A Cup of Kindness, The Story of Dilmah Tea

Page 184

Dilmah’s family group MJF Group of Companies We are the only vertically integrated family tea company in the world, possessing expertise in every aspect of the tea industry, from picking and tasting to packaging and marketing. Merrill J Fernando

When

184

customers in Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Poland. Merrill’s first independent company was established in 1962, a bulk tea trading company which, by 1977, was the fourth largest exporter of tea in Sri Lanka. It became clear to him that, in order to benefit from the success of his own company and to ensure that any wealth it created stayed in Sri Lanka, it was essential to establish companies that could provide all the services he needed. So, he bought into the plantation

Dilmah was launched in 1988, the brand had grown

industry when the gardens were made available in the 1980s so that

out of Merrill J Fernando’s determination to market

he could grow quality tea; as soon as he had invested in tea bagging

Ceylon teas that were grown, packed and marketed in Sri Lanka and

machinery, but was not yet ready to launch Dilmah, he established a

earned profits for Sri Lanka. The work that had gone before the birth of

tea bagging company that specialised in manufacturing own label tea

Dilmah under the name of Merrill J Fernando Company Limited laid the

bags; when he needed labels and cartons printed, he set up a print

foundations, established the demand, created links with loyal, long-term

company; when he required the services of a packaging company,

A Cup of Kindness

The Story of Dilmah Tea


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.