Dilmah Cup of Kindness - 2025

A Cup of Kindness

THE STORY OF DILMAH TEA

A Cup of Kindness

THE STORY OF DILMAH TEA

“We come into this world with nothing,  we leave with nothing.

The wealth some of us acquire is owed to the efforts and cooperation of many others around us. Let us, therefore, share that wealth, while we are still around, so that, the goodwill and contentment created thereby, may make our world a happier place for others, too.

That is the objective of the MJF Charitable Foundation”

MERRILL J. FERNANDO Founder of Dilmah Tea 1930 - 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers

Copyright © Dilmah Ceylon Tea Co. PLC, 2025

Author: Anura Gunasekera

Art direction and design: Brand Marketing Team, Dilmah Tea

Photography:

Izabela Urbaniak, Bree Hutchinson, Sarath Perera, Malaka Premasiri & Rasika Surasena

Published by Dilmah Ceylon Tea Co. PLC. 111 Negombo Road, Peliyagoda, Sri Lanka www.dilmahtea.com

ISBN 978-955-0081-38-7

Dilmah and the Kindness in the Cup

Merrill J. Fernando, the Founder of Dilmah, from the inception of his long journey in Ceylon Tea, was passionate in its cause and in the defence of its image. Early in his career, when he set out as a young independent entrepreneur, he also aligned his business philosophy along a trajectory which reflected his concern for his fellow-human beings and the environment.

Kindness is not a natural feature of big business, which is geared specifically for commercial success, leaving little space for genuine concern for humanity and the environment. Those aspects may have changed a little for the better in the new millennium, but much of the corporate responses to social and environmental issues still remain strategic and, often, are either cosmetic, or limited to minimal tactical compromises sufficient to meet mandatory requirements, regulatory pressures or societal expectations, but insufficient for the effective remediation of the real need.

Merrill J. Fernando, however, defined business as a “Matter of Human Service,” well before corporate social responsibility became fashionable, or mandatory. In the 1960s, when the young Fernando launched himself as an independent entrepreneur, he integrated with his enterprise the simple principles of community responsibility, absorbed in childhood from his mother. It was a time when such ethics were uncommon in business and, possibly, unappreciated. The mandate of corporate social responsibility, at that stage not even a concept but, from the beginning, an unlabelled pillar of the Dilmah enterprise, was a voluntary commitment by Merrill J. Fernando.

We live in a global society in which the enterprise environment is dominated by transnational corporations with tentacles across continents. Their very nature, the massive scale of operations, their financial power and influence on markets, communities, and even on governments, enable them to shape society and the environment and, yet, avoid responsibility for the detrimental consequences of their influence and actions, unless challenged by independent activists fighting for societal, community, and environmental rights.

The philosophy of kindness to the community and concern for environment, which Merrill J. Fernando espoused from the very outset, is of global relevance today. In a society driven largely by greed, in which both individual and community rights, and eco-system and environmental importance, are frequently trivialised in the quest for commercial success, it is now clearly established that the accommodation of social, environmental, and community concerns, is the only sustainable way of doing business. Given the glaring economic disparities and rising poverty indices, both within nations and between nations, and the steadily evolving spectre of climate change, which poses a singular threat to all communities – especially agricultural societies in the less developed world – it is absolutely clear, that there is no alternative to socially and environmentally responsible enterprise management.

Merrill Joseph Fernando’s life was one that was well-lived, providing a role model example of a socially responsible entrepreneur; not because such conduct was fashionable, good for business, or a mandatory requirement. He did business his way because kindness for his fellow beings and concern for the environment were inherent to his thinking.

A Life Devoted to Tea and Kindness

The late Merrill Joseph Fernando, our father, dedicated his entire working life to the cause of Pure Ceylon Tea. He spent over seven decades in its service, with an unmatched passion and integrity of purpose.

His commitment to the protection of the image of Pure Ceylon Tea, and his desire to advance its cause internationally, frequently pitched him into confrontation with both individuals and organisations. There were many who disagreed with his commitment to the preservation of the purity of Pure Ceylon Tea, especially when the dilution of that quality and the corruption of the image, offered both potential and opportunity for quick – but temporary – financial gain to many entrepreneurs.

Merrill J. Fernando’s defence of Pure Ceylon Tea was driven largely by his concern for the millions comprising small local farmers and plantation workers, engaged in the cultivation of tea, who stood to lose livelihoods as a result of the distortion of its image. His primary purpose was the greater good of those small people engaged in the industry and the sustainability of a national industry, not personal enrichment.

Merrill J. Fernando made it his life’s mission to take the message of Pure Ceylon Tea across the globe. He founded Dilmah, our family brand, in 1985, naming it after the two of us, Dilhan and Malik. Today, its presence in over a hundred countries has made it the global image of Pure Ceylon Tea. A major focus of his journey in tea was to share with consumers the pleasure of real tea; he introduced the world to the authenticity and singularity of a single origin family brand, and the difference it made to the daily cup. He transformed a

casual drinking habit into a pleasure, an experience to be savoured, and an occasion to anticipate with delight. He gave the world a better tea and Dilmah, Pure Ceylon Tea, was its ambassador.

His defence of the singularity of Pure Ceylon Tea, and its authenticity, has helped to bolster the sustainability of a huge national industry and the millions engaged in its service. It has contributed much to the securing of a national heritage, whilst the unique philosophy of social responsibility built into the foundation of Dilmah, has transformed the lives of underprivileged societies, marginalised individuals, and disabled children, and also helped revive and protect vulnerable eco-systems. Dilmah is no longer a simple, familyowned tea brand, but is also a great force for goodness.

Merrill J. Fernando left not just an enterprise, but a legacy of integrity, quality, and social responsibility. His commitment to giving the world a better tea, combined with the advocacy of workers’ welfare and rights, care for the environment, and for people, has set a new standard of community accountability for the industry.

As we of the next generation assume leadership, the focus will be on maintaining the core values which defined Dilmah from the inception. The transition represents not just a change in ownership and leadership, but also an opportunity for continued growth and innovation, whilst maintaining Dilmah’s leadership position in the market, along with conformity to its founding values. We will bring fresh insights and strategies to guide the company towards new horizons, whilst the Founder’s legacy remains a constant, a beacon for inspiration and a benchmark for emulation.

Dilhan and Malik

Message from the Grandchildren

Merrill J. Fernando was a true pioneer, dedicating over 70 years of his life to championing Ceylon tea. As the visionary founder, leader, and CEO of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company, he reshaped an industry. But to us, he was so much more – he was our beloved grandfather, or as we fondly called him, “ Seeya”.

From as young as four, we stepped into the Dilmah tea room, discovering the art and soul of tea-making under his watchful eye. It was in those moments that the seeds of pride, purpose, and honor were sown in us – values that continue to define our lives today as we carry forward the mission he began in 1985.

Our secondary education and university lessons often contradicted what Seeya taught us but his guidance and philosophy proved timeless and transformative. He redefined success, not in wealth or status but in love, care, and stewardship for people and the planet. He taught us to see beyond ourselves, to embrace kindness as the greatest wealth, and to nurture a life of purpose. He instilled the principle of faith across three generations, reminding us that our success and impact are not ours to claim but a reflection of the grace and blessings bestowed by God above.

Seeya’s love and luminous kindness would beam from across the room. He carried himself with a quiet grace and an unassuming strength, perfectly balanced with his humility. It was this humility that we admired most about our grandfather.

Looking back on our journey with our grandfather, we have come to realize that the greatest lessons he imparted were not about tea, accounting or marketing. Instead, they were lessons rooted in the values of integrity, unwavering commitment to quality, and the conviction that business should always serve as a force for good, dedicated to the wellbeing of humanity and nature.

As the third generation, we proudly carry forward the legacy of Dilmah and the MJF Foundation, guided by the wisdom and leadership of our parents. Our dedication remains unwavering as we honor our grandfather’s enduring promise: to offer the world a better tea, crafted with integrity and care.

Looking ahead, we envision Dilmah as more than a name synonymous with Ceylon Tea. We see it as a beacon of hope for the marginalized, a force for the protection of vulnerable nature, and as a symbol of empowerment for the artisans of Sri Lanka, beginning with Ceylon Cinnamon. By championing their craft and preserving the rich heritage of our island nation, we will strive to make a meaningful impact for generations to come.

This is our pledge and promise to our late grandfather.

Kiyara, Tasha, Amaya, Devin & Amrit

The Silk Road of Tea from Far Cathay to Serendib

“Cathay,” a poetic name for China, is said to have been first used in print by the Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, early in the 13th Century, AD. Odoric of Pordenone, a Franciscan Friar from Italy, writing about his travels in then China also used the same term, in parallel with Marco. Tea had its origins in China – the Cathay of the Western traveller – but its actual origin probably pre-dates its first historical mention by several centuries.

Ancient Greek geographers called our beautiful island Taprobane, a derivative of the more ancient name of Thambapanni, apparently that given by the legendary Vijaya (543-505 BC), the outcast Bengali Prince widely accepted as the first historical king of Sri Lanka. The Arab seafarers who roamed the South Asian sub-continental seaboard in search of spices, especially our cinnamon, called this compact, pear-shaped island “Serendib,” as early as the 4th century AD, probably as an easier alternative to the Sanskrit “Sinhaladvipa” – the abode of lions. Explorer Marco Polo is said to have referred to it as “Zeilan,” though he may have never visited it. The Portuguese who arrived at our shores in 1505 called it “Ceilao,” later Anglicised as Ceylon.

Ceylon was the last of the countries in the South-East Asian basin to start growing tea commercially but, Ceylon – the “Serendib” of the Arab mariner – today Sri Lanka, soon came to be identified globally by the wonderful tea it produced. As a national product, no tea from any other origin is so significantly benchmarked for quality.

It is this tea that Merrill Joseph Fernando, pre-eminent Teamaker of Sri Lanka, has taken to the world, as Dilmah – his personal creation – and positioned globally as the leading image of Pure Ceylon Tea.

To understand the magnitude of the journey that Merrill J. Fernando undertook more than seven decades ago, tea has to be viewed in its historical context. Firstly, China’s control and monopoly of tea for about twenty-five centuries and, secondly, the stranglehold on international trading and distribution of tea for over two centuries by the British and Dutch East India companies, entities with more wide-ranging powers than most governments of the day. This was followed by the domination of the cultivation, production, and trade of tea by British companies empowered and favoured by the British Government, and, thereafter, the limitless influence and outreach of the multi-national trading companies of today.

To succeed with Dilmah, Merrill J. Fernando, a small entrepreneur from a small country, both with limited resources, had to overcome the forces of history and the power of ruthless global trading systems, as well as opposition and prejudice at home.

This book reflects on important aspects of that journey, recounted in fascinating detail in Merrill J. Fernando’s autobiography, ‘The Story of Ceylon Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, Disruptor. Teamaker. Servant’. In simple terms it is a story of triumph over adversity, of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds; it is also a story of faith – in the authenticity of Pure Ceylon Tea, in the primacy of a genuinely socially responsible enterprise, and in one’s ability as a Teamaker, underpinned by sublime faith in a personal God.

Although the long and absorbing history of tea is too diverse, too complex, and too full of detail and incident to be dealt with comprehensively even in several volumes, this book outlines, very briefly, some of its more interesting aspects. To the uninitiated, it will serve as an introduction to that history and, also, to the evolution of tea as the most widely consumed beverage on the planet, next to water. This book is not meant to be a scholarly work but a brief, general introduction to tea to the random reader, and, more importantly, to the positioning of Dilmah in the wide world of tea.

Despite the global popularity of Ceylon Tea, there is a curious disconnect between point of production and point of consumption. The consumer drinking the daily “cuppa” with great enjoyment may have no concept of how tea is grown, made, or even of its properties of natural goodness. This book attempts to bridge that knowledge gap. Whilst tracing the

long and tortuous journey of tea, from ancient China to pre-modern Ceylon, it offers some information on the plantation industry in Ceylon/Sri Lanka and the manner in which the peerless Ceylon Tea is produced and brought to market. There is also a segment which explains some of the key health-giving properties of tea, especially when those features of natural goodness are preserved by its largely artisanal production, as in Sri Lanka.

The writing also explains why Dilmah is so special and stands apart from the thousands of other brands out there in the global market. And that is not just for its taste and goodness but, also, for the philosophy which drives the Dilmah enterprise. The book outlines the many initiatives which have contributed to that Dilmah specialness; the Fernando family’s personal assurance of bush-to-cup answerability, the sophisticated production technology accompanied by uncompromising attention to product quality, which reinforces that accountability and, in parallel, the caring for the environment and society.

The sustainability of the Dilmah enterprise is the result of a uniquely holistic approach to business, in a manner that skilfully, but transparently, balances conflicting features; environmental stewardship, social responsibility, product authenticity, stakeholder expectations, and economic prosperity. In sum, it reflects the rare and unquantifiable worth of a tightly-knit family business, driven by simple, old-fashioned family values, which defy replication within massive multi-national corporates.

Merrill J. Fernando’s passion was to make the world a better tea and, with his earnings, to make the world a better place to live, especially for the underprivileged, the marginalised, and the disabled. It is a journey that is now being travelled and a mission being driven, by his children, Malik and Dilhan, and grandchildren, who have inherited the Founder’s passion and his unique business philosophy, of an enterprise powered by the principle, ‘Business is a Matter of Human Service’.

Anura Gunasekera

Author 12th January 2025

CHAPTER ONE

History of a Beverage

Fact and Fable

The story of Tea, through a combination of legend, folklore, adventure, discovery, intrigue and international commerce, reflects the culture and history of the countries where it is grown and drunk. It has shaped geographies, histories, economies and destinies of countries. Tea is embedded in customs, rituals, religious observances and in art and science. In its fascinating variety and allure, Tea is a beverage like no other.

LEGENDARY ORIGIN

The origin of tea is attributed to a serendipitous accident, in ancient China, in 2737 BC.

Chinese emperor Shen Nung, a renowned herbalist, on a journey through his lands, was resting beneath a shady tree whilst his servant was boiling some water. A few leaves from the tree had fallen into the pot and the resulting brew, which the emperor had consumed and liked because of its singular colour and taste, became the first infusion of Camellia sinensis. Shen Nung had found the liquor aromatic, flavourful, and restorative. The legend goes on to describe that, thereafter, he had encouraged his subjects to cultivate and drink tea as a health-giving brew.

It is a charming story and at this point in time, indistinguishable between myth, legend, or history. From that misty beginning, till its arrival in Ceylon about 45 centuries later, the story of tea is an equally heady mix of myth, folklore, romance, religion, intrigue, political and military adventurism, and, of course, commerce. There is no other beverage, or any other consumable in the history of the planet, with as compelling and as beguiling a history as tea. That aspect is also very much a part of its enduring allure.

Whilst there are other variants to the origin story of tea, all equally quaint and charming, as one travels further forward through the pages of history, other more credible and verifiable references emerge, establishing tea as one of the earliest of such nonalcoholic beverages to have been widely consumed,

Chinese Emperor Shen Nung- farmer, herbalist & toxicologist

though for many centuries confined primarily to the Chinese mainland. The recorded history of tea is as long as the long history of China itself.

TEA & FOOD

What emerges from the thousands of accounts about tea through history, is that it originated in the monsoon-fed jungles of the Eastern Himalayas, and that early inhabitants of those regions, many thousands of years ago, through experimentation, or even by observing other mammals, such as monkeys, eating the leaf without any ill-effects, themselves followed suit. Obviously, such people would have found the leaf both a stimulant and a relaxant, and a sustainable energy-giver, whilst travelling in arduous mountain terrain.

A useful parallel is the use of coca leaves by ancient tribes in the Andean mountains of South America.

The leaf, which, in the 20th century, produced the lethally addictive “cocaine”, and laid waste to countless members of modern communities across the globe, had been a staple in the Andean life-styles for thousands of years, without causing the natives any visible harm.

