreciation from the
community for Finlays contribution
towards education in the two
counties of Bomet and Kericho.
From the loamy Solyot secondary
school in Bomet County to the breezy
Saramek secondary school in Kericho
county, reaction from the students
has been amazing. Academic
performance has risen as have
the number of students enrolled.
The Swire Educational Trust (SET)
has made a big impact by sponsoring
14 more university students doubling
the number to 28 who benefit
from annual scholarships to local
universities. It also sponsors two
students who are selected annually
for Masters degree programmes
in the UK. Three students have
graduated with two now employed
by Finlays.
The farmers, supported by Finlays,
have now seen the fruits of their own
efforts. Each cooperative is stable
and progressing well despite a few
challenges. All but one now owns
brand new offices.
The earnings of farmers, who
produce Masingi and Bondet Marks,
have been reasonable despite a
difficult year when both prices
and volumes were very low.
Fintea, the umbrella Union has
managed to co-ordinate all the
activities of it’s cooperatives despite
the loss of its pioneer chairman who
passed away last year. The Fintea
Sacco (credit union), currently in its
infancy, is taking shape. It intends to
advance low interest loans to farmers
and is working with other institutions
which aim to improve the well-being
of farmers.
A crop diversification project has
had challenges but great lessons
have been learnt. There are now 133
farmers compared to the original 249
while the crop yield have exceeded
111 tons and income to farmers was
Ksh. 3.8m. More effective strategies
are now being put in place to increase
total production and yield per
hectare. A few farmers are exploring
ways of irrigating their farms during
the dry season. This will enable them
to benefit from higher prices when
demand is stronger. Fairtrade sales
have seen the farmers receive
premiums amounting to over
Ksh.39M, 87% of which has gone
into community development
projects through the five primary
cooperatives.Watch this space for
more information on how we tackle
our corporate social responsibility!
Finlays Charitable Trust
On 18 May, Dorothy Booker was
appointed as Welfare Manager.
Reporting to the Human Resource
Director, Dorothy provides leadership
and support in the development and
implementation of staff, family
welfare and child protection policies
and procedures. Dorothy has over
nine years’ experience in welfare and
related work gained from various
organisations which include ’ Living
with Hope Centre, Mercy Orphans
Support Project, Omega Foundation
and Life Ministry.
University scholarship (local)
beneficiaries for 2015 with Managing
Director, FCT trustees and Kericho
government officials

16. 16
December 2015
Tea Estates Kenya News
Fairtrade Africa Expo - 2015
On 24 September JFK celebrated
Fairtrade Africa’s 10th
anniversary. Over 200 producers and
traders attended the event, including
workers from fairtrade flower, tea,
and coffee farms.
Fifteen years ago there were just
10 fairtrade producer organisations
in Africa and there were no
opportunities for them to connect
or collaborate. That began to change
with an initiative by pioneer fairtrade
coffee cooperatives in East Africa to
form a regional network to exchange
information . The idea caught on,
more regional networks followed,
culminating in the opening of the
first Fairtrade Africa office in Moshi,
Tanzania in 2005.
The expo comprised three parts,
a conference, an exhibition and
business to business focus group
sessions.
The conference focused on the
outlook for sustainable agriculture
and development in East Africa over
the next 10 years. Presentations
covered challenges to ethical trade
& sustainability, sustainable
consumption in Africa and included
case studies on the impact of
fairtrade.
The exhibition showcased fairtrade
certified products and services
including live presentations, value
added products, resource materials
and other relevant merchandise.
Finlays had the opportunity to
showcase some of the top tea grades
from Chomogonday, Kymulot and
Kitumbe factories in two categories
of “conventional” and “specialty” teas
in the primary grades of BP1, PF1, PD,
orthodox and purple. The stand
stood out from the rest and was
visited by among others, the British
High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr
Chris Turner
The focus group sessions provided
an opportunity for producers,
traders, service providers and players
in the fairtrade value chains to
discuss emerging issues including
workers’ rights & living wage, gender
& leadership, compliance, innovative
finance mechanisms, and policy
& advocacy.
Dr Chris Turner gave a keynote
address on building a sustainable
future for agriculture.
Show Tea awards 2015
Hosted by the Agriculture Fisheries
and Food Authority, the chief
guest was Mr Adan Mohamed, Acting
Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Livestock.
As part of the Nairobi International
Trade Fair, the Tea Directorate held
a competition to determine the best
teas across a range of categories
including both commercial and
specialty.
In the commercial category,
Chomogonday Factory were the
second highest valued PD in a class
of 76. The tea was valued at $4.04.
In the specialty category Finlays
was also successful in the following
classes;
– Highest priced orthodox tea
valued at $4.44
– Highest priced purple tea
valued at $18.00.
– Highest priced white tea
(Silver Tips) valued at $185.00
In addition, Finlays was awarded the
first prize for the most innovative
factory project in the ‘Best Practices
in Climate Change Adaptation and
Mitigation Competition – 2015’
This was in recognition for the
installation of solar wall panels to
harness green energy for use in its
continuous withering facilities at
Chomogonday factory. The company
also came second in the Estates,
Factories and Farms category of the
same competition in recognition for
its implementation of various
sustainability initiatives including
harnessing of green energy through
solar and biogas projects, waste
management, installation of energy
saving stoves in villages and
environmental conservation.
The 10th National Tea Drinking Day was marked this year
during the Sun Downer Industry Awards Gala Dinner held
on 9 October at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi.
Competition winners with their trophies

17. 17
Volume 52/No.2
Tea Estates Sri Lanka News
T
he north east monsoon which
should be falling in the Eastern
sector has instead affected
Colombo and the southern parts
of the island which have seen
unprecedented rainfall. That said,
tea volumes are in line with the
corresponding period last year whilst
the rubber crop has exceeded that
of the previous year.
We have cut back on purchases of
outgrower leaf due to weakening
auctions prices and the large volumes
of withdrawals due to lack of demand
as not to do so would have resulted
in a heavy strain on our working
capital.
Despite a global shortfall of tea,
Colombo auction prices have
continued to fall from a high of Rs
510 per kg in January this year to Rs
368 in September, a drop of 28% or
the equivalent of USD1. This is said
to be due to the unrest in the Middle
East, the sanctions imposed on Iran
and Russia and the crash of the
Russian rouble. As a result we think
it prudent for Sri Lankan exporters
to look to some of the new attractive
markets which are opening up across
the world.
The current problems are beyond
the control of the growers, but
unfortunately it is the plantation
companies which are coming under
the most pressure to tighten their
belts in order to sustain the industry
during these challenging times.
Our managers have responded well,
with the unit cost of tea and rubber
lower than both the previous year
and budget, despite the reduction
in purchases of out grower leaf
referred to above.
Revenues from ancillary crops,
hydro and timber have contributed
in excess of Rs 200 million to the
end September, with expectations
of more to come in the final quarter.
The Newburgh green tea project
continues to progress well, with
margins exceeding that of the
previous year and budget.
Our partners remain supportive
notwithstanding the difficulties
currently being experienced.
The estates we reclaimed in 2014
are progressing well although there
is still more to be done but I am
confident that our team will tackle
outstanding issues in the New Year.
Although the cost per unit of tea
has reduced by a third (still
comparatively high) across all the
re-claimed estates, the drop in the
tea price unfortunately has meant
that these improvements have not
been reflected in the bottom line
as we had envisaged.
Naresh Ratwatte
Chairman & MD
In keeping with the festive season, I wish
I had some better news to report but
unfortunately the converse is the case.
The crash in both tea and rubber prices
coupled with erratic weather which seems
set to continue for the rest of the year has
meant that the business continues to struggle.
Finally, some good news!
In September we opened our new
show piece green and oolong tea
factory at Waldemar so look out for
Waldemar oolong and green teas
from Sri Lanka in the New Year.
In summary, with our recent
investment in two CTC factories we
have doubled our capacity for CTC
production and with Waldemar
coming into production we have also
increased our green tea production
capacity by 100% whilst being able
to produce oolong tea using the latest
state of the art equipment.
Business update

