The First Flush.

• Date: 01 October 2020
• Author: Sampson, Gregory

How tea cooperatives in Nepal survived the country's lockdown during their most important harvest of the year

In Nepal, the first tea harvest of the year-the First Flush - takes place in April. International buyers eagerly await this time of year because of the leaves' fresh and fruity flavours.

But as we know, 2020 took another turn.

'In my 25 years in the tea business, I have never seen the industry hit as hard,' says Suresh Vaidya, talking about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaidya is the owner of Guranse and Mai Tea, the world's highest tea estate at 3,500-7,200 metres.

Milan Kumari Khatri of Sakhejung Tea, the only woman to own a tea business in Nepal, agrees: 'I never had to face such a crisis in my entire career. The market is closed, payments to farmers are pending and we have logistical problems. In addition, the timing could not have been worse: the crisis occurred just before Asar masanta (15 June) in the fiscal year when we need to pay taxes, interests, our farmers and organic certification.'

Due to the crisis, the tea industry in Nepal has been facing unprecedented challenges in terms of cash flow, transport and sampling.

As workers had to stay at home Vaidya did not have a labour force. 'Not all of our garden leaves could be plucked on time and we often lost the best of them,' he says.

Transport...