FARM PROFILE

Singampatti Rainforest Organic Project: The Oothu Estate

On the southeastern tip of India’s western Ghat Range is the Singampatti Rainforest (literally, “hamlet of lions” in Tamil, the native tongue)—among the last of India’s tropical rainforests. Flanked by the Kalakad Sanctuary and part of Project Tiger, Singampatti is home to several endangered wildlife species like the Lion-tailed Macaque and the Malabar Squirrel. The Singampatti Organic Project was initiated in 1987 and its mission is to establish itself as a model sustainable organic agriculture project-one of the largest integrated systems in the world.

Owned by Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, India’s oldest public owned company (incorporated in 1863), Singampatti encompasses several estates, which grow tea and coffee. The Oothu Estate produces approximately 1 million kg of organic tea per year. As well as organic certification, the estate also holds Fair Trade and Biodynamic certifications.

Bombay Burmah provides its employees with housing, hospitals, recreational clubs and primary education for their children free of cost. They have created a fully integrated system, which supports all of the players from the native species and soil to the cultivated crops and human caretakers.

The Oothu Estate’s values and practices reflect what many of us in the organic industry are striving for: Organic as a way of life not simply a way of growing. In the words of M.C. Muthanna, Company Director of Singampatti, “…’organic’ encompasses a much larger sphere that includes bio-diversity, sustainable low-external input system, fair trade practice, community welfare, nature conservation, waste recycling, wildlife protection, clean energy, and other such concepts.”

Taylor Maid Farms is honored to offer tea from the Oothu Estate to you in three of our tea products: Chai-ish, Orange Bliss and Traditional Chai Concentrate.