18. 18
December 2015
Tea Estates Sri Lanka News
‘Promoting Sustainable Biomass
Energy Production & Modern Bio-
Energy Technologies in Sri Lanka’ is a
national project funded by the Global
Environment Facility (GEF), United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) and implemented
by the Ministry of Environment and
Renewable Energy (MOERE).
Priya Gunewardene, Head of Forestry
and Ancillary Crops, represents the
Ceylon Planters’ Association (CPA)
on the project. The plantation sector
as represented by the CPA has been
identified as a major biomass energy
user in Sri Lanka and Priya is actively
involved in component II of the
Murali Harmony Cup 2015
Visit of Christiane Kuehne
Ahead of her appointment as a
non-executive director of James
Finlay, Christiane Kuehne visited
Sri Lanka Tea Estates in September.
During her stay, she was shown
Delmar and Concordia estates as
well as the Courtlodge tea factory
and the Passara group of estates,
where she was able to see crop
diversity initiatives involving the use
of previously uneconomical tea land
to grow rubber, forestry, cinnamon
and pepper.
Christiane also visited Newburgh
green tea factory and observed
the dual CTC & orthodox tea
manufacturing facilities at
Hapugastenne Tea Estate.
GEF/ UNDP/ FAO bio energy project consultants
visit Tea Estates Sri Lanka
project which is the removal of
barriers for sustainable fuel wood
production in Sri Lanka. Priya is also
a member of the technical advisory
committee developing standard
specifications for sustainably
produced fuel wood.
On 29 September, a team of
consultants and FAO project officials
visited fuelwood plantations at
Galbode and Alupola estates to study
best practices and species selection.
The project will work closely with Tea
Estates Sri Lanka to introduce wood
chips as firewood for tea drying
instead of eucalyptus logs.
Central Office annual excursion
The company’s staff welfare
society organised this year’s
annual excursion to Centara
Ceysands Resort & Spa at Bentota
Peninsula. Situated between the
Bentota river and the Indian Ocean
on Sri Lanka’s south-western coast,
the event ran over two days in
September and was well attended
by directors, senior managers and
the staff of central office.
Access to the peninsula was on
a boat crossing the Bentota river.
Jet ski, banana boat rides and kayaks
were among the popular water
sports available. There was also a
family get-together in the evening
allowing everyone to socialise and
strengthen working relationships.
Boat rides through mangrove
swamps afforded views of birds and
crocodiles resting on the river banks
and were unforgettable experiences
for everyone.
The Kosgoda turtle hatchery
managed by turtle conservationists,
and the Aluthgama ‘Kande Vihara’
Temple was aslo visited.
Finlays co-sponsored the 2015
Murali Harmony Cup, an annual
cricket tournament which was
initiated by one of Sri Lanka’s greatest
cricketers, Muttiah Muralitharan, and
the Foundation of Goodness in 2011.
The project was launched with the aim
of supporting the reconciliation effort
in post war Sri Lanka, whilst at the
same time helping underprivileged
children, mainly in the north and east,
of the country through cricket.
Teams for the tournament which are
chosen from across the country are
primarily invited on a school basis
but in certain regions school children
combine to form a joint team to allow
for maximum representation from
across the island.
Outstanding players are identified by a
team of experts during the tournament
and are provided with opportunities
to develop their skills under leading
Sri Lankan coaches. It is hoped that
this will in turn lead to them playing
for leading cricket clubs in the country.
Finlays entered a combined team from
schools within the regions where the
Group’s tea estates are located.

19. 19
Volume 52/No.2
The Bibile estate, located on the
south east slopes of the central
hills only receives enough rains only
during the north east monsoon which
usually arrives in September and lasts
through until January. This means
that storage and flow regulation is
essential for successful crop
production.
During the dry spell, especially in
July and August, the estate faces
severe difficulties in finding water
with the perennial stream which
flows through the estate it’s the
only source of water.
The villages in the vicinity also face
the same problem during the dry
spell. However, there are many
manmade tanks known as ‘wewa’,
built by ancient kings which are
still available in the area for rain
water harvesting.
In order to try and resolve the
problems with water supply, Bibile
estate contacted the local irrigation
department to seek their help in
building a new tank to harvest
rainwater. At the same time, the
irrigation department were also
searching for a place to obtain a
suitable type of clay for the
Rainforest Alliance
In May, the Rainforest Alliance team
at the Hopton estate organised a
public exhibition on environmental
protection, health & safety and bio
diversity conservation with the
participation of school children,
estate employees’ children and
youth volunteers. The lead auditor
for Rainforest Alliance, Praveen
Chopadai, was the chief guest and
the aim of the exhibition was to
raise awareness of sustainable
management of farmland and
homesteads.
On its 79th anniversary, the Celyon
Planters’ Society honored Naresh
Ratwatte by showing its appreciation
for the dynamic role he has played in
the plantation industry as Chairman
and Managing Director of Finlays
Tea Estates. The award was presented
by the Honourable Speaker of
Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya on 26
September at Waters Edge, Colombo.
The first harvest from the bee
keeping trials on the Dammeria B
and Bibile estates took place in late
August and early September.
With the help of the Department
of Agriculture, the Dammeria B estate
produced 17.85kg of honey from
six hives, while the Bibile estate
harvested 26kg of honey from nine
hives. In total both estates maintain
a total of 40 hives.
Rainwater harvesting tank
restoration of the Malipotha tank
situated close to the Bibile estate.
The cost of restoring the Malipotha
tank has been estimated to be in the
region of Rs.212 million. Following
the proposed works, it will feed
202 hectares of agricultural land
in the Bibile area, being the largest
irrigation restoration project in
the area.
As the soil on the site identified for
the rain water harvesting tank on
the Bibile was exactly the type of clay
soil that the irrigation department
had been searching for, the estate
agreed to allow the soil to be
collected for the Malipotha irrigation
project. In return the estate benefited
from the free excavation for their
new tank.
Working together with the
irrigation department, we have now
constructed a new tank on the Bible
estate with a capacity to hold 66.6
million litres of rainwater which
will increase to 18.5 million litres
by the end of the second phase of
excavations, providing total rainwater
harvesting capacity of 85.1 million
litres per year.
Training on cinnamon
and coffee planting at
Delmar estate
The newly reacquired estates in
the Ragala zone are looking for
alternative crops which can be grown
on unproductive land. Trials of
cinnamon and coffee on the Delmar
estate have started, with the help
of the Sri Lankan agriculture
department.
On 8 October, the Delmar estate held
a training programme which included
officials from the Export Agriculture
Department, to educate staff on
cinnamon and coffee plantation
maintenance and processing.
Award for Naresh Ratwatte
Bee keeping

