The owner of Subhagya and New Singha Valley tea factories in the Southern Province, which produces high quality tea aimed at the international market, Geethani Hettiarachchi was honoured as the Best Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at Southern Province Entrepreneur Awards 2023. The distinguished award ceremony organised by the Southern Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA), aims to recognise and honour entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence.
The Subhagya tea factory owned by Hettiarachchi is located at Neluwa in Galle, and employs more than 150 people. The tea leaves required for its production are procured from the tea lands belonging to themselves and from around 1,600 tea smallholders in the area. The tea factory buys about 200,000 kilos of tea leaves per month. In addition, the New Singha Valley tea factory owned by her is located at Opatha in Akuressa. Both these tea factories produce Orthodox Tea and export it to many parts of the world after auctioning it through tea brokers such as Forbes and Walker and Mercantile Produce Brokers. After retiring as a government nurse, Hettiarachchi bought these two tea factories, which were in danger of closing down at that time, and increased their production. At present, those tea factories with significant production capacity have obtained all the relevant local and international quality certifications including ISO 22000. Through the business, she has been able to provide employment opportunities to a large number of people, strengthen the economy of team smallholders in the area and contribute to strengthening the country’s foreign exchange reserves.