Mauritius - Tea

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Like many reputable holiday companies we are ABTA registered, our ABTA membership number is 65310.

We also use ATOL protected tour operators. However if you wish to use a tour operator who is not ATOL protected then we will take our supplier failure insurance on your behalf.

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The tea you drink in Mauritius is produced on the island and comes in a variety of locally inspired flavours, such as vanilla and coconut.

Teas with the best flavour are grown at heights greater than the altitude of the tea plantations in Mauritius. However, the Mauritius tea is popular for blending and it is the island’s second major crop. Much of Mauritius’s tea is exported, while the balance is sold on the local market.

The central highlands around Curepipe are the main plantation area. The cooler temperatures and the greater rainfall of the highland plateau suit tea. Being a plant that grows as a sturdy bush with deep roots and a long life, it can withstand winds of cyclonic force.

Tea’s roots in Mauritius actually go back to the 18th century, when it was grown by settlers for their own use. From the early 1960s, extensive planting was pursued until, 25 years later, there were 40km² of land under tea.

The crew-cut tops of the bushes have a uniform appearance, thanks to the nimble fingers of tea pickers and to an electric shearer. The picking is done with incredible dexterity early in the morning, mainly by women. Only the top two or three young leaves are removed from the branches. The green leaf is then bagged and transported to a factory where it dries, ferments and is sorted and prepared for packing.

In recent years the fortunes of the tea industry have fluctuated, with its demise seeming likely in the late 1970s. Then the Tea Development Authority was reconstructed, factories expanded with new processing equipment, tea plantation land was rehabilitated and inducements offered for improved cultivation methods. By the mid 1990s, with tea prices dropping and sugar prices rising, some tea bushes were being torn up to be replaced by sugar. Tea, being labour intensive, used to be regarded as a good crop when there was an abundance of labour. With labour in short supply and with Mauritian tea having to compete with that produced by traditional tea-growing countries like Sri Lanka, its value to the economy of Mauritius is doubtful.

It is worth taking the time to visit the working tea factory of Bois Chéri, near Curepipe, and see the production in progress .

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Mauritius - Tea

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Mauritius - Tea