20. 20
December 2015
Casa Fuentes News
R
ecent presidential elections
went off reasonably
peacefully.
Over the past few months we have
recruited a number of new starters
including Fernando Perez Zambon,
our new Financial Controller and his
assistant, Marina Tirinato. Dennis
Carboni has been recruited to take
up the position of IT Manager and
Adriana Tarnowski as Laboratory
Analyst. Lastly, but not least we have
recruited Ruben Franco who will
manage technical health & safety
issues and Ricardo Acosta, who is
our new agronomist.
Good progress has been made with
health and safety improvements this
year with the introduction of dust
aspiration and wood chip systems.
Guillermo Rendon, Head of
Maintenance and Projects, represents
Casa Fuentes on the main Group
Health & Safety Committee.
A new office is being built in Obera
to house all our administration staff,
and is due to be completed by the
end of this year.
Various initiatives are ongoing to
improve the reporting systems across
the company to ensure that they are
in line with Finlays standards.
The current environment is very
challenging with high inflation and
strong competition for sales, but we
are looking forward to working with
Finlays and to taking Casa Fuentes
into an exciting new era.
The tea season started a month late this year
and didn’t get underway until November.
This was partly because the Government
failed to set the price for up-growers (the
people who grow the leaf for us), but also
because Casa Fuentes has had lots of rain
and flooding which has affected production.Antonio Fernández Espinoza
Managing Director
Business update

21. 21
Volume 52/No.2
Alejo started his career as an
operator in Oberá sorting plant,
and quickly progressed to managing
the administrative offices in the small
town of La Colonia 25 de Mayo,
80km from Oberá.
By 1991, he was managing the Tabay
factory and had started to investigate
green leaf processes, by testing
soil structure, fertilization, harvest
and pruning.
Every year on Labor Day, all
factories take part in a football
tournament organised by the social
club, followed by a great barbecue,
attended by all employees.
The winning team this year
was Campo Viera.
Labour Day is a public holiday in
Argentina and is celebrated on 1 May.
It honours the labor movement and
the contributions workers have made
to the strength and prosperity of
the country. It is also associated
with the start of spring.
Alejo Ramirez celebrates 40 years of service
As a result he increased harvested
leaf per hectare from 5,000kg to
18,000kg. This interested Instituto
Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
(INTA) who asked him to share his
knowledge with the tea producers of
Misiones at the Annual Capacitation
and Information Working Day which
takes place every August.
20 years of Imaflora
The Casa Fuentes team were recognised for
their outstanding performance
Alejo Ramirez recently celebrated 40 years of service
with Casa Fuentes.
Alejo Ramirez at
his celebration
On Tuesday 20 October, Ernesto
González, Operational Director
and Marcelo Scotto, Agronomist
Engineer, commemorated 20 years
of Imaflora in Piracicaba Brasil
Imaflora (Instituto de Manejo e
Certificação Florestal e Agrícola) is
a Brazilian, non-profit organization
that was established in 1995 to
promote the conservation and
sustainable use of natural resources
and to generate social benefits in
forestry and agriculture
As part of the celebrations there was
a seminar entitled ‘The Challenges
and Ways for Sustainability in
Rural Areas’ which looked at the
challenges for sustainability in rural
areas, specifically forestry, pulp
mills, coffee, cocoa, chestnuts, sugar
and livestock. All panelists agreed
that a key issue was “climate
change” and its impact on
sustainable agriculture.
Ernesto Gonzalez, Export Manager,
praised the entire team and said
‘we will continue on this path of
sustainable agriculture and
continuous improvement’.
This event was a significant one for
Imaflora and Casa Fuentes SACIFI
was honored to be recognised for
their outstanding performance in
operating ability and their
dedication to continuous
improvement as a sustainable
agriculture enterprise.
The social club
Inter country plantations meeting (ICPM), Kenya
For the first time Casa Fuentes took
part in a Finlays global meeting.
Our representatives at the ICPM
were Ernesto Gonzalez (Operational
Director), Sergio Campaya (Misiones
Manager), Marcelo Scotto
(Agronomist) and Guillermo Rendon
(Maintenance Manager).
The opportunity to exchange
information will be a great benefit
to Casa Fuentes and in particular will
help improve our production process.
The victorious Campo Viera footbal team

22. 22
December 2015
Extracts & Ingredients News
T
he internal re-focus which is
based on providing tailor made
solutions from traceable and
sustainable sources, is in response
to the changing face of our markets,
customers and consumers.
Whether these changes relate to
the development of our sustainable
supply programme, the improvement
of existing capacity, introduction of
new capacity or rapid expansion of
our innovation centres, they are
all focused on one thing …
the customer.
In order to fulfil this vision it is
critical that we have the right people
in place with the right skill sets.
To this end I am delighted to report
that during the past year we have
added much needed additional
resource across all our global
operations. This input of fresh talent
is great for the business, as it not
only grows our knowledge base and
expertise but also allows us to be
challenged on the way we think and
conduct our business. This in turn
helps facilitate productive change,
which in today’s high speed
environment is more important than
it has ever been if we are to remain
relevant and competitive. Heritage
and tradition are very important
within the mix and are valued both
by our employees and customers,
however we are acutely aware that
this must be balanced with the need
to innovate and evolve in order to
meet our customer’s ever changing
requirements.
Neil Willsher
MD
Since my last report the team have been
extremely busy focusing on the future
through the many improvement projects
we currently have underway around
the world.
The continued expansion of our
global operations and customer base
has meant that we have spent much
time engaging with current and
potential new customers at
roadshows and various industry
exhibitions across Europe, USA,
Japan and China. At these events we
continue to generate huge interest
in our expanding global product
portfolio of leaf teas and tea, coffee
& botanical extracts. We have been
delighted with customer interest
in certain specific developments
exhibited; especially those focused
on health and wellbeing and premium
speciality product offerings including
instant green teas, clean oolong tea,
concentrated aromas, regional
speciality extracts as well as iced
and cold brew coffees.
The global industry continues
its healthy growth albeit with
a slight slowdown due to the well
documented problems affecting
China. However, as a global leader
continually developing our unique
proposition from sourcing and
supply through to the manufacture of
tea, coffee and botanical extracts and
the provision of innovative customer
focused solutions, we are well placed
to win - the future looks very bright.
Business update

