Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers

What Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers does

Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers (Pvt) Ltd is a Sri Lankan commodity brokerage firm founded in 1881, specializing in tea and rubber brokerage through the Colombo Tea Auction. The company operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of MJF Group, the parent of the Dilmah tea brand. It holds approximately 22% market share in Colombo tea brokerage and over 50% share in Sri Lankan rubber brokerage, handling 6–7 million kilograms of tea weekly — equivalent to roughly 20% of the Colombo Tea Auction throughput. A 150–200 lorry-per-day warehouse operation anchors its physical logistics layer.

The firm serves two principal customer segments: tea producers (Sri Lanka's Regional Plantation Companies) and tea exporters, offering a vertically integrated service stack that combines auction brokerage, market intelligence with AI-driven analytics, advisory, warehousing, and logistics. Its cross-border partnerships with J. Thomas & Co. (India) and Africa Tea Brokers (Kenya) extend its auction-center reach to three major origins. The business is built on a 140-year proprietary dataset of auction prices, quality grades, and counterparty data, which is increasingly being productized into a client-facing Market Intelligence offering.

Revenue mechanics are transaction-based: commissions on auctioned tea and rubber volumes, supplemented by warehousing fees, advisory retainers, and ancillary logistics services. The firm's ownership history includes founding-era partnership (Forbes & Walker), nationalization in 1975, and return to private ownership when acquired by MJF Group circa 2000. Recent strategic emphasis has been on sustainability positioning — a 550 KW rooftop solar PV installation underpins a 2026 Carbon Neutral Certification from the Sri Lanka Climate Fund, making it the first carbon-neutral tea broker in Sri Lanka and aligning the firm with tightening European ESG due-diligence requirements.

Name

Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers

Legal name

Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers (Pvt) Ltd

Website

https://forbestea.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1881

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers is a Sri Lankan tea and rubber brokerage firm facilitating transactions through the Colombo Tea Auction with 22% market share. It serves tea producers and exporters with broking, AI-driven market intelligence, warehousing, and logistics as a subsidiary of MJF Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Colombo

HQ country

Sri Lanka

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Tea Broking Services: Traditional tea brokerage services facilitating transactions between tea producers and buyers through the Colombo Tea Auction. Revenue generated through brokerage fees on tea transactions.
2. Market Intelligence & Advisory: Expert advisory services in tea manufacture and process improvement, financial management, factory restructuring, and market insights. Market intelligence reports and analytics services provided to producers and buyers.
3. Warehousing & Logistics: Warehousing and logistics services ensuring tea reaches destination in optimal condition. Transportation services for secure and timely cargo movement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers is a traditional tea brokerage firm facilitating transactions between tea producers and buyers through the Colombo Tea Auction, handling 6-7 million kilograms weekly representing 22% of the Sri Lankan tea brokerage market. The firm complements its core broking activity with market intelligence, advisory services on tea manufacturing and process improvement, warehousing, logistics, and transportation services for the global tea industry.

Product overview

Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers operates as a comprehensive tea brokerage platform serving the global tea industry. The core offering is Tea Broking Services, which handles tea sales through the Colombo Tea Auction. This is supported by a suite of complementary modules including Market Intelligence (with AI-driven analytics), Advisory Services (manufacturing consulting), Warehousing & Logistics, Tea Transportation, and Specialty Tea Catalogue. The company claims 22% market share in Sri Lanka's tea brokerage sector and maintains global reach through associations with J. Thomas & Co. Pvt Ltd (India) and Africa Tea Brokers Limited (Kenya).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tea Broking Services Core tea brokerage service facilitating the sale of tea through the Colombo Tea Auction, handling 6-7 million kilograms weekly and representing 22% market share in Sri Lanka's tea brokerage industry. Serves tea producers, Regional Plantation Companies, exporters, and buyers.
• Warehousing & Logistics Logistics services ensuring tea reaches destinations in optimal condition with quality and freshness maintained. Operations process 150-200 lorries daily to transport tea to Colombo. Operated through wholly-owned subsidiary Forbes & Walker Warehousing (Pvt) Ltd, which holds Carbon Neutral certification.
• Tea Transportation Cargo movement service providing secure and timely transportation of tea from factories and warehouses to auction and buyers. Handles 150-200 lorries daily to transport tea to Colombo.
• Market Intelligence Comprehensive market analysis service providing tea production trends, import/export data, new developments in the tea world, and AI-driven analytics for informed decision-making. Backed by a large historic database and expertise from F&W Research.
• Advisory Services Expert consultation covering Traditional Orthodox, Rotovane, CTC, Green Tea, and Artisanal/Specialty Tea manufacturing; process improvement, energy efficiency, financial management, and factory restructuring. Backed by experienced and qualified team.
• F&W Specialty Tea Catalogue Specialty tea catalogue showcasing the most diversified teas offered by Forbes & Walker, allowing catering to the broadest spectrum of buyers' requirements.