The act of boiling a leaf and then consuming the hot infusion, is not something that suggests itself automatically to primitive societies. Therefore, the tea leaf would first have been eaten or chewed. In fact, in many communities in Burma, Northern Thailand, Assam, and Yunnan, people still eat tea leaves, boiled and prepared in various ways as a food. The Shan people of Northern Thailand apparently used to eat

Tea: Camellia sinensis

the wild tea leaf, steamed or boiled and seasoned with salt, oil, garlic, pig fat, and dried fish. The Singpho and Kamttee people of the Burma border did something similar with tea leaf.

These practices are clearly derived from early primitive custom, of eating or chewing the leaf, as all food habits specific to indigenous communities have histories embedded in pre-historic practices. For instance, in Tibet, Mongolia, and other remote locations in Central Asia, especially at high altitudes, tea, liberally garnished with yak butter, salt, and sugar, is still consumed as a hot semi-soup. Given all the above reportage, it can be safely assumed that the connection between tea and humans, now a global addiction – benevolent, of course – has its roots in pre-history.

The earliest proven physical evidence of tea comes from the 2,250-year-old mausoleum, of Emperor Jingdi of the Han Dynasty, in Xi’an, suggesting that tea would have been consumed as early as the 2nd century BC. A writing of the first century BC, ‘The Contract for a Youth,’ attributed to Wang Bao, a classical Chinese poet (c. 84-c. 53 BCE), carries the first known reference to the boiling of tea. Similarly, the first reference to tea cultivation is also dated to this period, near Chengdu, in the mountainous regions of the Sichuan Province.

These historically verifiable references suggest strongly that tea cultivation, and tea drinking, would actually have become well-established practices in China, in the many centuries preceding its first

historical citations. Irrespective of all other factors, it is quite clear that the original home of tea was China, the legendary Cathay of the European traveller. Leaving aside the mythology, archaeological evidence also indicates that tea was being used by the elite of China for centuries, especially for its medicinal properties.

TEA IN CHINA

Within China alone, the journey of tea occupied several centuries. The first commercial tea cultivations of any size may have been in the mountainous Yunnan Province, adjacent to the Himalayan foothills of Tibet. It is this region, the South of China, that even today is the main source of tea in the country. By the time of the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), tea appears to have become an everyday beverage, but still confined to the wealthier upper classes, probably because of cost and, also, the deliberate nurturing of an image of exclusivity surrounding its cultivation and consumption. Even within China, up to the Tang Dynasty period, tea drinking remained a largely Southern habit.

‘The Classic of Tea’ by Lu Yu (c. 760 CE), an orphan who was brought up in a Buddhist monastery and directly engaged in the cultivation of tea in the monastery gardens, is a primary source of information on the tea culture of the Tang period. He is considered one of the greatest of all the Chinese authorities on tea. The Tang Dynasty poet, Lu Tung, was another key figure in Chinese tea culture. The Sung Dynasty (960-1279), which followed the Tang Dynasty, a period of great literary achievement

Tea production in China, Guangzhou, detail, c. 1800 AD, oil on canvas - Peabody Essex Museum - Salem

in general, also produced an impressive volume of stories and poetry on the art of tea. In 1107, the Chinese emperor Hui Tsung wrote a comprehensive treatise on the culture of tea, ranging from its cultivation to its brewing.

Tea, in the form of compressed cakes or bricks, or packed into bamboo stems, was ferried on the backs of horses or camels along a network of caravan trails, connecting the mountainous regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, and further north into Tibet and Mongolia. Within the growing regions of China itself, in mountainous areas not accessible even to pack animals, tea was carried to main collection points by men. Eventually, tea found its way into the Levant and Anatolia, traditionally the last stops on the ancient Silk Road. Unsurprisingly, modern Turkey –which now includes the ancient Province of Anatolia – boasts of the highest per capita consumption of tea in the world today.

In China itself, tea drinking became such a widespread habit and a compulsion that it soon, passed into the hierarchy of needs of Chinese life, along with firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Available records indicate that by the time of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) in China, tea culture had spread widely, no longer as exclusive as it used to be, being enjoyed as much for its taste as a beverage, as for its therapeutic value.

In the context of the commodity barter trade, which preceded the exchange of currency for goods, the highly-sought-after China tea would have been

as coveted as the fabled silks of Cathay. The fact that tea was a component of the prized parcel of commodities, comprising delicate fabrics, scarce spices, precious metals, and exquisite handicrafts, all traded under imperial monopoly and licensing, is a reflection of its high commercial importance even at that stage. Eventually tea became such a desirable commodity that, compressed into bricks, Black Tea especially, served as a de-facto currency in Mongolia, Tibet, and Siberia, well into the 19th century.

The importance of these goods was such that, despite the general lawlessness of the age and the frequent conflicts between the countries through which tea consignments passed, these caravanserai were often provided free and safe passage, underwritten by treaties, grants, and pacts, especially under China’s Mongol dispensation. In fact, Ibn Battuta (1304-c. 1377) Moroccan traveller and explorer, has written that China was the safest of all countries for the traveller, a view echoed by Florentine merchant, Francesco Pegollotti (1290-1347) speaking of the entire length of the Silk Road, from Central China all the way to the Black Sea.

TEA AND ZEN – THE TAO OF TEA

“Tea is the elixir of life”

LAO

TZU (CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, CIRCA 570 BC)

There is an early nexus of tea with Buddhism, as Chinese Buddhist monks used to consume tea regularly, especially during long hours of prayer and meditation. Undoubtedly, the caffeine content of the tea would have energised them both physically and

mentally, and enabled them to stay focused for long periods. What is indisputable in the context of the evolution of tea cultivation and consumption, is its core association with Buddhism which, in various forms, exists to this day.

Till the initial stages of its domestication, which could be placed around the 5th century AD, the cultivation of tea was generally confined to monastery gardens. It was included in the Chinese pharmacopoeia, very well developed and sophisticated even then, as a herbal medicine and a therapeutic. However, apart from its curative properties, tea was found to be tasty and invigorating and, as a result, it was soon being consumed as a beverage. From that point onwards, its adoption by the wider society was a matter of time.

In its more austere forms, the ceremony of the preparation of tea and its consumption symbolises the ethos and practices of yoga, Zen, and meditation. The combination of strict ritual, attention to minute detail, mindful movement, and the tranquillity that the process induces, encouraging a cultivation of inner harmony, invests the preparation of tea with a spiritual quality that equates it with a religious experience.

The words “Cha Dao,” or the “Tao of Tea,” can be traced back to the poetry of Jiao Ran – Buddhist monk and poet of the Tang dynasty – extolling the virtues of drinking tea.

Tea drinking was much appreciated by modern poets as well, as seen below, even one famous for his advocacy of hallucinogenic drugs and abuse of

alcohol, a lethal combination which resulted in an early demise.

“The first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness and the fifth is ecstasy”

JACK KEROUAC, AMERICAN NOVELIST AND “BEAT GENERATION” POET, 1922-1969

“Zen” (Chinese; Chan, Korean – Son; Vietnamese –Thien), a reformed school of Mahayana Buddhism, said to have originated in China in the 6th century CE, means meditation. In this discipline, the path to spiritual enlightenment required monks to spend hours in deep inward focus. It was during this period that the regular consumption of tea became a feature of Chinese monastic life. Around the same period, Japanese monks travelled to China to study Buddhism, and, along with the philosophy, also acquired the tea drinking habit and took it back to the Buddhist monasteries of Japan. Historically, Japanese Buddhist monks Saicho (767-822 CE) and Kukai (774-835 CE), are said to have been responsible for first returning from China with tea seeds and leaves.

The ritual of its preparation and drinking, governed by a strictly observed set of rules, protocols, and conventions, was known as “Cha-No Yu,” or the “Way of Tea”. By the Heian period (794-1185), ceremonial tea drinking had also become a favourite pastime of Japanese Royalty and aristocrats.

TEA IN JAPAN

Tea drinking in Japan appears to have kept pace with the spread of Zen in the country. By the time of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and beyond, the influence of Zen had become both widespread and powerful, with Zen temples being established throughout Japan under warrior patronage. The Japanese Zen monk Eisai (1141-1215) too, after a period of study in China, returned home with tea seeds, and thus began its widespread cultivation in Japan. First planted in monastery gardens, its cultivation and consumption soon spread outside temple walls. The Muromachi period (1333-1573), saw the emergence of a more elaborate tea ceremony –much richer than the ascetic monastic ritual – being practiced in their castles by the Japanese shoguns and feudal barons.

“I am a humble tea merchant, pouring out the elixir of life to the world”

KAKUZO OKAKURA - 1863-1913; JAPANESE ART CRITIC AND AUTHOR OF ‘THE BOOK OF TEA’)

Another interesting version of the introduction of tea to Japan is the story of the Chinese Buddhist monk, Chien Chen (688-763 CE), who had accepted an invitation to Japan and brought with him a wide range of medicines, which included tea seeds, as well as turmeric, cloves, fennel, sandalwood, and sugar.

Whilst the version of the introduction of tea by Eisai has greater historical validity, the contributions of the others mentioned cannot be discounted.

Consequent to the introduction of tea to Japan, tea drinking spread to Korea, as records indicate,

Top: Tea Ceremony in Japan, Bottom-left: Kakuzo Okakura, Bottom-right: The Book of Tea

early in the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). Here again, the connection between ritualistic tea drinking and Buddhism is significant, with tea being offered frequently to revered monks in temples. The Korean ruling elite also adopted the custom of tea drinking, both as a daily practice and as a special ritual reserved for more significant occasions, the latter distinguished by elaborate protocols regarding the use of special utensils, method of preparation, and serving style. In fact, they all mirrored tea-related practices then in operation in both China and Japan.

The spread of the tea culture and the spread of Buddhism appear to have moved in parallel, in both Korea and Japan.

In all these countries, apart from the elaborate customs associated with the preparation and consumption of tea, another significant feature was the use of specially crafted, ornately decorated, exotic utensils, either stone-ware or metal, and, especially amongst the aristocracy, rare and delicate porcelainware. The importance attached to the ritual itself was such, that servants and retainers were not permitted to prepare the tea. That was done by a senior member of the family, generally the matriarch.

The significance of the utensils was such that they were passed down from generation to generation. Obviously, from the very inception, tea drinking was elevated to the level of a special ceremony, associated with spiritual significance, mental well-being, physical health benefits, and a sense of occasion. This sense of exclusivity cultivated in ancient times

Ancient Japanese utensils still in use

survived the passage of centuries and, in many societies, remains so to this day.

It was the Chinese, however, with their culture of literacy, philosophical learning, appreciation of beauty and the arts, and a reverence for tradition reaching back to several thousand years, who were the first to see the depth of potential of tea, as a civilising influence, which transcended its practical value as a popular beverage. This sensitivity was

reflected in the development of ritual surrounding its consumption, subsequently emulated by tea drinking societies in other nations.

TEA TRAVELS TO EUROPE

Curiously, despite the wide consumption of tea in China, Japan, and other adjacent countries, extending all the way through Afghanistan to Anatolia, and parts of the Middle East by about AD 1000, its popularisation in Europe did not take place

The family of the Duke of Penthièvre (1725 -1793) French aristocrat, enjoying a cup of tea

till the 16th century. One reason is that though there were limited tea related interactions with Japan initially, and other nearby countries later, successive Chinese administrations were very secretive about the methods of cultivation and processing of tea.

Despite the intense commercial dynamism of the Silk Road, direct interaction between China and the European countries seems to have been intermittent and sparse, and not widely reported on, till the appearance of the Italian explorers, Niccolo, Maffeo, and Marco Polo, in the period between 1264 and 1295. Marco Polo’s colourful descriptions of his travels, with vivid accounts of his sojourn in the fabled court of Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan, would have stimulated interest in a land which was, until then, as far as most of Europe was concerned, largely mythological.

The earliest reference to tea, in European literature, is attributed to Giovanni Giambattista Ramusio, a Venetian writer, who, in his book ‘Navigationi et Viaggi’ (Navigations and Travels) called it “Chai Catai,” or “tea of China”. The first volume of the book was published in 1550, the second in 1556, and the third in 1559, after his death (1557). In 1678, a Dutchman, William Ten Rhinje (1647-1700), is said to have imported the first tea plant to come to the West. Another Dutchman, Jan Huygen van Linschoten –spy, merchant, traveller, and writer – in his book ‘Itinerario,’ published in 1596 (later translated as ‘Discours of Voyages into Ye East and West Indies’) described tea as a drink being consumed by the Chinese and the Japanese, identifying it as “chaona”.

Englebert Kaempfer (1651-1716), a German naturalist, physician, explorer, and writer, also an employee of the Dutch East India Company, in his voluminous ‘History of Japan,’ included a well-rounded treatise on tea.

THE SINO-PORTUGUESE CONNECTION

Formal trade between China and Europe, which facilitated the dispatch of tea to the West, actually began with the arrival of Portuguese mariner, Jorge Alvares, in the City of Guangzhou, in 1517. In 1519, the Portuguese merchant-mariner Pires de Andrade established a trading post on the Pearl River, first in Zhujiang and then in Canton. In 1557 the Portuguese established a post in Macau and, subsequently, news of “Chai Catai,” a Chinese herb with medicinal properties, popular in the Sichuan Province, was being reported to the outside world.

Praia Grande, in Macau; 19th-century engraving by W. H. Capone

In 1606, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, brought the first commercial consignment of tea to Amsterdam from China, although travellers and mariners, especially the Portuguese, may have earlier returned from the East with small personal packages. By the end of the century the Dutch were the largest European consumers of tea.

A few decades later, around the middle of the century, there was a short-lived interest in tea in Paris, apparently influenced by Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661), briefly Chief Minister to King Louis X111 (1601-1643), who himself became an avid consumer.

Consistent with the opulent tradition of the French court, the French Emperor is said to have steeped his tea in a solid gold teapot. However, the habit did not spread, possibly because of the expense, and remained confined to select social circles.

In about 1636, tea travelled to Russia, the first consignment being a gift of four “poods” (65-70kg), from the Mongolian ruler, Altyun-Khan, to Czar Michael Fyodorovich of Russia. Around the middle of the century, the then Chinese Ambassador made another gift of tea to the then Czar, Alexei Mikailovich. In Germany, as in France, the interest in tea did not take root, nor last long. However, by the last quarter of the 17th century, large consignments of tea were making their way overland, in camel caravans, to Russia.

The relaxation of restrictions on foreign trade in the 1680s, during the Qing period of China, led to a sudden increase in the exports of porcelain, sugar,

and, in particular, tea. This period also marked the emergence of a new dimension in contacts between Europe and China.

GREEN TEA GIVES WAY TO BLACK

From the inception till the 15th/16th centuries, by when the drinking habit had spread to several other countries, the tea output of China was mostly in the form of Green Tea, Oolong Tea, and other unfermented or semi-fermented specialist varieties. These found easy acceptance in Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, and within China itself. However, transport distances and extended travel time compelled the Chinese producers of Green Tea, to find a more practical alternative, with longer shelf-life and better keeping qualities. Those outcomes were achieved with some adjustments to the manufacturing process.

Joseph van Aken (c.1699-1749) - An English Family at Tea

Thus the highly oxidised Black Tea, more resistant to change and contamination during transport, and with a stronger, coloury liquor, came into being.

As with the near-mythological origin of tea itself, there are other unusual stories about the origin of Black Tea. However, it is most likely that the production of Black Tea was stimulated by the need for a hardier alternative to the more delicate Green variety. That factor apart, Europeans, even at that time, showed a marked preference for loose tea, as against the cakes of compressed, green and semifermented tea, popular in Tibet, Mongolia, and further North. The new method of manufacture, which, in simple terms, involved the rolling of the withered, raw green leaf, followed by the drying of the broken, fully-fermented tea leaf particles, under artificial heat, yielded a robust tea with a red liquor. In China it was first known as “Hong Cha,” or red tea. Due to the heating of the fermented leaf particles over open fires of pinewood, the commonest method at that time, the liquor also acquired a smoky aroma and flavour, and this tea acquired fame as “Lapsang Souchong”.