23. 23
Volume 52/No.2
The tea trading team in Swire
House ran tea tasting induction
demonstrations in November and
December for new staff and those
who have never experienced the tea
tasting process before. The sessions
were well attended and are planned
to become a more regular occurrence.
Over 120 distinguished guests,
alumni and students from the UK
and across Europe attended the
event, including China’s Ambassador
to the UK and Northern Ireland, the
Director-General of the Hong Kong
Economic and Trade Office in
London, as well as five University
Presidents, four Provosts, and other
Deans and Vice Presidents of many
of HKUST’s partner universities
across Europe.
Professor Sir John Pendry, HKUST
visiting Professor and Chair of
Theoretical Solid State Physics at
Imperial College London, and five
well-known professors from HKUST
gave lectures as part of the Seminar
of Science – Vision into the Future.
HKUST is a leading, international
research university, in the fields of
science, technology, business and
humanities. In just 25 years, HKUST
is now ranked amongst the top
universities globally. Swire’s campus
recruitment activities in HKUST
receive a lot of interest from their
students as a result of which it is
hoped that both will be able to
co-operate further in the the future.
Damin News
Mr Christian Johansen
has been appointed
COO and a Director
of Damin Food
International,
with effect from
1 September.
Mr Johansen joined the Swire Group
in August 2004 and worked in Swire
Beverages for ten years, where his
last role was Sales & Marketing
Director for Fujian Province.
New COO for Damin
Huafu attended HKUST’s 25th anniversaryFEI UK
Huafu Wang of FEI’s London office was invited by Professor
Tony Chan, the President of the Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology (HKUST) to attend of their 25th
anniversary celebrations which were held in London on
14 November.
George Slattery, Sales Room Manager with the tea
tasting set up and ready to go
Huafu Wang, Technical Manager, FEI (l) and
Professor Tony Chan (r) at the 25th anniversary celebrations
Patrick Lee held
several roles at
Hong Kong Aircraft
Engineering Co Ltd
which he joined
in August 1998 as
an Accounts Analyst.
He transferred to John Swire & Sons
(HK) Ltd in August 2015 from
where he was seconded to Damin
International Holdings Limited to
take up the post of Chief Financial
Officer for Damin Foodstuffs
(Zhangzhou) Co Ltd.
Patrick Lee
Prior to moving to Damin,
he was Managing Director of
Finlays Colombo PLC from
July 2014 to August 2015.
He is a graduate of Edinburgh
University, where he read Chinese.

24. 24
December 2015
Extracts & Ingredients News
Long Service
25 Years of Service
Patricia McGovern, HR Director
Antonio Botelho, Material Handler
As part of the Company’s social
responsibility program, Finlays
offers free education for the children
of employees on the Group’s tea
estates in Kenya. Over the years
Finlays has built and supports 15
schools, where more than 6,400
children attend classes. During
February, with the help of James
Calberson and Pat McGovern, a book
drive was organized in Florham Park
and Lincoln to help build a library
for the students. A special thank you
goes out to Charley Albert, the 10
year old daughter of Mike Albert who
works in Florham Park. When Charley
was told of this initiative, she
organized a drive of her own at her
school and worked tirelessly to
collect as many books as possible,
making her own posters and signs to
advertise the drive. Charley’s efforts
were so successful that the majority
of the books collected were from her
efforts alone! These books are now
on their way to Kenya where they will
be read and enjoyed by children on
the estates. We would like to thank
everyone who contributed to making
the book drive such a success.
Gez Williams, who is based in the
London office also organized a
similar drive with three boxes of
books being collected in Swire House
and sent to Kericho children.
Nigel McGinn
Vice President of
Operations
Nigel McGinn has
been appointed Vice
President of Operations
for FEI USA reporting
to CEO Steve Olyha. Nigel is
responsible for the United States
manufacturing operations, working
with business unit leaders to ensure
an alignment of group strategic goals.
With a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial
Food Technology, Nigel has been
involved in the food business across
the UK, Europe and the USA for the
past 26 years. Most recently he was
the Vice President of Operations for
Kettle Cuisine in Lynn, Massachusetts
where he was instrumental in the
designing, building and commissioning
of a purpose built refrigerated
food facility.
Nigel is originally from Northern
Ireland. He is married to Catherine
and, in his spare time, is a
motorsport enthusiast.
Appointments
Robert Hobson
National Account
Director
Robert joined the
company in June and
brings over 20 years
of experience in
the food and beverage industry.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree
in International Business, as well as
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese
Mandarin from the University
of Maryland.
In his spare time, Robert enjoys
spending time with his family. He
also enjoys restoring old cars, and
building furniture in his woodshop.
Bob Soares
Quality Assurance
Manager
Bob joined the
company in July to
oversee the daily
operation of the
laboratory and staff, including food
safety and quality. Bob has nearly
20 years’ experience in several SQF
certified facilities and holds a
Bachelor of Science degree in Human
Performance Physiology from the
University of Massachusetts.
In his spare time, Bob enjoys amateur
astronomy, collecting vintage space
memorabilia and spending time with
his family.
Stephen Olyha takes over as CEO
In October, Steve
Olyha was promoted
from Chief Operating
Officer to Chief
Executive Officer of
Finlay Extracts &
Ingredients USA.
He takes over from
Pat O’Keefe who left the Group after
eight years. Steve is a key member
of the Group management team
developing strategy for the global
growth of the tea and coffee extract
businesses.
Steve brings over 25 years’
professional experience across
multiple business environments.
He began his career in the Maxwell
House Division of General Foods
Corporation.
Most recently, he served as CEO
of REV2Networks, a privately held
software and solutions company
specializing in business performance
improvement and enterprise risk
management. Prior to that, he served
as Vice President of World-Wide Sales
for Unisys Corporation, and has held
numerous other senior management
positions.
Magical Christmas 2015

25. 25
Volume 52/No.2
T
he market in which we operate
continues to be extremely
tough with brand and private
label fighting for the same customers
through price and promotions.
Mainstream black tea has recovered
slightly with sales by value up 1%
mainly driven by brands, although
much of this is via deep cut
promotions. The fruit & herbal and
green tea markets continue to grow
in both volume and value terms
whilst speciality tea volumes have
been flat although there has been
a 7% growth in value.
Our tertiary brands, Café Express,
Penny Black and Farthings tea
continue to go from strength to
strength. Sales year on year are
currently 170% ahead with a key
Café Express feature in Aldi
delivering strong growth. A 160s
teabag line is being launched into the
discount sector to meet increasing
demand from consumers.
Total roast & ground coffee sales are
strong but standard roast & ground
coffee sales are flat. Growth has been
driven by coffee pods which are now
worth a staggering £117million and
are growing by 22% in volume and
34% in value. This does not include
the estimate £150 million of
Nespresso pods which are sold
on-line or via Nespresso stores.
The ‘compatible’ Nespresso pod
market which is sold via retail
grocery is now worth £5 million per
annum which is an increase of 122%
on the previous year. Before the end
of the year we will enter this growing
‘compatible’ market with four lines
under our London Coffee Company
brand. We will also work with our key
coffee customers to launch private
label options although this market
is currently 100% brand dominated.
The London Tea Company is starting
to pick up speed, particularly in the
UK where our key distribution
partners are introducing new
customers and listings every week.
With sales up 60% year on year and
confidence growing, we are investing
in additional sales and marketing
resource and increasing marketing
spend to drive trials and awareness
with our consumers. As a result
Sophie Johnson has joined as
Marketing Manager from Concha y
Toro wines and Shyam Lakhani as
Business Development Executive
from Kingfisher Breweries. We will
also be recruiting a Territory Manager
to drive sales in Central London. We
have recently launched the ‘Brew
Crew’ which is a small but distinctive
addition to our range of gifting
products which will be sold in
premium gifting stores. Further
details can be had from our website
at www.londontea.co.uk.
Ian Bryson
MD
The Beverages turnaround continues and is
well ahead of plan whilst The London Tea
Company, although behind budget, is
already 60% ahead of last years’ sales.
Working with our colleagues in
Extracts & Ingredients we are
investigating a number of projects
involving iced teas and coffees, liquid
tea and cold brew coffee about which
we hope to bring you more news in
future issues.
Finally during the first week of
November our South Elmsall site
was audited by the British Retail
Consortium gaining an AA Grade
which is the highest obtainable, an
excellent result following on as it
did from the green status we were
awarded after an unannounced Tesco
audit in September.
Sales data: Kantar 52 week ending
13th September 2015
Beverages News
Business update

