The Madura Tea Story
BRIEF HISTORY
Madura Tea Estates was established in 1978 by Sri Lankan born Englishman Michael Grant-Cooke, who after establishing tea in New Guinea, wished to establish a plantation on the coast of the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. During the 80’s, Stephen Bright and Ron Ford, ex-Coopers and Lybrand accountants, were hard at work in their own public practice in Murwillumbah. At the end of the 80’s, Grant-Cooke, who was one of their clients, wished to sell his business. Bright and Ford, after trying for over twelve months to locate a buyer, decided that they should form a partnership to acquire the business. The purchase took place on 4th May, 1992, by a newly formed partnership of four local families.
In the following nineteen years, there has been significant growth in all regards, with the business now being in the vicinity of five times larger than when acquired. As well as the growth in operations there has been one change of owner, where, effective 1st November, 2008, the Gary Davey family replaced the Larry Brown family.
FAST FACTS
1. Been around since 1978 despite being run, up until recently, by a couple of accountants.
2. Is the only 100% Australian Owned commercial tea estate and packing facility. Apart from a couple of small boutique estates, all other retail teas sold in Australia are either foreign owned or 100% foreign produced and imported.
3. Employs up to 50 locals in a mix of full time, part time and casual positions.
4. Supplies teas to about six percent of the Australian retail market.
5. Working five days per week, we produce 1,000,000 cups of tea each work day. If all teabagging machines are run concurrently, we produce 1,900 teabags a minute, or 32 teabags every second.
WHAT WE PRODUCE
Our entire philosophy revolves around producing the perfect cup of tea, whether it be a steaming, aromatic pot of tea, or a vibrant and tasty teabag. We specialise in both black and green teas, leaf or teabag, whichever is your preference. That’s all we do, no distractions from other products, nothing but tea, and then only the finest teas. Our customers are treated to a truly unique experience. Madura is proud as a small, specialist grower, blender and packer, acquiring the best and leaving the rest.
To ensure our teas are free from impurities and are always fresh, all tea is firstly tested by an independent Australian laboratory before being packed in Australia on our estate, away from the hot steamy equatorial cities so often associated with tea packing. In this way, you can be assured of the finest quality teas available, and be happy in the thought that your purchase is backed up by a dedicated team of Australian tea professionals.
JOYS AND PITFALLS OF WHAT WE DO
JOYS
a) the greatest joy would be that we are still in existence. We were told from day one, 4th May, 1992, that a couple of accountants could not run a commercial venture, and here we are, 19 years later, still hanging in there, fighting the good fight. We have the opportunity to create a unique Aussie icon, and to achieve that would be just wonderful.
b) our work environment is sensational. We have come from the heart of Sydney with all its attendant problems, to the beautiful Tweed Valley. Not a set of traffic lights in sight, surrounded by rainforest areas and tropical farms…..not hard to get up and come to work.
c) we are doing something that is rare in Australia,….. that is growing tea, harvesting it, converting it to a consumable, blending and packing out, all in the one location. There is only one other
commercial plantation in Australia, but it is foreign owned, thus exporting its profits. We are the Aussi plantation, and that is great.
d) the Tweed area has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment, coupled with a low household disposable income. We employ locals, Aussies, we use Aussie suppliers where available and if we are lucky enough to make a profit, we pay our Aussie tax and spend the after tax profit in Australia. Our workforce is around 50 people, all locals, and whilst this is not large by total country statistics, it is a great help for this area, and it is nice to come to work knowing that your endeavours are helping 50 local families.
PITFALLS
a) we are competing against some of the world’s largest and entrenched multinationals with huge resources and vast advertising budgets. It is a David and Goliath battle, but we all know who came out victorious there.
b) we are competing in an uneven marketplace.. Despite all the rhetoric you hear from our politicians about the benefits of a level playing field, we do not have one. How can an Australian manufacturer, complying with all of Australia’s vast regulatory matters, compete with third world countries. If Australia is to maintain some form of manufacturing base apart from extractive industries with their god given reserves, some level of protection is needed.
c) the dry grocery industry in Australia is dominated by a couple of large entities, and this duopoly gives great power to them, especially over someone as small as us. Therefore our relationship is forever one of master / servant.
WHERE DO YOU GET IT?
There is no one place where our full range of teas are available, except of course, our estate shop, which is open to all during normal office hours, Monday to Friday.