TEA AND THE RUSSIAN NEXUS

Consequent to the formal introduction of tea to Russia, in 1679 Russia signed a treaty with China for the delivery of tea, by camel caravan, in exchange for furs. Due to the difficulties of overland transportation, tea was at first a very costly commodity, affordable only by the wealthy merchant class, boyars, and the aristocracy. In 1689, the Treaty of Nerchinsk, signed between the Qing Dynasty of

China and the Tsardom of Russia, resolving a border conflict and defining the Northern boundaries between the two countries, also marked the creation of the “Tea Road” between the two. By the time of the death of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, in 1796, Russia was importing over three million pounds of tea annually, in the form of loose tea and bricks.

Tea caravans unloaded their cargoes at Kashgar, the largest westernmost city of China, and, for over 2,000 years, the most important staging post on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe. A single caravan would deliver as much as 150,000 pounds of tea at a time. By the time the consignments selected by Russian traders traversed the Gobi desert and reached Moscow, the tea would have been on the road for anything between six months to a year or more.

The ancient tea culture of Kashgar can still be experienced in its authentic style and ambience, in

Tea to Russia on Camel back

the traditional tea houses of the city, especially in its old quarter, which has remained unchanged for centuries. Bearded elders of the city, clad in baggy trousers and thick, warm coats, topped by ornate fez hats, still sit cross-legged on colourful carpets, to enjoy long-drawn out meals of traditional savouries and sweets, washed down by the thick, smoky tea, served in heavy metal pots and drunk from large, shallow ceramic bowls without handles. The age-old custom was to cradle the hot bowl in one’s palm and let the comforting warmth enter the body.

The increased volumes arriving in Russia contributed to price discounts and, eventually, enabled lower and middle class citizens to adopt the tea-drinking custom of the Russian elites. However, even after consignments of tea started reaching European countries more regularly, with the subsequent introduction of sea transport, especially the fasttravelling “clipper” ships, the general population of those countries did not adopt tea drinking as a regular habit. In countries such as Holland, France, Portugal, and Spain, coffee became the preferred beverage of the common citizens, whilst the nobility continued to enjoy the extravagance of tea.

The development of the three-masted, multi-sailed clipper vessels, with their distinctive, long, slim, graceful hulls, was actually stimulated largely by the need to transport the first tea of the season from China to ports in Europe.

Within a few decades of its introduction to the country, especially because of the very cold northern

climate, drinking of tea as a steaming beverage became very much part of Russian culture. As in all the other countries of its consumption, the drinking of tea in Russia too was invested with protocol and ritual and accompanied by culinary specialties specific to Russian food culture. A distinctive feature of the Russian tea drinking custom was the use of the “Samovar,” a modification of the Mongolian communal cooking pot, which, kept simmering throughout the day, enabled people to offer strong black tea to family and visiting friends at any time of the day.

Russian Family at Tea – 19th Century

TEA TAKES TO THE SEA

Till the 17th century, a large proportion of China tea, if not all of it, was transported overland by camel and horse caravan. Despite their well-organised management and the Royal protection afforded to these baggage trains, in the countries which they traversed, the obstacles to safe delivery were still quite formidable. Apart from designed human aggravation, weather, climate, and terrain were also always hostile.

However, the emergence of the two giant trading companies, Dutch East India and British East India, within a couple of years of each other, changed the entire complexion of trade and economics of the countries in which they operated, and of the countries which fathered them, the Netherlands and Britain, respectively. The impact these two companies had on the global distribution and marketing of tea itself was considerable and irrevocably influenced its cultivation patterns as well.

Veerenidge Oostindsche Compagnie (VOC), the Dutch East India Company, received its charter from the States General of the Netherlands in 1602, two years after the granting of the Royal Charter to the English East India Company. For the next two centuries the two organisations were involved in a no-holds-barred competition, for regional and market hegemony. The operations of the VOC soon became crucial to the economic growth of the Netherlands, in the 17th and 18th centuries, whilst

the English East India Company made a similar contribution to the growth of the British Empire.

The two organisations played equally important roles in the export, sale, and distribution of tea, worldwide. The sea routes that their vessels travelled ensured the much quicker delivery of consignments of tea, larger by an order of magnitude from the volumes laboriously ferried by overland baggage caravans. With increasing supply, tea became cheaper and affordable even to middle and low-income groups, thus spreading the tea-drinking habit.

The VOC, a chartered trading company with a sweeping mandate, was the first joint-stock company in the world. With its Royally approved manifesto to trade across many colonies and countries, in both the East and West, it can be considered the world’s

Typical three – Masted Clipper Ship of the 18th Century

first multi-national corporation. The extraordinary and wide-ranging powers accorded to this entity, to trade, to build forts, raise and maintain armies, to declare war or peace, to strike coin and currency, and to engage in treaties and agreements with other countries, also enabled it to offer a serious challenge to the Portuguese, already well-entrenched in the maritime trade in all the countries along the SouthEast Asian seaboard. Eventually, the VOC dislodged the Portuguese from previously held ports and cities, and, by the time of its dissolution in 1799, had been, for decades, a key player in the transport of textiles, porcelain-ware, tea, coffee, spices, precious metals, and even slaves. At its zenith, the company employed over 4,000 ocean-going vessels for merchandise transport.

TEA TRAVELS TO THE NEW WORLD

Tea has an interesting history in America, terminating in a turbulent event now historicised as the “Boston Tea Party,” which took place on December 16, 1773. This pivotal incident, an American protest against the imposition by the British Government of a high tax on tea imports to America, marked the beginning of the American Revolution and the War of Independence, which led to the ceding of the North American colonies from the British Empire, and the establishment of an independent confederation of states, the precursor to the United States of America.

Petrus Stuyvesant (1610-1672), Director General of Dutch possessions in America on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, and Governor of New

The Boston Tea Party - tea chests being consigned to the sea

Amsterdam (located at the strategically important southern tip of Manhattan Island and from 16241664, a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic), arrived in North America in 1647. He is said to have brought with him a consignment of tea for personal consumption. Consequently, the tea-drinking habit had been quickly adopted by the rich and powerful of the colony. In 1664 the British took over the colony and re-named it New York, after the Duke of York, later crowned King of Britain as James II.

In 1773, during the reign of King George the 3rd, the British Government imposed a tea tax on the North American colonies, despite the absence of the colony’s representation in the British Parliament. A primary reason was to provide financial support to the then struggling British East India Company, by allowing it a monopoly to export tea direct to American colonies and to sell through its own agents. Additionally, the company was granted an exemption on export tax. In protest against the wide-ranging concessions granted to the company, which were inimical to the interests of all other shippers and merchants, a group of white colonists, disguised as native Americans – “Mohawk Indians” – boarded a British clipper, the “Dartmouth”, anchored in Boston harbour, seized 342 chests of a cargo of tea, and threw the lot into the sea. The British Parliament responded in 1774 with a series of punitive measures, which were intended to subdue the colonists. The rising political tensions between the colonists and its British overlord, eventually led to the commencement of open warfare between the two parties in 1775.

The separation of the American states from the British Empire in 1783, and the subsequent boycott of tea by the Americans, as a reaction to the tea tax, led to a sharp decline in the consumption of tea in North America. That void was soon replaced by coffee, which was anyway being consumed up to that time, in parallel with tea. The patronage of tea, in view of its association with British domination and unfair taxation, was considered unpatriotic and, as a result, suffered by the conscious rejection of many of its earlier consumers in North America.

TEA AND EMPIRE

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are warm, tea will cool you.

If you are too depressed, tea will cheer you. If you are too exhausted, tea will calm you

WILLIAM GLADSTONE - 1809-1898; FOUR-TERM PRIME MINSTER OF BRITAIN

As mentioned earlier, the first reference to tea in English was in 1598, in an English translation of ‘Itinerario,’ by Dutchman Jan Hugo Van Linschoten. In 1615 the first known reference to tea by an Englishman appears in a letter by R. Wickham – an agent of the East India Company stationed in Japan –addressed to one Eaton, stationed in then Portuguese Macao. Wickham requests Eaton to send him a “pot of the best sort of Chaw,” undoubtedly a reference to tea.

The earliest historical records of the sale of tea in Britain are from the coffee houses of London, around 1657, when Green Tea from China was offered on the menu. This origin is attributed to Thomas Garway, tobacconist and coffee house owner of London. Apparently, in order to educate the public, tea was offered with an explanatory pamphlet, extolling the virtues of its consumption.

Invariably, as is customary in the global history of tea, there is an interesting story attached to its introduction to Britain, and the popularisation which followed soon after. Though tea came relatively late to Britain, the association between the two is of primary significance, as it was the Empire which was eventually responsible, both directly and indirectly, in promoting the cultivation of tea in the Asian and African countries famous for it today, as well as for organising the regular sale and distribution of the product, worldwide. The systems of cultivation, plantation management, processing, selling, marketing, and other related practices, initially

Tea being served in a London Coffee House

introduced by the British, are still in place today, with very little change, in all the countries which produce tea.

CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA – BRITAIN’S FIRST TEA-DRINKING QUEEN

In 1662, Princess Catherine of Braganza arrived from Portugal to marry Charles the 2nd of England, in compliance with a marriage treaty between the two countries. Included in her baggage, along with sugar, spices, and other easily marketable goods –part of the Royal dowry – was a large casket of tea from China. The Portuguese had been importing tea

to Europe since the beginning of the century, and ceremonial tea drinking had become a cherished custom of the Portuguese nobility. Catherine introduced the custom to the court of Charles the 2nd and, soon, the British nobility of the day had adopted the habit. It also helped that Charles himself was already a tea drinker, having acquired the habit during his growing years, whilst living in exile (16461650), in The Hague, the Dutch capital, during the period of the English Commonwealth, under Oliver Cromwell.

LIQUID JADE FOR THE FRUIT OF THE POPPY

BRITISH

EAST INDIA

COMPANY –TEA FOR OPIUM

First an English and later a British joint-stock company, formed under Royal Charter, very similar to its Dutch counterpart in composition and mandate, it was in operation from 1600 till its dissolution in 1874. It was founded by John Watts, under the patronage of Elizabeth I, and hugely empowered by King Charles II in 1678, the additional scope being sanctioned by a grateful King, probably in response to the expensive “gifts”, he and his brother received from the company.

At its peak the British East India Company was possibly larger than the VOC by various measures. The armed forces under its command at one stage, numbered around 266,000 men, twice the size of the then standing British Army. It was authorised to trade in the Indian Ocean Region, which included the

Indian sub-continent and most of South East Asia. The primary commodities it traded in were cotton, silk, indigo, dye, sugar, salt, spices, salt-petre, tea, and opium.

In the story of the merchandising of tea, as the globally renowned beverage that it is today, the importance of the contribution made by the British East India Company, in its cultivation, transportation, and distribution, cannot be overemphasised.

Initially, when the volumes of tea imported into Europe – especially Britain – from China, were small, it was paid for by trading cotton exported from Bengal, which was under British control. However, this trade dwindled as China improved its own cotton production. Silver maintained a balance of trade between Britain and China from about 1720 to 1770, till the American Revolution, by about 1776, cut off supplies of silver from Mexico, the chief source. Very soon, the purchase of tea from China was financed by the forced sale of opium in that country, by the East India Corporation.

The spread of tea consumption in Britain is inextricably intertwined with the equally widespread usage of opium in China, then the land of tea. In 1758, The British Parliament had given East India Company, the monopoly on the cultivation of opium in India. Acting on behalf of the British Empire, the East India Company enforced the barter trade of opium for tea, extracting acquiescence from a reluctant China, from behind the barrel of a gun; it

led to two wars, known as the Opium Wars, the first in 1839 and the second in 1860.

The opium that the company sold in China, the earnings from which it funded its purchase of tea from the same country, was grown in Bihar and Bengal in British-occupied India. In fact, opium was being cultivated in increasing extents in those regions, in order to fund purchases of silk, porcelain, and, above all, tea from China. It is said that by the beginning of the 19th century, the cultivation of opium involved over a million people in Bengal, the chief source of supply.

During that period opium was also smuggled into China by the Jardine-Matheson agency, which has since evolved into a highly-diversified and respected conglomerate, operating out of Hong Kong. According to reliable sources, between 1711 and 1790, tea purchases from China had increased from 142,000 pounds to 15 million pounds, reflecting a corresponding increase of opium deliveries into

Opium ships at Lintin, China, 1824

China. In 1833, just before the Opium Wars began, the imports of opium into China had been worth around USD 12 million, in the currency of that time, whilst exports of tea were around USD 9 million.

The first Opium War was the result of the British response – delivered through the gunboats of the East India Company – to the banning of opium and the burning of a year’s supply, by the Chinese Government, in a desperate effort to counter the dangers that its consumption presented to Chinese society. The tea-for-opium trade was a tragedy for the Chinese, on account of widespread addiction, whilst for Britain it was an indispensable source of revenue, as the tea that it purchased provided as much as 10% of State revenue, in the form of importation and sales taxes, during the Victorian era.

The first Opium War ended in a predictable defeat for the Chinese, a spin-off benefit to the British being the lease of Hong Kong island from China, in 1842. The second Opium War ended in 1860, with the Treaty of Tientsin, which legalised the importation

of opium into China. It was an inevitable outcome as the lightly-armed Chinese “sampans” were no match for the British gunboats. The agreements reached between Western powers and the Chinese government, consequent to military action, were “unequal treaties”, as the treaty conditions were weighted heavily in favour of the victorious Western powers.

A fact of interest is that America too, signed a similar trade treaty with China – known as the Treaty of Wangxia – in 1844. The reality was that whilst Western countries were greedy for Chinese products, such as exquisite furniture, silks and tea, China did not share the same appetite for goods from the West. This extractivist philosophy was already being unapologetically displayed by the British government, in India, another one of its colonies.

Interestingly, despite Britain imposing opium consumption on Chinese society through force of arms, Queen Victoria of Britain, under whose Royal sanction the company operated, banned the sale and consumption of opium in Britain. Obviously, with the moral ambivalence common to all colonial powers, she saw no harm in facilitating its consumption in an Asiatic society. The tea-for-opium trade was heavily weighted in favour of British society. Apart from the revenue it earned for Britain, tea provided a very healthy and hygienic alternative drink to the working classes of Britain, preferable by far to the highly contaminated groundwater of its large cities, or the heavy and stupefying beer of the British ale-houses, or the corrosive, crudely distilled gin,

Left: Poppy Flower Right: Camellia sinensis

served in the Victorian “gin palaces”. Thus, whilst the popularisation of China tea in Britain was helping to reduce alcoholism amongst the British working classes, in particular, opium addiction, supported by British-sponsored supplies, was laying waste to an equivalent segment of Chinese society.

William Gladstone (1809-1898), a minister of Queen Victoria’s Cabinet and, subsequently, four times a prime minister during her reign, was unequivocal in his condemnation of the British involvement in the opium trade in China. In a speech in Parliament 1880, he referred to it as “most infamous and atrocious”.

WINDS OF CHANGE THE TREATY OF TIENTSIN

The treaty of 1860, which legalised the sale and consumption of opium in China, ironically, stimulated discussion and action amongst concerned colonial parties for an alternative source for tea, which, by that time, had become as addictive within British society, as opium was in Chinese society.