26. 26
December 2015
Beverages News
Awards
Finlay Beverages’
Italian Espresso
beans 1kg bag
supplied to Booker
Wholesale have
won the Wholesale
Catering Q Award
for Hot Beverages.
This will result in the
beans being heavily
featured in-store as a
result of this success.
The Lichfield Speciality Green
Tea won the Café Q Award Gold.
This will greatly strengthen their
presence in delivering quality
products in the out of home café/
coffee bar market as well as the
Company’s general foodservice
customer base.
Girl Guides tea tasting
The purpose built African village
was complete with school,
marketplace and indigenous fruit,
vegetables and livestock to illustrate
the differences in farming, food and
lifestyle between the UK and African
countries. Around 5,000 school
children visited the site.
Derek and Daniel had their own stand
with maps of tea growing countries,
a real tea plant, and lots of different
tea memorabilia incliuding teapots,
tea tins and tea caddies.
Spar
Wear it pink for breast
cancer fund raiser
The children were also able to touch
and smell a variety of different
dried teas.
Derek and Daniel gave each group
of children a short talk and the
opportunity to taste teas. The most
popular were the fruit teas but to
finish the children tasted Lapsang
Souchong which is a very smokey
Chinese tea; they squealed with
laughter at this tea which they
said was “yukky”!
It was a truly memorable day for the
children and for Derek and Daniel.
Taste of Africa
On Friday 23 October Finlay
Beverages raised funds for the
Wear it Pink campaign; everyone
wore a pink item of clothing and the
production staff wore pink hairnets.
A whopping £192 was raised.
After a successful tasting session
in Spar Head Office, Harrow,
Finlay Beverages have secured two
new listings commencing December
2015.These are Earl Grey 50s & Green
Tea 50s.
Both lines will be supplied direct
to the five Spar distributors –
Appleby Westward Group Limited –
Saltash, CJ Lang – Dundee,
AF Blakemore – West Midlands,
Henderson Wholesale Ltd – Ireland
and James Hall – Preston who
collectively cover over 2,400 stores
within the UK.
This is a great addition to our
convenience market business
following the company’s success
with Costcutter.
Daniel Moore, tea buyer & taster,
teamed up with the Rossington
girl guides in Doncaster to conduct
a mini tea tasting experience.
The session helped the Girl Guides in
working towards their ‘Senses Badge’.
Daniel did a great presentation about
‘bush to cup’, followed by an
interactive tea tasting session.
In July Derek Horton and Daniel Moore, tea buyers and
blenders, attended the Kids Country Food and Farming event
which was part of the Taste of Africa celebration at the East
of England Showground in Peterborough.

27. 27
Volume 52/No.2
Awards
The London Tea Company has
been awarded another five Great
Taste awards! Our Rooibos, Rooibos
Chilli Chocolate and Raspberry,
Ginger & Vanilla pyramids, as well
as our Peach & Rhubarb envelopes
all won whilst the loose leaf London
Breakfast won a coveted 2 star award.
London Tea received yet more
positive feedback on their blends
and high praise for the ‘stand-out’
gifting lines at the Speciality Fine
Food Fair held at London Olympia
in September. The trade were given
a teaser of their new gifting lines,
which along with the rest of London
The Brew Crew The great tea giveaway
Tis the season to increase brand
recognition! Throughout
November five lucky winners, one
from each of the events we attended,
one from PR and one from our social
medial channels each won a year’s
supply of London Tea blends.
London Tea
October saw our brand new
London Tea gifting lines are
hitting the shelves! These are already
receiving wonderful feedback from
both customers and consumers alike.
Samples have been sent to the likes
of Selfridges and The Indian Tea
Company and are already being
sold at ‘We Built This City’, recently
awarded best shop in Soho 2015
by Time Out Magazine.
Tea’s fantastic range were offered for
sale at three pre-Christmas events
held in November: the BBC Good
Food Show, the Taste of Winter Show
and the Ideal Homes Show, which
attracted a total audience of over
150,000 visitors.
Events
Appointments London Tea
Sophie Johnson,
Marketing Manager
Sophie joined London
Tea in August, from
Concha y Toro where
she looked after the
Casillero del Diablo,
Frontera and Fine Wine brand
portfolio.
Shyam Lakhani,
Business Development
Executive
Shyam is our newest
London Tea recruit,
joining in September
from his role of
Regional Account Manager at
Kingfisher Beer Group.
Long service
Gary Little
Gary Little, Mechanical
Engineering Technician,
celebrated 25 years
working at Finlay
Beverages.
Karen Johnson
Karen Johnson,
Customer Services
Manager, Supply Chain
celebrated 25 years
with Finlay Beverages
on 7 November.
Karen was one of the first employees
to work on the South Elmsall site
having started before production
commenced in the factory. She joined
as an office clerk doing general
administraion work including
answering the telephones for the site.
Retirement
Tony Whitwham
Tony Whitwham,
Production Operator
(Coffee) retired on
4 November after
10 years with the
company.

28. 28
December 2015
Sri Lanka News
S
ri Lanka had both presidential
and parliamentary elections in
2015. With these tumultuous
events completed we can now look
forward to an increased focus on
economic development and growth.
Our tea packing business has done
especially well this year benefiting
from low tea prices which have
helped the company as a whole
outperform its budget. At the same
time we were very sad to lose our
General Sales Agency business for
Cathay Pacific. We had been agents
since 1991 but when Cathay started
a direct-daily service between Hong
Kong and Colombo in October this
gave them the impetus to take over
the management of their Si Lankan
interests with effect from 1 January
2016. We wish them well.
Results to date have been helped
by exchange rate movements which
have been particularly favourable
for our tea and insurance brokering
businesses. Unfortunately low tea
prices and favourable exchange rate
gains won’t last forever and we do
expect tea prices to strengthen in
2016. This will bring a cheer to our
sister companies running tea estates
but here at Finlays Colombo we will
need to work even harder to find new
customers and grow our various
business lines.
The tea business has done well to
increase its presence in Saudi Arabia
with our brand now available in new
regions of the country. At the same
time a lot of effort is being put into
generating a wider customer base
across other markets.
Our insurance brokering business
has done well in a difficult market,
benefiting from strong policy renewal
management. However, it is proving
very difficult to generate profitable
new business in the current, very
competitive, insurance market.
Consolidation is expected as there
are far too many brokering
companies chasing too little business.
We should come out of such a
process stronger than before but
this will take patience and skill.
The Pest Control and Hygiene
businesses continue to grow at a
steady pace helped by expansion of
our branch network in Kandy and
Galle. The timing of these new branch
openings looks right as they have got
off to a reasonably good start.
Finally our Cold Store has
experienced some fairly dramatic
changes in customer mix during 2015
– never a welcome development for
a cold storage operation – but has
weathered these successfully by
focusing on bulk product storage
opportunities and has ended the
year strongly. 2016 will see a major
installation of solar panels on the
roof of the cold store in order to
offset anticipated increases in
electricity costs. This is an exciting
project for us and will be one of the
largest of its type in the country.
2015 has turned out to be an exciting year
for both Sri Lanka and Finlays Colombo.
Across the country a sense of optimism
is in the air.Hunter Crawford
CEO
Business update

29. 29
Volume 52/No.2
Hawaiian night
Illuminate 15
Finlays Colombo took on the
sponsorship of ‘Illuminate 15’,
a community service project organised
jointly by the Rotaract Clubs of the
Universities of Moratuwa and Sri
Jayewardenapura together with the
Ministry of Education and Wijeya
Newspapers Limited.
The project is aimed at enhancing
the English language skills and soft
skills of underprivileged youngsters
in Sri Lanka. The school selected by
the Ministry of Education for this
project is Dudley Senanayake College
in Narahenpita. The majority of the
students are from underprivileged
backgrounds whose poor English
skills mean that they rarely get the
opportunity to make their dreams
a reality despite any potential they
may have. Illuminate 15 will focus
on helping these students to pass the
Ordinary Level English exam and then
continue to encourage and develop
their interest in the English language.
In addition to providing the necessary
finance, Finlays will also evaluate,
feedback and offer mentoring to
make the project more meaningful
to the beneficiaries.
Finlays Colombo are private sector
pioneers in the preservation of
timber by a vacuum pressure
impregnation technique using
Celcure AP (CCA) wood preservative,
This was introduced to the country in
1992 as a service to the construction
industry and other users of timber
under a franchise agreement with
Rentokil.
The main objective of the treatment
is to protect the timber from wood
destroying agents such as wood
borers, fungi and termites and
enhance its durability. Celcure CB
90 (CCB) is also used in the process
having been approved for use by the
Register of Pesticides in Sri Lanka.
This is a water borne patented wood
preservative and is certified under
ISO 9001 : 2008 by the Sri Lanka
Standards Institution which gives
the customers the assurance of
an effective treatment service.
The company’s main customers
are the leisure sector and the
construction industry followed by
government led initiatives and house
builders.Timber treated by us is also
exported to the Maldives to be used
in hotel projects.
As the current treatment method has
been used for many years, a visit was
paid recently to Malaysia to explore
new technologies and techniques
some of which will be included in
our operations in the future.
Pioneering timber preservation
Health and safety strategy
Finlays Colombo places the highest
priority on ensuring that its
facilities are safe for employees and
all those who visit company sites. This
is key to ensuring operational
efficiency and sustainability.
Finlays Corporate Health and Safety
Management System (CHSMS) is a
structured approach to achieving
our health and safety objectives
and managing health and safety
risks associated with our
business.
All employees are
encouraged to contribute
ideas towards greater
health and safety in the
workplace, and also to
become aware of what
good safety performance
actually means in terms of
their own jobs.
The main factors used to measure
the effectiveness and performance
of our health & safety executive
management system are (1)
accident reporting and investigation
which paves the way for recording ,
investigating and analysing all
incidents and accidents; (2) the
assessment of risks involved
in all of the organisation’s activities;
and (3) task oriented and site
specific training/initiatives
and objectives, which are
implemented across
the Group.
Finlays Recreation Club, which
organises sporting and
recreational activities for Finlays
Colombo staff, held its annual
get-together on 5 September with a
“Hawaiian Night” theme. The event
was held at the Barracuda Sea Food &
Grill restaurant which is located on a
beach, south of Colombo. Over 300
members and guests attended an
evening of games and dancing. the
main highlights of which were the
limbo and traditional baila dancing
competitions.
Timber being vacuum
pressure treated

30. 30
December 2015
Ever evolving
The discerning reader will notice that our logo and the Finlays
magazine have a brand new look. These updates result from the
recent refocus of the wider Finlays business. Ash Kahrl, Group Head
of Corporate Communications explains more.
Our brand is one of our most
important assets. It is the means by
which we manage our reputation.
It is what we want people to think
and feel about us, the emotional
connection we make with our
customers and employees, as well
as the level of quality and trust
that we provide. The logo is an
important part of our brand.
1Coat of arms
1876
It is very rare for a commercial
concern to have the privilege of
using and registering a city’s coat
of arms, but in view of Finlays
prominent position in trade, the
Glasgow City Council duly granted
permission for the use of the
City’s Arms as a trade mark by
the Company, which was registered
in 1876 under No. 5238.
The ever evolving
Finlays logo through
the years
Over the years as
Finlays has grown
and evolved, so
has its logo.”
1 2
3 4
5
GROUP
6

31. 31
Volume 52/No.2
2Heritage crest
Post 1909
Over the years as Finlays has grown
and evolved, so has its logo. Each
logo iteration was seen at the time
as a logical step in the process of
change and development within
Finlays.
3Thistle logo
Early 1960s
Created when the company
was still based in Scotland,
the thistle reflected our
then heritage, personality
and values. These stem
from our rich history and
passion for producing
responsible, innovative
and sustainable products.
4Old leaf logo
1998
The ‘leaf’ symbol is derived from
our historic tea leaf equity; an
important part of our heritage and
is the business that has been most
influential in terms of our
evolution, our ways of working, our
values and our personality.
5New leaf logo
2007
In 2007 the leaf graphic was
evolved to reflect the broader
values and personality of our group
of businesses, demonstrating
naturalness as well as our ability
to develop and grow.
61750 logo
2015
Our most recent logo
evolution shines a light
on our history. Our rich
past and tradition is
fundamental to what we
are today and we are proud
of our heritage and passionate
about our future.
In recent years we have been
much more rigorous in applying
consistency across all touch points,
supported with a set of clear
and comprehensive guidelines.
These guidelines provide the basic
elements of our brand identity
and show how we can express our
brand through the logo, colours,
photography and type.
All change
The magazine has also benefited
from an update. We have reverted
back to the original size of the
magazine when it was first printed
in the spring of 1963, a change
which we feel is easier to manage
and in line with many modern day
publications. The layout is designed
to be clean, classy and journal-like.
Inspiration for the editorial pages
has been taken from some of the
new style newspapers.
We have built and developed on the
successes of previous editions with
improved paper, ease of navigation,
more distinctive typography and
people-driven content. We believe
our readers seek a magazine that is
thought provoking with interesting
photography, which they’ll want to
read from cover to cover. It is
designed to be, and is often
recognised as, a barometer of life
at Finlays.
We have a
rich history
which is
fundamental
today
2
Post 1909
Heritage crest
1800 1900 2000
Early 1960s
Thistle logo
1998
Old leaf logo
2007
New leaf logo
2015
1750 logo
3 4 5
Finlays Magazine covers over the years
61
1876
Coat of arms

