A security guard at St. Coombs Estate puts on a heavier jacket as he begins the night shift. St. Coombs Estate, located in Talawakelle, is well known and respected for its high quality tea. Since 1928 St. Coombs, in addition to producing export quality tea, has also facilitated research done by the Tea Research Institute (TRI) of Sri Lanka in support of field experimentation to increase tea quality and productivity. A minority of tea production, 30%, is done by large plantation companies in Sri Lanka. The majority of tea production, ?70%, is actually done by small holder producers.