Quantifiable outcome

• Handles 6-7 million kilograms weekly, representing 20% of total stock sold through Colombo Tea Auction
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• J. Thomas & Co. Pvt LtdcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerF&W is uniquely positioned as the only Broker with a strong and active global presence in two of the world's main tea auction centres. Association with J. Thomas & Co. Pvt Ltd (India) ensures F&W continuously receives timely, accurate information on market trends and developments in other auction centres.
• Africa Tea Brokers LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Africa Tea Brokers Limited (Kenya) provides global market intelligence and positions F&W as the only broker with active presence in major tea auction centres globally.
• Colombo Tea Traders' AssociationminorOthersIndustry association for tea traders in Sri Lanka, providing industry standards and coordination.
• Sri Lanka Tea BoardminorOthersGovernment regulatory body for Sri Lanka's tea industry.
• Tea Research Institute of Sri LankaminorOthersResearch institution providing scientific support and development for Sri Lanka's tea industry.
• Tea Exporters AssociationminorOthersIndustry association representing tea exporters, providing market intelligence and industry coordination.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Finlays Colombo PLC: Part of Swire group, Finlays operates tea brokerage, blending and supply operations including in Sri Lanka. Broader, multinational incumbent with overlapping auction and advisory services but a wider product portfolio.

Direct peers

• Asia Siyaka Commodities (Pvt) Ltd: Sri Lankan tea and commodity broker that historically competed at the Colombo Tea Auction. Provides a directly comparable brokerage offering for producers and exporters in the same auction ecosystem.
• J. Thomas & Co. Pvt Ltd: One of India's largest tea auctioneers and brokers, operating across multiple Indian auction centres. Directly comparable as a tea brokerage peer and also a strategic partner of Forbes & Walker for cross-border market intelligence.
• Africa Tea Brokers Limited: Leading tea broker at the Mombasa Tea Auction in Kenya, providing brokerage and market intelligence services across East African origins. Direct peer in tea broking and a formal Forbes & Walker partner for cross-border flows.
• John Keells PLC — Tea Brokers Division: Sri Lankan conglomerate with a tea auction brokerage arm that competes with Forbes & Walker in the Colombo Tea Auction, sourcing tea from producers for exporters and global buyers. Comparable business model and customer overlap in Sri Lanka.
• Eastern Brokers (Pvt) Ltd: Long-standing Sri Lankan tea and commodity brokerage firm operating at the Colombo auctions, with overlapping auctioneer/taster roles and customer base. Directly competes for tea producer mandates.
• Bartleet & Co (Ceylon) Ltd: One of the other established Sri Lankan tea brokers active at the Colombo Tea Auction, providing brokerage, tasting and marketing services to producers and exporters. Direct in-country peer competing for the same Regional Plantation Company clients.

Others

• Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company: Parent-affiliated Sri Lankan tea brand and vertically integrated producer owned by MJF Group. While a brand rather than broker, it shares the same ownership and supply chain, making it the closest ecosystem peer.
• Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC: Sri Lankan Regional Plantation Company (RPC) and tea producer rather than a broker, but a key customer/market participant interacting with Forbes & Walker at the Colombo auctions. Useful peer for understanding the producer side of the same value chain.

Regional players

• Parcon (India) Pvt Ltd: Indian tea auctioneer and broker operating at Indian auction centres, comparable in business model but regional to India rather than Sri Lanka. Regional peer with similar brokerage and advisory services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
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• Instagraminstagram.com/forbeswalkertea_sl

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers