FACTORS CONSIDERED IN SELECTING QUALITY CERTIFICATIONS BY TEA EXPORTERS
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Date
2013
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Sri Lanka depends heavily on the demand in the global tea market and as such tea has to be produced according to the international standards. So in the international market, the consumers mostly prefer to buy teas, which the estates had obtained quality certificates. The objective of this study was to identify the factors which affect on selecting the quality certification for international tea marketing. Data was collected through structured questionnaire. Thirty tea exporters were interviewed. Personal interviews were conducted in order to obtain clear understanding about certification for tea and deeper knowledge about the subject under study. Factor analysis was performed to identify the factors using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS 16.0) and Microsoft excel 2010 for descriptive analysis. In particular, principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted in order to identify the factors that affecting on selection of certification to the international market. There were three factors extracted among seven factors. The extracted factor 1 includes "Market awareness", "Demand", "Promotion- and "Attitude", factor 2 includes "Technical" and "Legal/statutory requirements" and factor 3 includes "Cost". These are the three main group of factors which considered by exporters to select certification for international tea marketing. So in the future, certifications will be very important and obtaining same will ensure competitive advantages. Furthermore these certifications could be used as one of the investment tools to increase the productivity and quality of the product.
Key words — International Tea Market, Quality certificates, Cost, Demand, Market awareness, Promotion, Competitive advantage
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Tea Technology and Value Addition Degree Programme ( TEA)