Vested interests in Britain had already become apprehensive about the Chinese monopoly on tea, and their secretiveness about its cultivation and manufacture. The legalisation of opium in China and its unrestricted cultivation in the country, was certain to soon neutralise the British monopoly on its supplies from India. The captive market in China would, shortly, become its biggest competitor. With Britain’s heavy reliance on the unwilling revenue collections from the colonies for internal

development – railways, roads, industries, and supporting a massive Civil Service – she could not afford any disruption to the balance of trade.

One of the first official warnings of the impending reversal of fortune, and the need for a counterstrategy, came from General Henry Hardinge (17851856), Governor General of India (1844-1848).

“It is in my opinion by no means improbable that in a few years the Government of Pekin, by legalising the cultivation of opium in China, where the soil has already proved equally well adapted with India to the growth of the plant, may deprive this Government of one of its present chief sources of revenue. Under this view, I deem it most desirable to afford every encouragement to the cultivation of tea in India. In my opinion the latter is likely in the

Signing the Treaty of Tientsin, 1858.

course of time to prove an equally prolific and more safe source of revenue than that now derived from the monopoly on opium.”

Clearly, British civil servants, whatever their private views on the morality of the British role in the opium trade in China, were under no illusions as to the possible adverse impact on the British economy, arising from the loss of that odious commerce.

ROBERT FORTUNE BOTANIST AND TEA SMUGGLER

In 1845, self-taught botanist and self-made horticulturist, Scotsman Robert Fortune (1812- 1880), returned to England after a three-year specimencollecting expedition in southern China. It was a commission assigned to him by the Horticultural Society of Chiswick, his then employer. His massive collection, meticulously labelled and annotated, proved to be a botanic treasure trove of hitherto

largely unknown species of exotic flora. During his travels, to achieve success, he literally braved death several times, which included pitched battles and exchanges of fire with pirates in the South China Sea. After his return, consequent to the publication of a book on his travels in China, he acquired a justifiable reputation as the most knowledgeable Westerner on China’s interior. He was also able to secure a more prestigious and better-paid position, as Curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden.

In 1848, the East India Company offered a wellcompensated assignment to Robert Fortune; to travel to the interior of China and smuggle out – as the Chinese did not permit the export of tea plants – tea seeds or tea plants for cultivation in India.

Though Fortune had travelled widely in China on his first visit, venturing into areas no Briton had previously visited, he had travelled primarily from treaty port to treaty port. The company’s assignment would require him to penetrate inland China and travel to areas normally barred to foreigners.

In a three-year, largely clandestine mission, across the main tea growing provinces of China, including remote areas of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangsu Provinces, Fortune collected tea plants and seedlings from local growers, which were dispatched to the company’s representatives in India. The first consignment failed, on account of transport delays and incompetent nursery management, but the second batch had produced successful plants in the experimental gardens of North-Western India.

Plaque at 9, Gilston Road, South Kensington, London, England

Apart from the seeds, Fortune smuggled out a group of experienced Chinese tea workers and set them to work in the tea fields of the Darjeeling region of India.

More than the plants that he sent back, what was most important was the knowledge of techniques of cultivation and processing that Fortune returned with. These were of immense value to the fledgling Indian tea industry and eventually cascaded to Ceylon as well. The seasonal Darjeeling teas still produced in the Himalayan foothills, derived from modern strains of the original Chinese plants, are amongst the most highly priced tea in the world today.

TEA IN INDIA

Whilst there are credible reports of tea drinking in India, even as far back as 750 BC, and even more recently as the 16th century, the credit for its rediscovery and commercial cultivation goes to the British.

In 1774, Warren Hastings, British Governor General of Bengal, is reported to have sent a few tea seed samples obtained from China to his colleague in Bhutan, George Bogle. Given the Chinese restrictions on the removal of tea planting material from the country, it is not clear how Hastings came by the seeds. In 1776, English botanist Sir John Banks, recommended India as a suitable growing country for tea. A few years later, Colonel Robert Kyd, Commanding Officer of a British East India Army Regiment, experimented with tea seed germination in an Indian Botanical garden at Howrah (presentday Kolkata).

In 1823, Scottish explorer Robert Bruce, assisted by Assamese nobleman Maniram Dewan, had discovered indigenous tea plants, growing wild, in an expedition to the Upper Brahmaputra Valley, in Assam. Apparently, the local Singhpho tribe was brewing tea from the plants, as a medicinal drink. However, Nathaniel Wallich, curator of the Calcutta Botanical Garden, identified them as a species separate from the Chinese variety, though modern botanists consider them to be variants of the same species, Camellia sinensis.

Unloading tea-ships in the East India docks, from the Illustrated London News, 1867

Maniram Dewan went on to become the first Indian to set up a commercial tea plantation.

The first consignment of Indian tea reached London in 1838. In the meantime, tea was being planted in different locations in Darjeeling and by around 1875, 113 plantations, covering about 180,000 acres, were producing close upon 4 mn pounds, annually. The success of tea cultivation in Darjeeling stimulated cultivation in Kumaon (Northern India) and further south in Garhwal, Kangra Valley, Dehra Dun and the Nilgiris. By 2017, India was producing over 1.2 bn kg of tea, annually, second only to China, the world’s largest producer.

18th Century Map of Indian sub-continent

CHAPTER TWO

Tea Comes to Serendib

A journey across 40 centuries

Ceylon was the last country in the South-East Asian sea board to grow tea. But no Tea is as celebrated as a product of a nation, as Ceylon Tea is. It shaped pre-modern Ceylon, configured its land, guided its political direction, altered its regional demography and gave it economic stability. Modern Sri Lanka is still under its spell and influence.

Plantation crops have played a significant role in the history and economy of Sri Lanka – then Ceylon – especially since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505. Initially, what attracted Western invaders –the Portuguese and then the Dutch – was the famed Cinnamon of Ceylon, which had, historically, been one of the most coveted commodities from the island, for at least 15 centuries before the advent of the Portuguese. Cloves were another item on the list of preferred spices.

The Portuguese relied largely on existing traditional local systems, with a few innovations, for the production and collection of cinnamon. Areca nut was another important item of trade and barter, and of great commercial value, again preceding the Portuguese arrival by many centuries.

The Portuguese intervention in Sri Lanka led to a sharp increase in commercial activity, and a much higher degree of monetisation of the economy. The Dutch, following later, with their far more methodical and pragmatic approach to the commercial management of colonies, made considerable improvements on the model left behind by the Portuguese. The British, taking over from the Dutch in the first quarter of the 19th century, laid down the foundation of the organised plantation economy of the country, which flourished well into the 20th century.

THE SPICE ISLAND –COLONIAL HISTORY

The history of the commercial cultivation of globally desirable products is, most often, tied up with the

colonisation and domination of undeveloped nations and tribal societies, by commercially and militarily superior Western nations; exploitative and often linked to slavery, such as tobacco and cotton in North America, coffee and sugar cane in the Caribbean and, most infamously, rubber cultivation in the African Congo by Belgium. The story, first of coffee and then tea cultivation in Ceylon, today Sri Lanka, initially followed the same unattractive pattern, though in this country it was always paid labour and, certainly, never as brutal as the other examples cited.

The history of the island of Sri Lanka, located within touching distance of the southernmost tip of its giant neighbour, India, has been inextricably linked with the latter from before pre-history. At various stages, under varying circumstances, India has been its ally, friend, co-conspirator, and foe. India has been brotherly and helpful and, also, antagonistic and overbearing. For thousands of years it has been a love-hate relationship. Tea arrived in then Ceylon, from India, under British patronage, then the colonial master of both India and Ceylon.

Arrival of the Portuguese in Colombo

Portuguese mariners, who commanded the blue water trade along the South East Asian sea-board for much of the 16th century, first came to Ceylon in 1505; accidently in fact, when a fleet commanded by mariner Lourenco de Almeida was driven to the then Port of Colombo by adverse winds. In about 1518, with the permission of the then King of Kotte, Vira Parakrama Bahu, they built a fort at the mouth of the Kelani River. They were also given trading concessions.

The Portuguese stayed on till being comprehensively ousted by the Dutch, by about 1658, with some active assistance from the native administration, which had begun to find Portuguese intrusion into the country’s internal affairs intolerable. The Portuguese had been mainly interested in Ceylon Cinnamon, which grew abundantly along the south-western coastal areas and, also, inland. The Dutch, represented by the VOC forces, took over this trade with the expulsion of the Portuguese; gradually, they also took control of the entire coastline provinces, isolating the Kandyan Kingdom in the central hills.

In 1795, William V of Holland, the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, abandoned his country to the invading French forces and fled to England. In return for his safe custody and asylum in England, he signed over control of all Dutch possessions in the colonies, across the globe, to the British. Gerard van Angelbeek, then Commander of the Dutch possessions in Ceylon, after a brief initial resistance, surrendered to the British, ironically, represented by the forces of the ubiquitous British East India Company.

COFFEE COMES TO CEYLON

By 1818, the British were in control of the island of Ceylon in its entirety, an advantage, from a military, administrative, and commercial position, that the previous colonial occupiers did not possess. This gave the British unrestricted access to large swathes of land, including commonly owned but un-demarcated, traditionally-owned land in farming areas, and massive tracts of virgin forest, especially in the central hills, which had been untouched for centuries.

In parallel with the consumption of tea, coffee drinking had also become highly popular in 19th century Britain. Supplies were mainly from the West Indies, where slave labour in the plantations enabled producers to maintain low production costs, rendering West Indian coffee highly competitive in Western markets.

In 1833, slavery was officially abolished across the British Empire and, with that, the profitability of the West Indian coffee plantations, especially those in Jamaica, declined drastically. That gave Ceylon coffee, which had hitherto been more experimental and a widespread cottage industry than an organised commercial enterprise, a massive boost.

British Colonial Governor Edward Barnes of Ceylon (1824-1831), following the example of his predecessor, Thomas Maitland (1805-1811), dedicated to the concept of developing plantations in the colony, hastened to provide the colonial entrepreneurs and British Government officials in Ceylon with land for coffee.

The acquisition of land, either as grants or at rockbottom prices, by British entrepreneurs, military men, civil servants, employees of the British East India Company, and even the Christian clergy – all British of course – was facilitated by the enactment of infamous Crown Lands Ordinance of 1840 and Ordinance No.9 of 1841.

The implementation of the above acts enabled prospective planters and investors, to literally invade and acquire any land they considered suitable for coffee, irrespective of its original status. This resulted in village farmers being dispossessed of cultivable land and many areas of the central hills and other heavily forested wet-zone provinces, being denuded

of their virgin forest cover. Whilst the British created the opportunity for valuable export crops – which still serve the country well – first for coffee and then tea and rubber, it was at tremendous cost to the environment and its fauna, flora, animal habitats, and watersheds. Equally affected were the traditional village communities in those areas, which were heavily reliant on well-balanced eco-systems to sustain traditional life-styles and livelihoods, harmonious with the natural environment.

When morning broke... I found myself gazing upon a scene not altogether unfamiliar to me. All around me lay hundreds of black charred logs, stumps in fantastic shapes and outlines; fallen branches, broken and distorted by fire; cinder heaps, and little rivulets of sodden ash; all indicative of the fierce, merciless fire that but a few weeks ago had been a beautiful forest land (‘Sixty Four Years In Ceylon’ – Frederick Lewis, 1858-1923, British Coffee Planter, Forest Officer, and Surveyor in Ceylon), on witnessing the carbonised remnants of the montane forest which later became Alton Estate, Upcot; first planted in coffee and then in tea)

Sir Edward Barnes - Governor of Ceylon (1824-1831)

Clearing virgin forest for plantation crops

Amongst the first British coffee planters, George Bird (1792-1857) stands out as the owner of the first successful commercial plantation, located in Sinhapitiya, close to Kandy, in the 1820s. He was followed by Scotsman Robert Tytler (18191882) who brought with him his experience of West Indian coffee culture.

Following the example of the British coffee pioneers, a few wealthy Ceylonese businessmen too invested in the crop. Foremost among them was Jeronis de Soysa (1797-1862), followed by his son, Charles Henry de Soysa (1836-1890), who expanded the land holdings and businesses inherited from his father. The latter is still remembered for his great philanthropy, especially for his contributions to public health, school education, and institutions for agriculture.

Coffee had been grown in Ceylon for several decades by native peasant farmers, but as a subsistence crop and not on large commercial-scale plantations. The advent of the British plantation entrepreneur,

elevated what had been smallholder occupation, to the level of a massive export production enterprise.

COFFEE – RISE, DECLINE, AND FALL

With the impetus provided for its cultivation by the British Colonial Government, by 1870, coffee production had spread to about 275,000 acres and Ceylon had become the third highest producer in the world, behind Brazil and Indonesia. It was also the primary source of income for Ceylon’s Colonial Government. However, around that time, a fungus disease, later classified as “Hemeleia Vastatrix,” or Coffee-Rust, made its appearance, literally unnoticed. Within a decade it had spread, country-wide, and without an effective antidote, decimated the national industry. Plantations were abandoned, workers were left destitute, planters and administrators lost employment, and offices closed down, whilst a multitude of companies officially declared bankruptcy.

Left: Jeronis de Soysa

Right: Charles Henry de Soysa

George Bird –First Coffee Planter in Ceylon

19th Century Coffee House - Ceylon

CEYLON TEA – UNCERTAIN BEGINNINGS

Whilst there are obscure and not easily verifiable references to tea in Ceylon, dating back to the second decade of the 19th century, an indisputable starting point would be 1839, when the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya received a consignment of seeds from Dr. Wallich, eminent botanist and curator of the Calcutta Botanic Gardens. In February that year, there was another lot of 205 plants, of which a few had been sent to Nuwara Eliya, a region in the central hills with elevations ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 metres above sea level. Again, in April 1842, part of another consignment of the Assam variety from Dr.

Wallich had been sent to one Mooyart of Nuwara Eliya. That lot had been planted on land in Nuwara Eliya, belonging to Sir Anthony Oliphant, then Chief Justice of Ceylon. According to Rev. E.F. Gepp, tutor to Sir Anthony’s son, the planting may have been in the vicinity of the subsequently constructed (1893) Queen’s Cottage – now President’s House – of Nuwara Eliya.

Maurice and Gabriel Worms, both of German-Jewish origin, two pioneering coffee planters of Pussellawa, are also associated with early experiments with tea planting in Ceylon. Maurice had apparently returned from a trip to China in 1841 with a few rootlets or cuttings of tea and planted them on Rothschild, Pussellawa, then a flourishing, mid-elevation coffee estate, about 40 km below Nuwara Eliya. A field on Condegalla division of Labookellie Estate, Ramboda, in close proximity to Nuwara Eliya, is also said to have been planted with a few tea plants during the same period. Apparently, a retired Assam tea planter, W.J. Jenkins, had carried out experimental manufacture from the tea on Condegalla.

Emerson Tennent (1804-1869), British Colonial Secretary and historian of Ceylon, in his book ‘Ceylon’ (first published in 1849), refers to a thriving tea field on Rothschild: “when I saw them they were covered with bloom”. Concurrent with the Worms brothers’ episode, there is a report of one Llewellyn of Calcutta, planting tea on Pen-y-Lan Estate, Dolosbage. This is verified later by A.M. Ferguson, reporting on the existence of large tea trees on Pen-ylan, during a visit made by him in 1885.

Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya

Another reference comes from Uva, a large, mountainous province in the Eastern part of the country, with one James Irvine of Kottagodde Estate, Badulla, claiming to have maintained a small field of tea planted by one A. Bartlin, possibly an early British owner of the estate, at a period prior to 1870.

Similar to the above, there are many other tantalising titbits of tea-related information from various parts of the island, relevant to the period, 1840-1867. However, there is no reliable evidence of the survival of plants from any of the above experiments.

THE LOOLECONDERA STORY; TAYLOR-MADE TEA

In October 1851, James Taylor, a 16 year old Scottish youth from Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire, signed a contract with Messrs. G & J. A. Hadden of London, estate agents, committing himself to a three-year plantation engagement, with Englishman, George Pride, coffee estate owner of Kandy, Ceylon. Taylor boarded ship in London on 23rd

October, accompanied by his mother’s young cousin, Henry Stiven, also a plantation recruit, and arrived in Ceylon on February 2th, 1852.

After a few weeks on Naranghena Estate, Hewaheta, Kandy District, he transferred to Loolecondera, a mid-elevation coffee estate in close proximity. Over the next couple of decades, Taylor was responsible for the successful planting and production of coffee on that property.

By about 1880, the collapse of the coffee industry had become inevitable and many planters commenced experimenting with other crops. One was cinchona, the bark of which was used in the production of quinine, a medicine for malaria. However, it soon became clear, that cinchona, despite being an effective prophylactic, was not a commercially viable replacement for coffee.

In the meantime, Dr. George Thwaites(1812-1882), Superintendent of the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, had been experimenting with tea cultivation in the gardens itself. In or around 1864, on his own Taylor appears to have experimented with a few tea plants, set down along the roads within Loolecondera. In 1868, Taylor cleared 20 acres on field no:7 of Loolecondera and, with seeds obtained from Thwaites, planted the area with tea. The first effort had failed but a second planting in 1869 had

Left: Maurice & Gabriel Worms Right: Emerson Tennent

James Taylor, Ceylon’s First Tea Planter

been successful. It is recorded that Taylor sent a lot of 23 lbs of Black Tea, manufactured from his leaf, to London, in 1872, the first commercial consignment from Ceylon. That tea field, protected as a museum piece, still produces Black Tea on a commercial scale.

Other planters, encouraged by Taylor’s success and, also, driven by the desperate need for an alternative to coffee, commenced large scale tea cultivation, firstly in the hills of the central province, using the infrastructure which had supported coffee. Tea plantations soon became wide-spread in the upcountry districts and quickly moved down to the low-country, eventually establishing a significant presence in five out of the nine provinces.

By 1900, the extent under tea had increased to 120,000 hectares (296,400 acres) and the annual national production to 69,000 metric tonnes (151,800,000 lbs). Today tea covers around 200,000 hectares (440,000 acres) and the average annual production is around 300 million kg (660 million lbs).

An industry built on the wreckage of another soon acquired a pre-eminent position, as the country’s biggest revenue earner.

James Taylor, aged 56 years, died on Loolecondera, on 2nd May 1892, of complications arising from dysentery. His coffin was carried down to Kandy by his estate workers, and interred at the Mahaiyawa cemetery. His final months were unhappy, due to friction with his then employers, who dismissed him from service shortly before his death.

Taylor laid the foundation for an industry which

became the cornerstone of the economy of his adopted country, Ceylon, and enriched many fellow British businessmen, but died with very little to his name, leaving behind him fixed deposits valued at less than Rs 40,000.00 then, and a silver tea service. He never married, officially, and there is no record of any descendants in Ceylon. He did not see his native country again, and between his arrival in Ceylon and his untimely death, left the country only once; on a ten-day trip to the Darjeeling district in India, in 1874, during which he had visited a cinchona plantation and a few tea plantations.

Whilst there were infrequent and brief references to Taylor, in the many decades after his death, it was only with the centenary of Ceylon Tea, in 1967, that any substantial effort was made to assess his contribution to the tea industry, and to properly celebrate his memory. D.M. Forrest, British journalist and tea specialist, in his brilliant book, “Hundred Years of Ceylon Tea, 1867-1967,” finally paid due homage to James Taylor, whose quiet, unacknowledged diligence, helped to shape the economy of a nation.

PLANTATION ECONOMY AND SOCIETY –A COLONIAL CONSTRUCTION

For many centuries Ceylon had been supported by an agrarian economy, the main products being rice, coconut, betel, cinnamon, and other spices. It was also famous for its precious stones, especially from the Sabaragamuwa Province, and the seasonal pearls from the North-Western coast. The opening of coffee

plantations, and its eventual replacement with tea, once extents and production volumes increased, completely changed the picture. It heralded the genesis of a new socio-economic order, based on British capital, British management, Ceylonese land, and South Indian labour.

The sole focus of the colonial investor in the plantation economy was personal profit and revenue, for the British Colonial Government. As with any occupying power anywhere in the world, the conquered territory was viewed as a source for agricultural produce, mineral resources, land for acquisition, and cheap labour. In short, it was a highly exploitative relationship with any benefit to the natives being incidental to the main purpose and, generally, an unplanned by-product. Of course, some of these unattractive features changed over time, or were compensated by the introduction of new technologies, administrative, legal, and governance systems, and other physical infrastructure which was of common benefit to all citizens.

The country, as a whole, eventually developed and profited from the plantation economy, with new avenues of employment and commerce being made available, which the natives too had access to. As the plantation economy grew, many local investors and businessmen were able to tap into the system, at benefit to themselves. However, all that was very much in the future.

Initially, commencing with the coffee era, the plantation industry was carefully nurtured by the Colonial Government in Ceylon and its overseers in London. Duties on exports were deliberately minimal and preferential in London, and the Ceylon plantations exempt from tax. Many of the British civil servants in Ceylon, as well as military men, had investments in the industry. However, Governor Sir Colin Campbell (1843-1846), obviously a man of integrity, persuaded members of his administration to withdraw from direct involvement in private enterprise. He also enforced the Master-Servant Ordinance and the Vaccination Ordinance, during his period of governance and, also, insisted on the plantation managers accepting greater responsibility for worker recruitment from South India.

Sir Colin Campbell (1843-1846)

The plantation system, from the opening up of coffee plantations in the 1830s, and through to Ceylon’s independence from the British Crown in 1948, was almost entirely owned, controlled and managed by the British, although there was a very gradual easing in this all-pervasive stranglehold, from about the early 1940s, when the 2nd World War began. However, the British influence on the plantation sector, direct and indirect, was very visible even into the 1970s.

THE BRITISH PLANTATION PRESENCE

The British obtained the manpower for their plantations from South India, through various unaccredited agencies, generally individuals with connections and influence in those lands.

From the inception and for many decades thereafter, the plantations were managed entirely by expatriates, almost all British, with an unusually high percentage of Scotsmen. The most famous of them, James Taylor, came from Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire, and it is recorded that at one time, there were as many as a dozen men in the planting community in Ceylon, from that small Scottish community of about 2,000 citizens.

The all-pervasive Scottish presence and influence, is borne out by typically Scottish names such as McGregor, Robertson, Cameron, Bannerman, and Gordon, which adorn the planter lists on estates – equally well represented on the headstones of the plantation country graveyards – as well as the plantations themselves, nostalgically named

after native highland locations by the expatriate pioneers; Inverness, Strathdon, Strathspey, Eskdale, Dunsinane, Glentilt, and Moray are those that immediately come to mind.

As in many other occupied territories, Ceylon provided a useful and often lucrative source for employment and investment, for Britons with meagre education and minimal financial and

Roll of Honour - 1st world war - DMCC

inheritance prospects, in their own country. Recruitment was quite often linked to family, friends, and other reliable personal connections, a standard yardstick applied to all managerial imports to Ceylon from the home country.

These men brought with them and implanted in the plantation society of Ceylon, a new social order: protocols of conduct, behaviour, styles of dress, food habits, attitudes, and customs. All of it was based on the assumed, overarching superiority of the colonising westerner over the native. They also set up the plantation clubs, initially as rough, simple hunting clubs, but later expanding as venues for meeting, drinking, and sports. Soon followed the typically British sports: rugby, cricket, tennis, squash, and billiards. They may have been played, concurrently, elsewhere in the country, but the British plantation fraternity made a major contribution to the popularisation of those sports.

EVOLUTION OF A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Under British management, plantations became highly self-contained units, with the British superintendent, or manager, as the authoritative head. He was the agriculturist, the finance manager, the engineer, and, for the generally submissive labour force of almost entirely South Indian origin, the law-giver and master. His authority on all matters was beyond question or dispute. It was a rigidly patriarchal system, frequently harsh and unyielding, and in an environment far removed from the seats of central government administration,

the superintendent of the estate represented the supreme British authority.

In the early days of opening of plantations, especially at the commencement of the coffee era, the dwellings of the white planters were little superior to the low-roofed, thatched, wattle-and-daub, barrack-type accommodation of the migrant Tamil plantation workers. The planter himself attended to all the minute details of daily estate management, personally supervising field work, weighing leaf, or the coffee beans, the manufacturing process in the factory, the clearing of land, and the planting of crop.

With the passage of time, as the plantations became more prosperous, the houses of the white planters were gradually improved with the introduction of modern conveniences, and enlarged with the addition of properly equipped areas for separate activities, such as living, dining, and sleeping, as well as designated sections for indoor servants. Successive resident planters made improvements to individual houses over the years, resulting in the beautiful and often majestic estate bungalows that one sees today. The introduction of wives, invariably arriving from the old country, accelerated the evolution of gracious living. The living condition of the workers did not improve in parallel, with those of their British masters, but came many decades later.

The improved economy of the plantations also enabled the recruitment of assistant superintendents to share in the planters’ workload, whilst supervisory level employees were drawn from the local Tamil

speaking community and, gradually, from the Tamil plantation workforce itself. In the early decades, very few native Sinhalese entered the plantation sector, as members of staff. Although this changed gradually over time, till recently, the number of Tamil members of estate staff vastly outnumbered those of Sinhala ethnicity. The number of resident Sinhala

manual workers were also minimal, although many local Sinhala residents of the plantation regions worked as independent contractors and casual workers, in the British-owned plantation system.

Initially, all the assistant superintendents were also British and it was not till the 1920s, that Ceylonese were brought into estates at even assistant manager level.

The exodus of British planters to the fighting fronts of the 2nd World War, compelled British managers of the industry to open the doors of the industry to locals, especially in the estate sector. Many of the expatriates did not return to their Ceylon plantations after the war. Additionally, the looming threat of independence from the British Crown becoming a quickening reality, consequent to the granting of independence to India, the colonies were no longer an attractive option to young Britons looking for wellpaid comfort, as they used to be.

After independence in 1948, the trickle of locals into the plantations increased gradually and became a flood, complementing the simultaneous departure of the British executives out of Ceylon, especially consequent to the 1956 election victory of the Bandaranaike-led, national-minded coalition forces, over the clearly Anglophilic United National Party, which had been the ruling political party since independence in 1948.

MANAGING THE INDUSTRY

The tea industry, objectively viewed, was a model of efficient management. Every aspect, from the

Top: Old Plantation Bungalow- Early 20th Century Bottom: Somerset Estate Bungalow, today

cultivation, harvesting, and processing of tea, to its selling, export, and distribution, was managed with precision. The development of the plantation industry, commencing with coffee and then moving on to tea, and the development of national infrastructure took place in tandem. It catalysed modernism in the country, giving rise to roads, railways, development of ports, and the emergence of financial institutions and ancillary businesses.

With the expansion of lands under cultivation and the consequent increases in production, the industry increased in complexity. The need arose for rules, guidelines, protocols, and regulations governing the industry.

The first industry-linked organisation to emerge was the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (1853), followed by the Planters’ Association in 1854, and the Ceylon Tea Traders’ Association in 1894. In parallel with these developments, the agency houses, produce broking establishments, engineering companies, transport agents, and other entities came into being.

The Rubber Research Institute came into being in 1909 and The Tea Research Institute in 1925. The Tea Propaganda Board became active, as an institution in the early 1930s and morphed into the Ceylon Tea Board in 1976.

The rapid expansion of the smallholder segment, led to the establishment of the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA). All of these institutions constitute a vibrant, dynamic network, with diverse agendas and interests, but all linked to one great plantation industry.

The Agency Houses, as managers of plantation interests on behalf of absentee owners, both local and foreign, played a vital role from the very inception of the plantation industry, until they became irrelevant with the nationalisation of plantations in 1976.

RUNNING A PLANTATION

The actual estate management structure has changed little from the days of coffee.

Each plantation is divided into several divisions, the extent of each division being probably much the same today, as it was a century ago. Each division would have its own complement of workers, with successive generations being resident on the same division.

At the inception of the industry, individual plantations were not large, generally a couple of hundred acres at most, and many of them were owned by single entrepreneurs or families. However, over time, with the collapse of coffee, many

The Tea Research Institute

owners sold their individual holdings and, with the emergence of tea as the logical replacement, many of the small coffee plantations were amalgamated into larger groups. The cost reductions offered by economies of scale were as relevant then, as they are now.

The head of the plantation and the supreme authority is the superintendent, or manager, who would be totally responsible for all outcomes: production, financial management, agriculture, worker welfare, moveable and fixed asset management, plant, and machinery. Depending on the extent of the plantation, he would have assistant managers, in charge of specific extents or divisions. They would carry out tasks delegated to them by the superintendent, but, as far as shareholders, owners, agents of the latter, or the corporate hierarchy is concerned, the superintendent is answerable for results, good or bad.

Within divisions, there would be conductors or field officers and their assistants, who would be in charge of specific tasks within the division, and also of worker groups. Small worker groups would be supervised by a senior labourer, generally designated as a “kangani,” a title coming down from the beginning of the coffee era and still very much in use.

Above them would be junior supervisors.

The processing plant, the factory, would be headed by a factory officer, aided by several assistants, each in charge of different areas of action within the factory. The plantation office would be headed by a chief clerk, with several clerks to assist him.

A feature of plantation management, persisting into recent decades, is the “Morning Muster,” with workers, especially the men, reporting to central points on each division early in the morning, and being assigned specific tasks at specific locations, by the assistant manager in charge of the relevant division.

It was, and still is, very much a monolithic structure, patriarchal in both outlook and practice. However, with the emergence of a far more enlightened outlook as regards the employer- employee relationship, the interaction between estate management and the workforce is, today, far more consensual and collaborative. The influence of the politically-significant plantation trade unions, has also been a determinant in moulding the employeremployee exchange on the plantations.

Leaf Weighing at a Factory – Colonial Era

All the above factors apart, the interaction between the plantation worker and the management is, in every important aspect, conditioned by collective agreements and other protocols, all of which are legally binding on both parties.

AN INDUSTRY IN TURMOIL

No other industry has been impacted by such powerful external and internal upheavals, in a near-200-year journey, as the plantation industry in Sri Lanka and yet survived as a robust force to be reckoned with.

The first major, industry-wide shock, was the Coffee Blight, which, within a decade, devastated the industry. However, the resilience and the courage of the British planter and the stability of the plantation infrastructure were such that, within two decades, the tea industry, built on the wreckage of coffee, had become an international player in its own right.

Then came two world wars, within two decades of each other. They both had impact on the industry, in regard to production, prices, delivery of product to the marketplace, financing, cash-flow, and loss of manpower.

In 1972, with the enactment of the Land Reform Act

No 1, the then United Front Government under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, vested around 500,000 acres of privately held land with

the State. This was followed by the investigation of the Agency House-managed plantation sector by a specially appointed commission, which, at the end of a three-year examination, produced the Agency House Commission Report, in or around end 1974.

In October 1975, the Land Reform (Amendment) Act was signed into law, vesting around 400 plantations, covering about 300,000 acres, with the Government.

In February/March 1976, the land so vested was divided, for management, between several State organisations, the major quantum being shared between the existing Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation (SLSPC) and the newly formed Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB). About 50,000 acres were allocated to a multitude of loosely formed local bodies and cooperatives, totally politically driven and influenced by local politicians, who proceeded to assign much of that land to party supporters and officials.

