Tobacco Grading

The tobacco crop has been harvested and stored. Now it is time for the leaf to be graded and now, is the time when the leaf factories of tobacco companies are working at peak. While in Motueka recently we visited the factory of Rothmans and found a hive of industry. Some of the tobacco, previously graded, had only to be placed on sticks and put through the moisture processing plant, but the bulk of the tobacco was ungraded and had to be classified before processing. About 5000 lbs of leaf is graded daily and 35 cases baled for shipment north daily.

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Workers placing the leaf bundles on sticks on the way to the processing plant

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The big moisture processing plant. Here the leaf is moistened, and dried before it emerges at the other end to be baled

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In the big airy grading room, expert women sort the leaf