S ST CLAIR TEAS PVT LTD

In 1976, my father, Kumar Paul Sr., established his own business in the name of K. Paul Associates Limited, which was one of the first few family-owned and operated companies in Sri Lanka in an industry still dominated at the time by the British. In fact, he had been among the first Ceylonese that were trained by the British in 1954 and was apprenticed at Colombo Commercial Company (Teas) Limited as a Trainee Tea Taster. Much later, having worked his way up through the firm, he served as Chairman from 1970 to 1976 when the Company was subject to the nationalization policies of the government at that time. I began working in the family business in January 1983 at the age of sixteen and received in depth training in tasting, grading, blending and trading during a period spanning more than 25 years. In September 2004, I ventured out on my own and established S. St. Clair Teas (Private) Limited.