The large plantations still retained most of their original staff, both plantation executives and other support staff. Thus the old-style management continued, but, as in every State-controlled entity, eventually cracks started appearing. Political interference made its presence felt in every aspect of the industry. Sometimes such pressures were too strong, even for the most conscientious and upright managers to resist. As expected and was natural, some also made use of such influences for personal gain, obtained through political patronage. Within the plantation management milieu, connection and kinship usurped competence in the distribution of

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Former Prime Minister of Ceylon and the World’s First Woman Prime Minister.

rewards. A once-inviolable meritocracy degraded into a system, largely ruled by favour, patronage, undue influence, and, often, naked nepotism. Production increases, if any, were disproportionate to investment in cultivation and field practices, despite assistance from international donors. Productivity, overall, declined. With time, the integrity of a oncesecure management fabric began to disintegrate rapidly.

By about 1990, as a result of politically motivated management decisions and other related and unrelated shortcomings, there was a visible erosion of the rigid fiscal controls, financial accountability, and management competence, which had characterised plantation management in the Agency House era. The two State management behemoths began to sag under the weight of acquired debt and other inadequacies. The two main State lending agencies, the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank, were also heavily overextended, by credit provided to the JEDB and the SLSPC.

In 1992, succumbing to internal and external pressure, especially by the World Bank, which declared privatisation of the State-owned plantation sector conditional to lending assistance in other areas, the then Government commenced the process of re-privatisation of the plantation sector, by the creation of 23 public companies (Regional Plantation Companies – RPCs). Initially, these entities were assigned the management rights of the State-owned plantations. A multiplicity of private commercial enterprises obtained the management rights to the

RPCs, through a bidding process. Over the next two to three years, most of the RPCs’ managing companies acquired possession of the respective RPC, through share purchase and related instruments, on a long lease of 53 years, scheduled for review in 2044/’45.

IMPACT OF PLANTATION CULTURE; THE SOCIO ECONOMIC DIMENSION

The denudation of natural, montane forest cover was a damaging collateral outcome of the colonial plantation culture; common all over the world, wherever large, commercial-scale mono-crop cultivation is practiced, but given a new impetus in occupied territories during the Victorian era. In Ceylon, much of these lands constituted invaluable, high-elevation catchment areas, and habitats for irreplaceable species of fauna and flora.

Similarly, large extents of commonly-owned farming and grazing lands, allegedly ancestral holdings of Kandyan villagers but included within the classification of “waste lands,” suddenly became

Harvesting the green leaf - modern era

inaccessible to the native farming population. Irrespective of its accuracy, this claim was advanced by various local communities over time and, eventually, became a strongly articulated civic grievance, leveraged unapologetically by various politicians as and when expedient.

The other factor was the worker requirement for the newly-opened plantations. The native Sinhala villagers were willing to work at short-term land clearing, preparation, and other seasonal work but, reportedly, from the beginning, had been averse to employment as permanently resident plantation workers. This observation is, even today, borne out by the very low proportion of resident plantation Sinhala workers, even in low-country areas, where Sinhalese residents are pre-dominant in the surrounding villages. However, as mentioned earlier, many ethnic Sinhala residents of plantation areas worked on plantations, as daily paid workers, or as independent contractors providing specialised services.

LABOUR INDENTURE FROM SOUTH INDIA

Coffee and tea are labour intensive crops, especially tea. At the time of the opening of the coffee plantations itself it became clear to the British plantation pioneer, that a cheap, more compliant alternative to native Sinhala labour was required, and they found it in the low-income agricultural communities of South India. The coffee labour demand was seasonal, especially intensive during the picking season, and this first gave rise to a circular

migration of Tamil-speaking residents from the poor, rural villages of the Malabar Coast. Mostly, they were landless peasant workers from the lower end of the Indian caste hierarchy. The lands that they came from were, generally, overpopulated, marginally arable, and unproductive and, as a result, amongst those communities, food scarcities were frequent whilst famines were not uncommon. Those factors, combined with the then relatively higher wages offered by the Ceylon plantations, represented a compellingly attractive push-pull dynamic for worker transition. Recruiting agents exploited these features, and not necessarily to the advantage of largely uneducated men and women, with no champions, or even marginally adequate representation to ensure their basic rights.

Records indicate that worker emigration from South India to Ceylon, began in or around 1839, and reached a peak in 1877-1878, consequent to the great famine in South India. The production outcomes of South Indian food crop cultivation had a direct impact on the rate of worker migration to Ceylon.

Tea Pickers – Early 20th Century

Finally, the collapse of the coffee industry in Ceylon led, to a sharp decline in outward migration to Ceylon and accelerated immigration of workers, back to their home villages. This trend was once again reversed when the denuded coffee plantations provided the nucleus for the new tea industry. In fact, tea was far more labour intensive than coffee, with a permanently steady demand and, as a result, there was an increase in the inward migration rate. The circular migration of the coffee workers, soon morphed into permanent residence on the newlyopened tea plantations.

The story of the transfer of South Indian villagers to the coffee and tea plantations of Ceylon, in its early stages, is replete with many features which would be unacceptable in this more modern and more enlightened age.

The customary method was for the planter/estate owner, to advance money to a senior Tamil worker of the estate, perhaps of supervisory status (kangani) or an agent with similar credentials, who would then travel back to his village or home province in South India, and return with a group of men and women. They would be enticed by stories of the attractiveness of plantation life in Ceylon.

These worker groups would then travel by boat to ports in the North and North-West of Ceylon and, from those points, travel by road, invariably on foot, to the respective plantations. As in any warm tropical country, with high diurnal temperatures

Withering Green Tea Leaf on Tats – an old practice

and occasionally high rainfall, conditions en-route could often be inhospitable. Old records suggest that there were casualties before travellers reached the plantation destinations. The recruitment system was largely a private enterprise, with no official overview for decades, and, as a result, open to abuse and exploitation.

The outward migration of labour from colonies to other areas, where the colonising power was engaged in large-scale commercial agriculture, was a common feature in the era of empire. However, the migration of Indian workers to the plantations of Ceylon assumed a rapidity, and a scale not seen in other lands, due to the proximity of Ceylon to South India.

In the 1880-1900 period, when the plantation economy transited from coffee to tea, at a hitherto unseen rapidity and scale, the increase in worker migration from South India, is said to have exceeded the natural increase of the native population in Ceylon. Unlike in coffee, which had a seasonal labour requirement, tea workers became permanent residents on the plantations, and introduced an element of ethnic plurality to the plantation regions, with potentially profound socio-political consequences for the future.

Eventually, when coffee gave way to tea, most of these workers became permanently resident on the plantations they worked on. Consequent to strong political pressure and decades of plantation worker trade union agitation, all those plantation residents

have been granted Sri Lankan citizenship. Today, in the plantation areas where they are most numerous, the vote of the plantation worker is a key component, in the determination of the balance of regional political power.

CHAPTER THREE

Merrill J. Fernando

a life devoted to making the world a better tea He was complex man from a simple background, who lived an extraordinary life. His vision and philosophy revolutionized a national industry, and gave meaning to the lives of the destitute, the marginalized and the impaired. His caring helped repair damaged environments and protect vulnerable eco-systems. His impact on society was profound in its goodness.

MerrillJ. Fernando, the Founder of Dilmah, was introduced to the tea trade as a trainee tea taster at A.F. Jones, a local company owned by a British family, which he later acquired. In 1985 he launched “Dilmah,” the brand name combined from the first names of his two sons, Dilhan and Malik, in a daring challenge to the infinitely larger multinational giants, who then controlled the global tea trade.

He was bold and revolutionary and built his brand on a set of unique fundamentals: Dilmah tea was grown, handpicked, processed, and packed in Sri Lanka; a key factor was its commitment to ethical production and the guarantee of a fair return to the country of origin, and to its community and environment, through the funding of a wide range of welfare and community improvement projects; reinforcement of the State healthcare system in crucial locations where that system was inadequate, along with the rehabilitation of children with congenital disabilities, education of children, vocational training for unemployed youth, livelihood improvement in marginalised communities, nature conservation, and a host of other issues.

A total of 15% of the annual pre-tax profits of the MJF Group is dedicated to the above initiatives, delivered through the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation. Merrill J. Fernando, as a successful entrepreneur and a genuine philanthropist, had a profound impact on the world he inhabited. His legacy extends well beyond the tea industry and, with his pioneering concept of ethical and socially

responsible business management, has left an inspirational example for other entrepreneurs.

This chapter gives an overview of his life and progress and brief descriptions of some of his key achievements, obtained from his autobiography, ‘The Story of Ceylon Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, Disruptor. Teamaker. Servant,’ published in April 2023, a few months before his passing.

BEGINNINGS

Merrill J. Fernando was born in 1930, in the small village of Pallansena, about 50 km from the capital city of Colombo. He was the youngest of six children in a strongly Catholic family, embedded in an equally strong, Catholic community of about a hundred families. It was a community firmly bound by the commonalities of religion, kinship, and concern for one another. Sister Agnes was the eldest in the family, followed by brothers Lennie and Pius, and sisters Doreen and Rita.

Old family home at Pitipana, now the Saddhasarana home for the aged

A dominant feature of his upbringing was the influence of the faith in all aspects of life, driven mainly by Lucy, his mother, a firm but loving and God-fearing lady, with a deep, inherent concern and sense of responsibility for the less privileged. His mother’s teachings and general world view eventually became the bedrock of Merrill J. Fernando’s philosophy, both in his personal and business life. Regular church attendance and participation in church activities had been a key feature of his growing years.

Merrill’s father, Harry, was a small-time businessman, whose primary trade was the manufacture and distribution of building material. Merrill’s ancestors had been well-known practitioners of ‘Ayurveda,’ the ancient, traditional healing system of Ceylon. They are still remembered as benefactors of the community, especially their generosity to the local church, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.

EDUCATION

As was the tradition then, Merrill commenced his education in the local village school, to which he walked daily from his ancestral home, through narrow village roads bordered by large coconut plantations and other cultivations. In 1937, he was admitted to St. Mary’s College located at Negombo, even at that time a large, busy city, a few kilometres from his village. He had been a happy and diligent student, learning quickly, especially English.

In January 1941, Merrill’s parents had removed him from school and admitted him to the St. Aloysius Seminary, close to Colombo, to commence training for the Catholic priesthood. The following four years had been an unhappy period for Merrill, who had not taken kindly to the rigid regimentation of the seminary. Fortunately, at the age of fifteen, he was removed from the novitiate and admitted to Maris Stella College, a Catholic school in Negombo. A couple of years later he left Maris Stella and joined St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, one of the most prominent Catholic educational institutions in the country, where he completed his secondary education.

Merrill’s school life and early education were fragmented and, in retrospect, he was regretful of this aspect. In later life, he spoke of making a conscious effort to make amends for the failures of early youth, with success in other spheres of his life.

MERRILL’S FUTURE SHAPES ITSELF

Leaving St. Joseph’s, Merrill commenced study with the intention of entering the Colombo Law College, to qualify as a lawyer. At that time he learned that the Ceylon Tea Controller was proposing to recruit local young men, for training in tea tasting, under the Government Tea Taster, O.P. Rust, then Managing Director of Darley Butler & Co. This was a rare opportunity and Merrill applied for a position.

Merrill’s interest in tea had been aroused by a few holidays he had spent on up-country tea estates,

in the Kotmale District, owned by the Mathavan/ Thondaman family group. The late S. Thondaman, tea estate owner and descendant of South Indian immigrants to Ceylon plantations, joined the plantation trade union movement in its infancy, and acquired much political power later, as a trade unionist and cabinet minister.

The tea trade then was a closely guarded preserve of the British, and any concession for the entry of native Sri Lankans was granted with great reluctance. In the 1940s, at the onset of the 2nd World War, the Tea Commissioner had trained a few Ceylonese as tea tasters, but with the end of the war, and the return of Britons to pre-war occupations in the country, the doors were firmly closed again to natives.

Eventually, with some assistance from connected individuals, Merrill was able to secure a training appointment as a tea taster, in late 1950, along with four other Ceylonese. During his training as tea taster, in order to supplement his income, Merrill commenced trading in tea independently, with supplies obtained from the plantations of the Thondaman family group. Merrill’s focus on product quality and authenticity was established from the very inception, as he was able to compete successfully against other traders, by offering reasonable quality at a commensurate but fair price.

“That was my very first and, without doubt, most valuable practical lesson in marketing – that the customer is prepared to pay a decent price for genuine quality, provided

that the supplier ensures consistency of the product.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A few months into his tea-taster training, tempted by a very lucrative offer, Merrill left tea to join the Letter 0f Recommendation from Fr.

D.J. Nicholas Perera,

Ceylon subsidiary of the Standard Vacuum Oil Company, then a North American conglomerate with a global presence. However, despite rapid advancement in the company, disillusioned by what he later described as the unscrupulous conduct of his colleagues, he returned to tea; a fortuitous event, as will be seen by the profound impact he was eventually to have, on the tea industry of his native land.

THE COMPANY MAN

In 1954, Merrill joined A.F. Jones, a British familyowned tea export company, and thus re-entered the tea trade. Soon thereafter he was sent to London for advanced training in tea tasting, and attached to Joseph Travers of Mincing Lane, then the global centre of the tea trade. At that time about 60 mn lbs of Ceylon’s annual tea production was being sold in London.

The Mincing Lane assignment, his first overseas stay, exposed Merrill to the ruthlessness of the multinational tea trade and, in its determined pursuit of profit at all costs, to its callous disregard for quality and authenticity. He witnessed for himself the dilution of the true image of Pure Ceylon Tea, at the hands of the international blender. The implication was that a trade which was driven entirely by concern for price, would keep turning to increasingly cheaper sources, such as Indonesia, the East African countries, and other growers for product, thus diminishing and endangering the marketability of the more expensive tea from Ceylon.

He also realised that with the value addition overseas, to a prized national product, the worker and farmer in Ceylon were being deprived of a fair share of earnings from their toil. That was when he resolved to develop his own brand one day, and restore a rightful share of the true value of Pure Ceylon Tea to the farmer and worker in his native country. That point was the beginning of the young teamaker’s dream, which became a reality almost four decades later, with the creation and launching of Dilmah.

Merrill, with his diligence and quick skill acquisition, advanced rapidly at A.F. Jones. He visited Japan,

Letter of Appointment of Merrill J. Fernando –From A. F. Jones & Co., Ltd

Russia, and several Middle Eastern countries in the promotion of the A.F. Jones business, gaining both knowledge and establishing business contacts, which were of great value to him later, when he set out as an independent exporter.

A CRUCIAL POWER SHIFT

Foremost amongst its key pre-election promises was the positioning of Sinhala as the sole official language of the country. Under Bandaranaike’s regime there was also a radical shift in foreign policy, with a visible leaning to the Left, which led to the establishing of the first formal diplomatic relations with both the United Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR) and China.

In 1956, the liberal, pro-Western United National Party Government, led by Sir John Kotelawala, which had been in power for two terms in succession since Independence from Britain in 1948, was comprehensively defeated at the General Election. The four-party coalition force, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP –People’s United Front) led by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, an Oxonian intellectual, then Leader of the Opposition, who resigned his Cabinet post in the first post-war UNP Government to form his own party, established the new government.

Bandaranaike’s party came to power on a wave of nationalistic fervour, positioning itself as the champion of Buddhism, the majority religion in then Ceylon, and Sinhala, the native language of the majority Sinhalese. Bandaranaike harnessed what he identified as the five great national forces, comprising the native doctors (practitioners of the ancient medicinal science of ‘Ayurveda’), the Buddhist clergy, teachers, farmers, and workers.

In fairness to Bandaranaike, it should also be said that he re-positioned the clearly pro-Western foreign policy of the previous UNP regimes, in a more nonaligned direction. There was also the nationalisation of foreign-owned businesses, banks, and insurance companies and certain select, locally-owned private enterprises, such as the bus companies.

The largely British-owned plantation sector and related industries also faced the threat of nationalisation, especially the tea, rubber, and coconut land holdings. However, that came a few years further down the road, during the regime of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, S.W.R.D.’s widow, who became Prime Minister in the election which followed Bandaranaike’s assassination in 1959, at the hands of a disgruntled Buddhist priest.