32. 32
December 2015
Meeting
consumer needs
F
inlays USA is very much geared
to developing innovative,
customer-led tea and coffee
extract solutions. A variety of
products are flavored for many of
the leading consumer brands in the
global food, dairy and beverage
industry. Our proactive solutions
approach utilizes the company’s
longstanding global tea and coffee
expertise at all stages in the
process, from sourcing to
extraction. We are able to provide
customer solutions in a wide range
of flavor applications including ice
cream, iced cappuccino, ready-to-
drink beverages, energy drinks,
yogurt, soy beverages, candy, snack
bars, and alcohol products.
Kim Cipriano, Director of Marketing, Finlay Extracts & Ingredients
USA, provides an insight into the exciting opportunities currently
being explored by the company.
In further positioning Finlays USA
as a solutions provider, we also
conduct market research for our
customers through the use of our
Solutions Center. This leading
center combines an R&D lab with
a consumer research site and a
relationship with the College of
Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales
University in Providence, Rhode
Island. We use our R&D skills
collaboratively with our customers
to deliver product solutions.
By conducting qualitative research
for new product insight we benefit
from a significant competitive
advantage in a growing marketplace.
Recent trends have
led us to focus on
sparkling tea and
cold brew coffee
both of which we
showcased at the
annual IFT Food
Expo tradeshow.”
Finlays stand at IFT,
Chicago
We use our
marketing R&D skills
in collaboration with
our customers to deliver
innovative product
solutions
EXTRACTS & INGREDIENTS

33. 33
Volume 52/No.2
Recent trends have led us to focus
on sparkling tea and cold brew
coffee both of which we showcased
at the annual IFT Food Expo
tradeshow. Sparkling tea is
increasing in popularity as
consumers in many countries
seek to reduce consumption of
carbonates (sodas) by turning to
alternatives like carbonated RTD
tea. Rapid growth of carbonated
RTD teas has been aided by
extensive new product development
globally with retail sales in this
category growing by 17% in 2014
to reach $839M. Carbonated
RTD tea sales in the US grew
23% in 2014 to reach
$529M, with health claims
aiding the majority of the
growth. The future of
carbonated RTD tea is very
positive, as producers take
advantage of beverage
consumers shopping around for
healthier alternatives to soda.
Tea offers versatility and goes well
with numerous fruits and herbs
allowing beverage makers to create
a wide range of flavor combinations.
As well-known brands like Lipton
and Talking Rain enter the category,
consumer awareness of carbonated
RTD tea is expected to grow. As an
example, the retail brand ICE grew
sales from $14K to $5M in one year.
In addition to the prototypes
presented at IFT Food Expo, our lab
team has provided sales staff with
samples for key customers
including sparkling blackberry
mint black tea and sparkling
mango orange black tea.
Also showing a recent market surge
is ‘cold brew’ which refers to the
process of steeping coffee grounds
at room temperature or cold water
for an extended period of time.
This results in a cold brew coffee
concentrate that is often diluted
with water or milk, served hot, over
ice, or blended. Cold brew coffee is
not to be confused with iced coffee,
which refers to coffee that is
brewed hot and then chilled by
pouring over ice or by adding ice.
Finlays USA offers customers
multiple cold brew product
offerings, including 100%
Arabica, Arabica/Robusta
Blend, 100% Colombian,
Fair trade, and Fair trade
Organic. In addition,
prototypes developed
recently include cold brew
latte and cold brew coffee
with almond milk. The cold
brew phenomenon is gaining
popularity amongst food service
chains such as Peet’s Coffee & Tea,
Chick-fil-A, and Starbucks.
Did you know that in the
United States the number one
non-alcoholic beverage trend in
2015 has been hand-crafted
flavored sodas? Many have
vegetable flavors such as cucumber,
and are showing more prominence
in the beverage market, frequently
in combination with fruit flavors in
teas. Rooibos tea, also known as red
tea, bush tea, and redbush tea, has
become one of the hottest trends of
the year.
Our new brand messaging proudly
positions Finlays USA at the
forefront of developing solutions
that specifically target these and
other new applications for tea and
coffee extracts.
Cold brew
coffee is not
to be confused
with iced
coffee
Finlays provides a
wide range of flavor
applications
Products from our
Solutions Center
Carbonated RTD tea
sales in the US 2014
$529M
Rapid growth of
carbonated RTD teas
has been aided by
extensive new product
development globally
$839M
Carbonated RTD tea
sales globally
17% 23%

34. 34
December 2015
Empowering women
C
alled Project Athena it
recognises that gender
equality and female
empowerment can’t be bolted on,
but must be ingrained in the
organisational culture, procedures
and practices if it is to influence all
the transactional processes within
that organisation. Through targeted
initiatives, governed by a policy
framework JFK strives to tackle all
gender based constraints within
the company.
As a commitment to gender equality
and female empowerment JFK
developed a Gender Equality and
Diversity policy and a strategic
framework which was informed by
key findings of a gender analysis
undertaken in July 2014. The policy
hopes to ensure that guidelines
put in place lead to a more gender
inclusive JFK. The strategic
framework is governed by the
following theory of change:-
Every country and
every culture has
tradition that is
unique and helps
make that country
what it is, but just
because something
forms part of your
past doesn’t make
it right. There is no
excuse for treating
women as second
class citizens.”
Barrack Obama, 2015
Janet Ruto was recently recruited as Gender Empowerment Manager
at James Finlay Kenya. She reports on a project which commits the
company to championing gender equality and empowerment of
women as a way of ensuring that all employees, regardless of their
gender, have the same opportunities to realise their potential.
Theory of change
TEA ESTATES KENYA
STRATEGIES OUTCOMES IMPACT
Gender responsive /
transformative policies
procedures, practices
development and operations
Gender quotas
Barriers / obstacles
preventing women from
climbing up the ladder and
entering traditional male
jobs identified and
addressed
Skills training and personal
development
Gender Awareness and
elimination of all
discriminatory practices
(direct indirect)
Monitoring learning
and accountability
(sex disaggregated data
routinely collected)
Gender
inclusive
JFK with 33%
representation
of women at
all levels by
2017
Elimination of structural
and attitudinal barriers and
practices that create and
reinforce sex segregation
in employment
Skills and experience of
women enhanced thus
increasing their
competitiveness for
recruitment and promotion
opportunities
Enhances chances for
recruitment / promotion
of women through set
quotas
Fair / transparent
recruitment and promotion
that takes in key
competencies

