Mackwoods is a historical tea factory covering over 27,000 acres of tea and rubber plantations. It was originally founded by Captain William Mackwood in 1841 during the inception of tea estates in Sri Lanka; and is the second oldest mercantile firm of the country. The company remained with the Mackwoods family until 1956, when it was passed on to Mr. N.S.O. Mendis, a visionary Sri Lankan entrepreneur. Mackwoods then experienced exponential growth as a brand; and is now a pioneer in the management of tea estates with an employee count of over 10,200.
The Labookellie Tea Centre
The Mackwoods Labookellie Tea Centre is located in the heights of Nuwara Eliya, over 2000m above sea level, in some of the tea plantation areas in Sri Lanka. It was the first tea factory in Sri Lanka to be awarded ISO 9001:2000 Certification from SGS, UK; and is a modern facility that greatly benefits from the techniques adapted by the Research and Development team of Mackwoods. As such visitors to the Labookellie Tea Centre get a chance to see and experienced the best of quality and newest devolopments of the Mackwoods Tea Centre. There is also a museum of Mackwoods’ history that is available for viewing.
The Tea Centre can be reached from the Nuwara Eliya town using a special shuttle bus that goes to the Mackwoods Labookellie estate or by hiring your own private transport. The tourd offered by the centre are free; but any tea that is consumed will have to be paid for. The centre also has a variety of tea-related souvenirs for sale, which make great gifts for friends and family.