The sweeping policy changes and reforms set in motion by the Government of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, completely re-shaped the social, economic, and political landscape of then Ceylon. Close upon seven

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Prime Minister of Ceylon (1956-1959)

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Three terms as Prime Minister of Ceylon

decades later, there is greater clarity in regard to both the resultant benefits and ill-effects. One immediate impact was that the markedly antiWestern stance of the S.W.R.D. Government and its drive for nationalisation, compelled the exit of many foreign entrepreneurs from the country and, unarguably, created greater space and opportunity for the intrepid local entrepreneur. Merrill was one such, very quick to seize the moment.

“Given my strongly-held views on the tea export trade, particularly the British domination of the industry, which was highly detrimental to the interests of the producer with its sublimation of the real value potential of Pure Ceylon Tea, I would certainly have eventually set out on my own.

The opportunity may not have come so early though, if not for the decidedly ‘foreignerunfriendly’ stance of the first Bandaranaike Government.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

TAKING CONTROL

In 1962, envisaging further political and administrative changes in the country, especially following the defeat of the liberal, pro-Western, United National Party (UNP) Government in 1956, ushering in the era of nationalisation, and the articulation of anti-Western sentiment, the Jones family decided to leave the country. They offered the business to Merrill, who, with two friends, bought the company.

Given the Leftist-oriented context of the political environment then, which was not friendly to large-scale private enterprise, the purchase of the company was an adventurous and risky move. But that was the spirit which characterised his entire business life. Merrill was bold where contemporaries were meek, and confident where others were pessimistic. From the very inception, he demonstrated a persona which defied conventional wisdom, and rejected either the possibility of defeat or the option of retreat.

The company progressed well under Merrill’s stewardship, but soon cracks started appearing in his alliance with his partners. Eventually, disagreeing with one of them on matters of principle, he sold out his interests and moved out. He then set up Merrill J. Fernando Company and operated for some time, under the roof of S.I. Jafferjee, a large-scale exporter of Ceylon Tea, who had always been very sympathetic to him.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

In 1964, Merrill married Devika Jayawickrema, daughter of Major Montague Jayawickrema, prominent politician, proprietary planter, and landowner from the Southern Province. Active in politics from 1936, Major Jayawickrema had been a Member of Parliament on several occasions, between 1952 and 1987. He was also a Cabinet Minister in the UNP Government, first from 1952-1956 and again from 1977-1987.

The birth of the two sons, Malik and Dilhan, followed, in 1966 and 1968, respectively.

After primary education in Ceylon, Malik was sent to England and enrolled at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, England. Dilhan followed two years later. Malik returned to Sri Lanka in 1984, on completion of his Advanced Levels and joined Merrill in his tea export business. In 1985 he left for Babsons College, Boston, a top-tier university in USA, and returned to the family business in 1988, with a BSc in business management. Dilhan continued his university career in England, obtaining a BSc (Econ) Hons degree, from the prestigious London School of Economics, and joined Merrill in the family company in 1985.

Malik married Kimarli Wickramasinghe, a professional banker and Barrister-at-Law, and they have two daughters, Kiyara and Tasha.

Dilhan married Serena and have three children; Amrit, a son and the eldest- who obtained an MBA from Exeter Preston University, UK, and joined the family company in 2021 - and Amaya, a daughter and Devin, a son.

In his recently published autobiography, Merrill speaks with deep affection and gratitude of the Booth family of Preston, Lancashire, who had become his friends whilst visiting Sri Lanka. They had later provided a home-away-from home, to both Malik and Dilhan, caring for them as they were members of the family, right through their stay as students in England.

Merrill J. Fernando

Malik, granddaughters Amaya, Tasha, & Kiyara, Grandsons Amrit & Devin and Dilhan –commitment to tea transcends the generations.

INDEPENDENT ENTREPRENEUR

Whilst he was working at A.F. Jones, Merrill became friends with Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev, the first USSR Ambassador in Ceylon and, later, till his death in 2004, one of former Russian Prime Minister Gorbachev’s close associates. At his request, Merrill assisted the Russian Trade Counsellor, Felix Michailchenkov, to set up a tea tasting centre in Colombo, as a preliminary to the USSR entry to the Ceylon Tea market. Merrill was also befriended by Rafiq Nishanov, Yakovlev’s successor, and other Russian diplomats such as Sasha Lysenko and Sergei Lavrov, the latter then a young attaché in the Russian Embassy and currently Russia’s Foreign Minister. Merrill also received invaluable support from Senator Sarath Wijesinghe, a reputed planter, businessman, and politician, who had also held several Cabinet positions in the Bandaranaike Government.

With these connections, Merrill was able to secure, and retain for a considerable period, a virtual monopoly on the Russian tea trade, on behalf of A.F. Jones. These relationships, reinforced by his hardearned reputation as an absolutely reliable operator, were invaluable to Merrill later, as an independent exporter, enabling him to become the single largest exporter of tea from Ceylon to Russia.

In 1974 Merrill launched Merrill J. Fernando Exports Ltd., as a sole owner. In retrospect, he considered it the key turning point of his career as a tea exporter, as he was able to build on and consolidate

the enterprise on the back of the many business contacts he had so far made across the globe, and the experience and knowledge of the international trade he had acquired. In the same year Merrill became the fourth largest exporter of tea from Ceylon, with a volume of 20 mn pounds of tea.

Despite his then success with the export of bulk tea, Merrill’s mind and heart yearned for a different future, motivated by the shabby treatment meted out to pure Ceylon Tea in London, which he had witnessed as a young trainee in Mincing Lane. The dream of a personal brand of Pure Ceylon Tea was slowly being transformed to strategy.

For decades, tea from grower countries, such as India and Ceylon, were being shipped in bulk to central points, mainly in the West, where it was blended, packed, branded, and exported for retailing. The process erased the inherent quality, and the value of singularity of origin and transformed the product, into a mass-market commodity without identity, driven entirely by price considerations.

Merrill understood clearly, that in such a scenario, the buyer/packer allegiance was only to price, and that it was a matter of time, and of commercial logic, when they would switch from higher-priced Ceylon Tea to a cheaper product from a different origin. The fast-growing African and Indonesian tea industries presented attractive alternatives, due to lower cost. Supermarket chains were elbowing out the family tea shops. That apart, the identity of Ceylon Tea was being sublimated by being blended with cheaper,

lower quality tea from other origins, though the heterogenous product would be sold on the strength of the “Produced in Ceylon” label.

The move to mass-marketing of tea as a commodity diminished quality and the importance attached to it. It was a matter of time before Ceylon, by continuing to offer bulk, would be forced out of the market.

In Merrill’s view, the only option, the only viable solution, was value addition at source.

BUSINESS DISAPPOINTMENTS

Merrill J. Fernando trusted people. As a man whose conduct and interaction was guided by rigid principle and integrity, he expected others to reciprocate with similar transparency. Not unnaturally, this led, albeit infrequently, to disappointment. The first was his experience with his partners at A.F. Jones, which resulted in him leaving the company.

At one stage, for a number of personal reasons, Merrill considered leaving the country with his two sons and establishing permanent residence elsewhere. At that time, Ireland, a primarily Catholic country with beautiful scenery and friendly people, seemed an attractive prospect. As a preliminary step, he moved to dispose of MJF Company and, initially, sold 50% to H.W. Cave & Co., owned by three brothers, Lancelot, Brian, and Jayantha, with the understanding that the latter would buy the balance as soon as they sourced the funds.

This new alliance proved uncomfortable from the very beginning. The Fernando brothers did not

operate within the same principled framework that was Merrill’s uncompromising style.

“In retrospect, unarguably, that was the most imprudent decision I have made in my entire business life. I soon became completely disillusioned by the collective unreliability demonstrated by the Fernando brothers.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Eventually, in his anxiety to be freed from an unpleasant association, Merrill disposed of the balance of the company, at much less than what he could have actually realised from the transaction. He experienced something similar with his next venture, MJF Exports Ltd., in this instance on account of betrayal by two people he considered to be close friends.

THE RUSSIAN TEA MARKET

The Russian tea trade, during the time of the Soviet Republic, was controlled by the State-owned Sojuz, a Moscow-based entity, which annually imported tea to the value of USD 1.5 bn, about 60% of it from India. The balance was made up by China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Merrill entered the Russian trade when the socialist bloc was one nation, later featured prominently as a bulk supplier to the new states – Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – for a few years after the fragmentation of the Soviet Republic.

The Russians had been heavy tea drinkers for centuries and had already developed a preference for quality Ceylon Tea. Merrill leveraged on this expectation, from the inception as an exporter to Russia. When the market opened for multiple exporters, consequent to the dissolution of the Soviet Republic, Merrill saw a wonderful opportunity for the establishment of Ceylon Tea exports to Russia and the other CIS countries, treating it as a single market and based entirely on the quality principle. Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan exporters misread the market and, instead, scrambled to dispatch cheap tea, and eventually lost out to other bulk suppliers of cheaper varieties.

Merrill even proposed to the then Government, that exporters should pool resources and obtain State assistance as well, with the active participation of the Tea Board, the Export Development Board, and the Central Bank, to set up an export foundation by treating the entire CIS bloc, as one market for Ceylon Tea. Unfortunately, this proposal did not progress beyond the discussion stage. Merrill firmly believed that Ceylon Tea lost a golden opportunity, which will not present itself again.

Merrill’s business with Russia flourished and by the early 1990s, Dilmah had become a household word in the country. However, the popularity of Dilmah itself became a disadvantage, as unscrupulous competitors within the country started offering fake products under the guise of Dilmah. Eventually, as a result of such unwelcome intrusions, which were difficult to counter through legal means, Merrill was compelled to downsize the Dilmah presence in Russia.

TRADING IN THE MIDDLE EAST

In his bulk trading days, Merrill did considerable business in the Middle East, which had always been a good market for Ceylon Tea. He established early connections with the sector whilst working at A.F. Jones, and used to visit Libya regularly, till about 1985. However, after the ouster of King Idris and the takeover by Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, the business environment had become increasingly difficult for the export trader to navigate. The almost overnight deportation of many foreign businessmen from the country, had adverse impacts on overseas trade.

Merrill’s distributor in Libya, Albernozo, had lost key managers from his operation and had eventually returned to his home country, Malta. Merrill found another associate, Mohammed Zigalli, Chairman of Nasco, a large Libyan company but, eventually, conditions in the country had become too oppressive for trade.

Syria had presented similar problems. Whilst the tea trade and imports had been in private hands, business had been easy and pleasant. However, once the importation of tea had been taken over by TAFCO, a State organisation, there had been a dramatic change in the relationships. The integrity of interaction was soon lost, compelling Merrill to withdraw from the trade.

Egypt had been another large consumer of Ceylon Tea, and an easy country to trade in, till the nationalisation of the import trade. It used to buy about 40 mn kg of Ceylon Tea annually, till being significantly diminished by Kenyan tea, which

was purchased on the basis of a Government-toGovernment agreement.

Iraq, then a regular buyer of Ceylon Tea, is today its largest consumer. However, once the importation passed from private hands to the State-controlled Iraqi Purchasing Board, it became a trade between two governments, leaving little space for private operators.

As Merrill has pointed out many times, the Middle Eastern market, in totality, represented another lost opportunity for Ceylon Tea, similar to the Russian market. In 1981, when the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, came into existence, Merrill was very quick to point out that it represented an excellent opening for Ceylon to consolidate its hold on the market in that region, since Ceylon Tea already had an advantage owing to its popularity in the Middle East. The rising oil prices improved the buying power of those communities and the market volumes were certain to increase proportionately and rapidly.

Merrill advocated an initiative to build a strong Pure Ceylon Tea Brand, commonly owned by a group of exporters, in essence a joint venture designed to consolidate the image of Ceylon Tea in the region. He pointed out the threat the multi-nationals, particularly Lipton, posed to other exporters to the region. Merrill’s recommendation was to develop the tea bag trade with Ceylon Tea, to counter the Lipton’s threat. He canvassed and obtained the cooperation of

both Ranjan Wijeratne, then Minister of Plantations, and Pemsith Seneviratne, the politically powerful Chairman of the Janatha Estates Development Board. The committee appointed for this purpose, of which Merrill was a member, recommended a series of wide-ranging reforms and branding initiatives but, sadly, none of them were implemented.

BATTLING THE ESTABLISHMENT

Throughout his long career in the tea industry, Merrill’s commitment to the preservation of the image of Pure Ceylon Tea, superseded his private business interests and personal gain. As a result, Merrill frequently found himself in opposition to individuals, organisations, and fellow traders who did not share that passion.

Despite independence from the British Crown in 1948, Britain and sympathetic interests retained control of almost all aspects of the tea trade. One reason was that the economy of the country, till well into the 1960s, was dependent on the major plantation crops, rubber, coconut, and tea, the latter being the most important. The foreign commercial firms, almost entirely British, had a major controlling interest in the processing and export of these products, especially tea. For decades the primary objective of the Ceylon Tea industry had been to provide Ceylon Tea, as a raw material to overseas packers.

The Ceylon Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA), an important apex body of the export trade, had been dominated by Europeans till 1968. However, that year,

Merrill, in association with Abbas Akbarally, then Chairman of Akbar Brothers, a large locally owned tea export firm, and Amin Suby, another exporter, mounted what amounted to a “coup”, and wrested control of the management of the association. For the first time in its history, a Sri Lankan, Austin Perera, was elected as Chairman of the CTTA. Simultaneously, all the Europeans in the buyer segment, bar one, were ousted and replaced by five local shippers.

DISMANTLING A CARTEL

Shipping, a vital aspect of the high volume tea export trade, was, for a long time, controlled by Shipping Conference Lines, created during the colonial era to confine export rights to British vessels. Ceylon was exporting about 60 mn kg direct to the London Auctions annually, and all of it had to be carried in vessels owned by the Conference Lines. It also prevented any other shipper, including Ceylon Shipping Lines, of which the Ceylon Government was a shareholder, from carrying Ceylon Tea. The Conference Lines vessels also exercised a two-way control, with the ships returning after discharge of tea in London, with fertiliser, machinery, and other cargo destined for the plantations.

Merrill, fiercely opposed to this unacceptable monopoly, so adverse to the interests of local exporters, decided to bring about a change. He canvassed the support of Hugh Fernando, then Minister of Trade and Commerce, one of his former teachers, and the assistance of a courageous public servant, P.B. Karandawela, Permanent Secretary to

the Ministry of Shipping and Tourism, and obtained a ruling that, henceforth, all Ceylon tea consigned to London must be carried, only in vessels belonging to local shipping companies.

Merrill’s intervention and its outcome caused outrage, not only in London but amongst local businessmen as well, who had been affected by the change. There was wide speculation, and even open threats, that this move would adversely affect the sale volumes of Ceylon Tea in London. This did not happen and, eventually, Ceylon Shipping Lines was allowed to join the Conference Lines.

In a previous instance, he was able to effect a change in the lopsided imposition of freight charges, which seemed designed to discourage the local exporter of packeted tea. It was an important issue for Merrill, as he was already preparing to move away from the bulk tea business and into value-added export of high quality Ceylon Tea. He already had clients in Australia, who were interested in buying tea-for-theshelf, from Merrill.

He explained to Minister Hugh Fernando, the limitations imposed on the growth of local exporters of value-added tea, by the disparity between the freight rates for bulk tea and packeted tea. The Minister pointed out to him that shipping companies would resist any revision of freight rates and, instead, reduced the export duty on value added tea by 15 cents to the pound. The CTTA and the shippers responded immediately, by proportionately increasing the freight rates on packeted tea. It was a case of local entities, by ensuring the protection of

vested interests, neutralising a local entrepreneur’s initiative which would have been of national benefit, eventually.

