John Keells PLC  was part of  Sri Lanka’s 1st ever Digital Tea Auction over a period of three days, from the 4th to the 6th of April. The e- Auction was initiated by the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association. In a historic event, the world’s largest single origin tea auction for the first time in 126 years deviated from it conventional “out-cry” system, requiring the physical presence of the buyers, to move into the electronic age, with each buyer engaging in the imperative assignment of purchasing tea for processing and export from a safe location, without having to travel to a central point and intermingling in a crowded environment to do so, due to the prevailing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Samples of the teas on offer were visually assessed by the tea buyers and duly purchased by registering their bids from remote locations, as a consequence, circumventing the need to expose themselves to any serious health hazards and complying with the social distancing protocol imposed by the government.