SYDNEY, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- While most people know Papua New Guinea (PNG) for their highly sought-after cocoa and coffee beans, it now appears the tropical South Pacific nation may be just as successful when it comes to growing tea.
Last month, one of the producers in the country won a prestigious global award at the Australian International Tea Expo held in Melbourne, taking out the category of best single origin white tea as well as a bronze for their green tea.
As the first tea producer to gain international recognition for PNG, WR Carpenter Estates country manager John Mangos told Xinhua on Friday, it's something the people of PNG can be very proud of.
According to Mangos what makes PNG's tea so good, is the elevation.
"Minjigina (where the tea is grown) is about 2,000 meters above sea level," he explained.
"So that gives it a bit of difference. That is where it grows best, it has a different temperature to other teas and different humidity."
"Our estate at Menjikina is also fully organic, so no fertilizers are used at all."
Already producing around 2,000 tons of black tea per year, Mangos said the future of tea in PNG is looking very bright.
"It's mostly sold locally, but we are talking to a number of companies to open up those export markets," he said.
"We have exported to Australia before and we currently export to Fiji and the Solomon Islands and have had a great deal of interest from China too."
