Kudjip Tea

General Manager Vijou Vergis, his wife Anila, and their 2nd born daughter Dyea welcomed us into their home today to give us a tour of the plantation. Vijou kindly took us around the property and into the factory detailing the steps involved in producing tea. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of the factory, but we were able to capture the beautiful 900 acres of tea and 450 acres of coffee. This is one of four sister plantations in Papua New Guinea. Vijou's main buyers are out of Russia, Germany, and New Zealand. I believe he said that they produce around 1.2 million kilo's of tea a year. About half of that is exported to Russia. Vijou taught us about CTC (crush, tear, curl) tea and orthodox tea. He talked to us about the different regions of the world that grow tea, such as Assam in India and places in Kenya. He continued by explaining the different methods used in these areas. Vijou and his family are originally from Kerala, India (Southern India). Kerala is known as "God's own country" because of its beauty. Vijou has been apart of the "tea world" for 21 years, starting off in India for 18 years and has spent the remaining 3 here in Kudjip. We ended the tour with tea at Vijou's house with Anila. It was a great day of learning and fellowship. God has blessed me in so many ways...He really does give you the desires of your heart in His perfect timing with His perfect plan.