35. 35
Volume 52/No.2
Milestones
– Despite JFK’s history of being
male dominated, it has made
significant progress in increasing
the number of women at all levels
including higher levels of
management. Some of the key
decision making positions held by
women include the financial
controller, factory and tea estate
managers. Initiatives to increase
female representation include
management trainee programmes
and apprenticeships for women in
technology based jobs such as
plumbing, masonry, mechanics,
heavy machine operations and
electricians, all of which were
initially construed as a male
domain.
– To promote a gender-inclusive
work environment and increase
gender awareness, several training
sessions have been conducted for
different bands of staff and the
social committee. An organisational
gender structure has been
established with each unit having
gender champions who support
and monitor the gender deliverables
in accordance with the strategic
gender framework.
– To enhance women’s skills
development and experience,
several programmes have
been set up. These include
a lifeskills forum with role
models, mentoring/coaching
and women in leadership training.
The leadership training targets
talented women and supports
them by identifying the skills gap
and developing plans to enable
them to compete on an equal
footing with men for any
promotion opportunities.
Some of the key development
areas are balancing work and
family demands, the
identification of leadership style
and being an effective and
authentic leader in a male
dominated environment.
In eliminating all forms of
discrimination, both direct and
indirect, several policies have been
developed and continuous auditing
of processes is undertaken to
ensure compliance. Gender inclusive
automation processes have been
embraced.
Work opportunities
A number of women have been
trained on 20 mechanical tea
harvesting machines which are
operated by one person.
Other automated processes include
the log splitter and the ecolog
harvester and forwarder in the
forestry department. This has
ensured that jobs which initially
required physical strength can now
be done by both men and women.
Proactive monitoring is undertaken
on a monthly basis. The data being
collected is used to measure
progress and drive future strategy.
Key challenges
– Invisible barriers that are
ingrained within the subconscious
due to patriarchal socialisation,
resulting in an advantaged
position of men over women
within the system.
– Nature of the work – most of the
work demands physical strength
thus limiting female participation
in some areas.
– The conveyer system of the job
limits flexible working for women.
– Maternity and breastfeeding
times seem costly, hence some
managers prefer the men as
a cost cutting strategy.
– Gender roles (care giving and
household chores) are mainly
seen as female responsibilities
and these limit the time available
for professional development at
a personal level. This has resulted
in a significant skills gap between
men and women.
What is new on the gender desk?
JFK has launched a pilot project in
partnership with HIVOs, a Dutch
international non-government
organization. HIVOs women@work
campaign promotes and protects
the rights of workers. A baseline
survey has been undertaken and the
key findings from which will inform
the project design for the period
2016 – 2020.

36. 36
December 2015
W
e reported a year ago
on the benefits of our
new sustainable waste
management system which had
just recently been commissioned.
The biogas plant has now been in
operation for 17 months with the
combined heat and power system
having run for over 8000 hours
generating 1,189,655 kWh of
electricity and the same amount of
heat energy. During that time waste
from the flower farms and Saosa
factory has ensured continuous
production of gas and generation
of electricity.
The biogas yield of substrates fed
into the digester is fairly consistent
for all the substrates although
currently, the most important
with the highest output of biogas is
green tea waste followed by flower
waste and spent black tea. So far
we have recycled 1,477,000 kgs of
flower waste, 1,736,000 kgs of spent
green tea waste and 3,973,000 kgs
of spent black tea waste.
The digested substrate is discharged
into a slurry lagoon before being
applied as a soil fertiliser to timber
plantations, new field clearings and
tea plantations. Trials on the
application of slurry to tea are
ongoing with a view to automating
as much of the process as possible.
The benefits realised to date
include:
– Production of electricity
(160 kWh) and heat energy
(160kWh).
– Waste reduction and the
elimination of the need to
dump bio-waste.
– Reduced greenhouse gas
emissions and the mitigation
of global warming
– Expenditure saved by the
substitution of chemical
fertilisers with slurry as
a bio-fertiliser
– Income from the sale of slurry.
– Savings in the cost of disposal
and treatment of substrates-
mainly flowers and spent leaf
– Avoided costs of spreading flower
waste in the forests
– Job creation
In conclusion, the plant has
provided a forward-thinking
sustainable approach in terms
of power and heat generation,
waste disposal and a source
of bio-fertiliser. It has also
demonstrated that the technology
is robust and has the potential to
satisfactorily deal the waste from
both flowers and tea, the disposal
of which has been a problem for
Finlays whilst crucially biogas is a
renewable energy source. We hope
to put forward an expansion plan
to double the size of the plant once
the availability and quantities of
the waste are confirmed.
Biogas bounty
Denis Kibet Cheruiyot, Plant Manager and Hugo Douglas-Dufresne,
Technical Director, JFK, provide an update on the operation of the
company’s biogas plant in Kericho.
TEA ESTATES KENYA
The technology
is robust and has
the potential to
satisfactorily deal
with the waste
from both flowers
and tea.”
1,477,000 kgs
of flower
waste
1,736,000 kgs
of spent green
tea waste
3,973,000 kgs
of spent black
tea waste
So far we have recycled

37. 37
Volume 52/No.2
GROUP
David Dale –
A Life
D
avid Dale is a name which
has featured in the magazine
on a number of occasions
most recently in an article which
looked at the company’s historic
connection with The Royal Bank of
Scotland. When Dale, in partnership
with Scott Moncrieff, set up the
Bank’s first agency in Glasgow in
1783, James Finlay was their first
customer.
In a new biography David McLaren
provides a comprehensive re-
assessment of Dale’s life using
extensive original research carried
out since the publication of his
earlier work focusing on Dale’s
involvement at New Lanark.
Published by Stenlake the book also
makes the case that Dale deserves
greater recognition for the
development of New Lanark into
what was arguably the most famous
cotton community in the world and
now a World Heritage site. Credit
for this is generally given to his
son-in-law, Robert Owen, who
bought New Lanark from Dale in
1801 before forging his ‘new view’
of society based on the famous
social and educational experiments
which he carried out in the village.
However New Lanark had gained an
international reputation for social
innovation long before Owen’s
acquisition as evidenced by the long
list of visitors from home and
abroad who visited the mill. These
included a Mr Finlay in 1796 and
1798. As this was just before his
acquisition of Ballindalloch cotton
mill in Balfron, it is not too fanciful
to think that this could have been
Kirkman, James Finlay’s son.
Kirkman also purchased Catrine Mill
in 1801 from Dale and his partner
Claud Alexander. Alexander, like
Dale, had a wish to improve the
conditions of those living and
working in Catrine and had the
mill built after he had bought the
surrounding Ballochmyle Estate
in 1785.
Throughout the book McLaren seeks
to show that whilst Dale was a very
successful entrepreneur who could
be ruthless when the need arose,
this was balanced with support for
various projects which, although
never likely to be commercially
successful, helped to alleviate
poverty and counter the threat
of mass emigration to America.
He also assesses Dale’s role in the
campaign to abolish slavery, which
is surprising given the source of his
raw materials, and his involvement
in a range of philanthropic and
religious organisations centred
mainly in Glasgow.
As contemporaries and neighbours,
it is not surprising that James and
Kirkman Finlay, fellow merchant
adventurers, were present at many
of the seminal events in Dale’s life.
These included the historic 1783
meeting with Richard Arkwright,
the pioneer of the English cotton
industry, and the foundation in the
same year of the Glasgow Chamber
of Commerce, one of the first such
organisations in the world.
A deeply religious man, Dale was
an early adherent of what we now
know as sustainability. Whilst much
of what he did to improve the lot
of children through the provision
of accommodation and education
in exchange for their employment
might seem controversial now,
this has to be viewed in the context
of the general conditions prevailing
at the end of the 18th century.
This scholarly but immensely
readable biography is strongly
recommended.
David Dale A Life by David J
McLaren, Published by Stenlake
Publishing Ltd, www.stenlake.co.uk,
£25
Duncan Gilmour, Company Secretary, reviews
a new biography of David Dale a pivotal but
neglected figure in Scotland’s Industrial
Revolution and explains how he influenced
the early history of the company.
Catrine Mill