PROMOTION OF PURE CEYLON TEA

The Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board (CTPB) had been set up in 1933, for publicity and promotion of Ceylon Tea abroad. In 1976, consequent to the nationalisation of the plantation industry, it was absorbed by the newly formed Sri Lanka Tea Board.

Merrill served two terms as a member of the CTPB, in the 1960s and early 1970s. Though pleased with his appointment, he was disappointed that British interests received priority consideration, whilst

proposals he had made for the establishing of locally owned tea brands, had received little support. In fact, they had been rejected by representatives of multinational companies as being impractical.

From the inception Merrill disagreed with both the functionaries of the organisation and the members of the Board. What he considered to be a glaring weakness, was that the Board, the policymaking platform of the organisation, consisted of ex-officio members drawn from different organisations, who had minimal understanding of the complexities of branding and overseas marketing of tea. The only exception had been Victor Santiapillai, then Director General of the Export Development Board. He had

Ilika Karunaratne promoting Ceylon Tea in London

been supportive of the many reforms proposed by Merrill, but implementation had been stifled by a change-averse bureaucracy. Even the then Minister of Plantations, Colvin R. de Silva, had been highly critical of the performance of the CTPB.

Subsequently, when the Sri Lanka Tea Board Act was being prepared, Minister de Silva, who had by then come to value Merrill’s broad grasp of the tea export trade, had requested the Ministry Secretary, Doric de Souza, and the Director of Commerce, Jayantha Kelegama, to discuss the draft proposals with Merrill. The Minister had also, for obvious reasons, requested that Merrill’s role in the matter be kept confidential and unofficial.

In Merrill’s view, the many weaknesses of the CTPB had been inherited by its successor, the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), which was equally slow, initially, to recognise the imperative of establishing locally based international brands. Eventually, after intense lobbying by concerned segments of the trade, an expert Advisory Committee, consisting of competent bureaucrats, with Merrill as the sole member from the trade, was appointed by the then Plantations Minister, Major Jayawickrema, to advise on a way forward for the development of local brands, and for the more efficient promotion and marketing of Ceylon Tea, overseas.

One exhaustively discussed issue was the use of the Lion logo, on tea packs destined for marketing overseas. The Board Secretariat was relentless in its insistence, to mandate the use of the logo on all such export packs, on the basis that the Lion

symbol identified Ceylon as the origin, irrespective of the proportion of Ceylon Tea the pack contained. Merrill’s unyielding position was that the Lion logo belonged only on packs of 100% Ceylon Tea, of a predetermined quality. What Merrill pointed out was that whilst there were around 350 brands carrying the Lion logo, Ceylon Tea had been relegated to the bottom of the UK market, once its largest selling platform.

Merrill never ceased to be amazed, and often incensed, by the lack of foresight demonstrated by the Sri Lankan bodies responsible for the industry, and also, the general submissiveness of most Sri Lankan tea exporters, content to play a secondary role to the multi-national.

FIGHTING THREATS THE TEA HUB PROPOSAL

Perhaps the most important battle that Merrill J. Fernando fought, in his ceaseless championship of Ceylon Tea, was the ‘Tea Hub’ initiative.

In essence, the Tea Hub concept proposed the importation of cheap Black Tea from other, overseas sources to Sri Lanka, for blending and re-export. Those who advocated this strategy, representing a sizeable segment of the local tea export trade, envisaged that the component of cheap tea in their blends would reduce their costs, resulting in a better margin gain for themselves.

This suggestion had been first publicly aired in 1979, by Lalith Athulathmudali, then Minister of Trade, who had been deeply impressed by a similar

J. Fernando

Merrill Defends Pure Ceylon Tea

operation he had witnessed whilst on an official tour of Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, the then President of Sri Lanka, J.R. Jayewardene, had obtained Merrill’s views and halted its implementation.

In August 2011, the trade members of the Tea Council, acting on behalf of the Tea Exporters’ Association (TEA), submitted a proposal to the Council – of which Merrill was the then Chairman – to lift the existing restrictions on the importation of Black Tea to Sri Lanka. In his personal capacity as an exporter of Ceylon Tea, he had refused to endorse the proposal, as he considered it inimical to national interest.

The provision to import tea to Sri Lanka already existed. However, the approval only covered types of specialty tea, such as Darjeelings, select Assams, and other like varieties not manufactured in the country. On an average, such teas were costlier than Ceylon Tea and, therefore, did not have any impact on local auction prices. In any event, the total volume of such imports rarely exceeded 5 mn kg annually – equivalent to about 2% of the local production volume.

A local Tea Hub with unrestricted importation approval was of obvious attraction to the multinational trader, or the local exporter, packing on the former’s behalf. It was an initiative driven entirely by self-interest, in defiance of the damage it would cause to the exporter of Pure Ceylon Tea, as well as the local farmer and grower. It also ignored the real threat that cheap tea imported to

the country, would devalue equivalent grades at the Colombo Auction.

A major plank of the TEA platform was the unsupported premise, that a Tea Hub located in the country, would enable the industry to soon increase the annual tea export value to USD 5 bn, from the then USD 1.2 bn. In Merrill’s view, supported by decades of experience in the unforgiving realities of international tea marketing, the proposal was delusional. In the context of the interests of Pure Ceylon Tea, he also considered it anti-national. In Merrill’s forthright fashion, he publicly labelled the proponents of the Tea Hub concept as traitors.

Merrill immediately resigned his position as Chairman of the Tea Council and, thereafter, proceeded to mount a powerful campaign against the Tea Hub proposal, based on the realities of international trade and the possible long-term adverse impact, that a local Tea Hub would have on the industry. He was espousing the cause of the producer sector in particular, which, in terms of direct and indirect employment, would have been close upon 2 mn, about 8% of the country’s population.

Merrill, with his standing in the general community and because of the respect he commanded as an entrepreneur with integrity, was able to marshal a powerfully articulate opposition, which was able to expose the duplicity of the Tea Hub proponents; their primary aim was short-term personal gain for just a few thousand people at most, at tremendous long-

term cost to millions, in the middle and low income groups, especially in the plantation sector.

The combined voice of the opposition finally resulted in the official rejection of the Tea Hub proposal. However, even at the end of his days, Merrill sounded a grim warning;

“…..the industry needs to be always aware of and constantly on guard against a resurgence of the Tea Hub movement. If implemented, it will be, for a short while, very profitable for the proponents who are only interested in short-term gain. Since there is money in it, albeit for a handful of profiteers, I suspect that the idea will never be abandoned altogether, irrespective of opposition.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE FOUNDER THE ENTREPRENEUR AND HIS CONSCIENCE

Merrill J. Fernando the man was forged in the insular crucible, that was typical of any strong, closelyknit, Catholic community in rural Sri Lanka, of the early part of the 20th century. It was a society with strictly defined codes of conduct, interaction, and principle. A driving force, which featured in and governed every aspect of life of the community, was the faith and its teachings. One would expect a man from such a background to be limited by it. Yet, this combination of rigid and unlikely circumstances

produced a man, a remarkable achiever by any standards, whose personality was an intriguing amalgam of paradoxical aspects.

Merrill J. Fernando was a man of practical action, a pragmatist who also dreamed wildly; he was as equally driven by measurable objectives, as by seemingly fantastical visions; he was as disruptive as he was creative; he was the original non-conformist but also had an immense respect for tradition; he could be uncompromising, confrontational, and disruptive but, also, conciliatory and creative; he was a tough, hard-nosed entrepreneur, but the ethos of the enterprise he built was governed by compassion, kindness, and consideration for man and nature.

Early in his business life, Merrill committed himself to authenticity and the delivery of quality. A highly conditioned, convention-driven upbringing, raised an imaginative thinker, a man with a wonderful freedom of spirit. Merrill succeeded where many others failed because he refused to be led by conventional wisdom. He achieved because he dared, whilst others cowered.

Merrill with Children of the MJF Charitable Foundation

THE GENESIS OF DILMAH

Dilmah, the family-owned international brand, powered by Pure Ceylon Tea, is a mass of contradictions, very much like its Founder. It is the magnificent outcome of an act of defiance, by a man who rejected well-meaning advice, ignored critics, sceptics, and detractors, dismissed the known failure of previous, similar projects, and, instead, relentlessly pursued a seemingly unattainable personal dream for decades. Analysts of the Dilmah success have, since, invested the brand with a host of technical and marketing complexities, and other attractive attributes, in their attempts to explain why it succeeded, when conventional wisdom and all known parameters predicated its early failure.

To the multi-nationals, successfully mass marketing low-quality tea at discounted prices, the philosophy which underpinned Dilmah was outlandish; to them, its foundation comprising authenticity, purity, quality, loyalty to origin, and a fair but commensurate price, was a recipe for early disaster; on top of all those self-imposed burdens was Dilmah’s voluntary commitment to social responsibility. How on earth could a tea grower take his own product to the market, by-passing the well-established chain of bulk-buyer, exporter, shipper-packer, marketer, distributor, and retailer? It was inconceivable.

But, Merrill J. Fernando, a complex man, dreamed of a simple vision: to give the world a better tea, and, with its fruits, to make the world a better place to live.

Many of the world’s popular brands of consumer

items today, food and beverages especially, were first developed and launched by small, single entrepreneurs, with a passion for delivering genuine, quality products at a fair price. These goods came from small family-owned companies, which competed with each other on quality, and not by price warfare.

Such companies had been in business for decades, the operation being passed down from generation to generation, and the products nurtured with a passion for genuine quality. That was also a time when the buyer went to the neighbourhood grocer, talked to the owner, discussed alternatives and went away with the goods of his choice. It was a meaningful transaction with integrity, which implied the seller’s accountability for the product.

With the passage of time, either seduced by attractive takeover offers, or overwhelmed by their inability to compete with low quality products at discounted prices, the family businessman sold out to the corporates. The latter took a fine product, diluted its quality, reduced the price but, yet, marketing it on its original quality principle, replaced the passion for goodness with greed for profit, and sold it as a commodity.

Merrill, typically audacious, decided to reverse the process with his Dilmah.

In many markets the world over, that was what happened to Ceylon Tea. The ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ label was first diminished to ‘Ceylon Blend,’ diluted further to ‘Ceylon Type,’ and eventually disappeared

altogether. However, gullible and unsuspecting customers, with insight clouded by the original value perception, continued to patronise the substandard product.

All over the world, this system of commodity marketing corrupted original value propositions, resulting in an unattractive scramble at the bottom for market share, and in a fierce competition for shelf space, leading to progressive price discounting, accompanied by the proportionate dilution of quality. The core philosophy of big business is to become better by being bigger and more profitable. Ethics, value for money, taste and goodness, the interests of the consumer, and authenticity, have no place in that equation.

The popularity of tea itself contributed to the diminution of its quality parameters. Hailed the world over, as the healthiest natural beverage and the healthiest drink next to water, but further enhanced by attractive taste, aroma, and a wide range of features of natural goodness, it presented an ideal opportunity for exploitation by the unscrupulous mass-marketer.

Whilst the taste, quality and wellness elements of tea were unique selling points in themselves, they were the features first sacrificed in the race for profit. The cost difference between a healthy, tasty cup of tea, and one that is indifferent and lacking in character and goodness, can be just a few cents. It is that slim margin, multiplied by massive volume, which sustains the multi-national, whilst its very

narrowness deprives the grower, diminishes the farm worker, and impoverishes the land which produces the tea.

DILMAH – NATURAL ADVANTAGES

In the world of the multi-national trader, servicing mass-markets with cheap products of indiscriminate origin, Dilmah, with its contrasting philosophy, was an aberration. Merrill J. Fernando was seeking to compete in the international market place and demanding parity for his brand, whilst flouting all the norms of the multi-national. But that apartness was also the strength of Dilmah.

It was the first time that a grower-cum-brand ownercum-packer was personally taking his product to the

Merrill, with the “Two Leaves and Bud”, the Foundation of Dilmah quality

customer, the native of the country which grew the tea, who selected the tea himself, and packed it under his own supervision. He also owned the brand and went direct to consumers, and told them why they should buy it. It offered a bush-to-cup accountability and authenticity no other tea brand could match.

That gentle request of child-like simplicity, “Do try it,” accompanied by a charming smile, was irresistible, especially when the actual goodness of the product reinforced the authenticity of the message. It was the Founder of Dilmah and the creator of the brand, personally inviting the world to drink his tea.

“With my style of direct, personal marketing, I reintroduced the concept of the producer’s personal accountability to the consumer. I spoke to the consumer and also listened to him. If the product is genuine, the consumer will ensure the success of the brand.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

DILMAH IN AUSTRALIA

When Dilmah was first launched in Australia, its unexpectedly warm acceptance by consumers, some of whom personally thanked Merrill for bringing back real tea, evoked a threatening response from the competition. The Australian Tea Alliance initiated various moves to neutralise Merrill. The Australian Customs too joined the counter-action, by detaining a Dilmah consignment from Colombo, although it was not one of Dilmah, Pure Ceylon Tea. Merrill lost USD

Early Dilmah Packs

35,000 over that matter. He also had many issues over the years with distributors, until finally settling on a reasonable arrangement.

Merrill’s chose Australia for his first launch of Dilmah, as he was very familiar with the markets in Australia – and also New Zealand – as he had done much export business to those two countries, from the beginning of his career in tea. As a result he had made very useful connections in the trade as well.

One was Bill Bennet, son of the owner of H.A. Bennet & Co of Australia, who had trained as a tea taster at Heath & Co, Colombo, in the early 1960s.

Merrill first marketed his brand as “Dilma,” with it being changed to “Dilmah” soon afterwards, to give it more punch, as suggested by marketing specialists. It required all his powers of persuasion, for the Coles supermarket chain to give Dilmah shelf space. Its immediate acceptance by the consumer was countered by another brand, with a typical multinational ploy; a discount! However, wide customer

acceptance persuaded Coles to persist and that marked the beginning of the Dilmah success.

WELCOME IN NEW ZEALAND

To Merrill, a man who has travelled to most countries in the world, many times over, New Zealand was always special.

“I have great memories of all the countries I have visited, the places I have seen, and the people I have befriended. However, nowhere else have I been so welcomed, made to feel so much at home, as in New Zealand. I know it is in New Zealand that I am best known and most loved.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The phrase “Do try it,” which has accompanied Dilmah across the globe, was born in New Zealand in 1994. Daron Curtiss, head of the advertising agency which led the Dilmah campaign in New Zealand, overrode Merrill’s initial reluctance to feature in the advertisements. It was a success from the beginning. For many years Dilmah has been the front-runner amongst the tea brands sold in that country.

The involvement of New Zealand in Merrill’s business has been wide-ranging, and extended beyond tea. Daron supported the setting up of a Graphic Design Centre, at the Moratuwa centre of the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation (MJFCF). Cricketing great Sir Richard Hadlee and the All Black, Sir Graham Henry, have also supported various projects. Mike Dormer, tea importer and Founder

Very first packs labeled “Dilma”

of the Willows Cricket Club, Christchurch, arranged cricketing engagements, between New Zealand and Sri Lankan teams. Anand Satyanand, 19th Governor General of New Zealand, has been a great supporter of the public benefit activities of Dilmah.

A UNIQUE EXAMPLE

In the unforgiving world of large traders Dilmah epitomised the farmer’s brand, built on gardenfresh, Pure Ceylon Tea, packed where it was grown; a creation of a small family, which cared for it as it were another family member. When Merrill named his brand Dilmah, derived from the names of his two sons, Dilhan and Malik, he was offering the world a deeply personal commitment, and the promise of personal accountability for the quality and authenticity of his product. He was also imposing on himself a phenomenal responsibility.

“Both the packaging and the content had to be excellent because Dilmah was to be the third member of my family.”

MERRILL J. FERNANDO

Despite the worldwide success of Dilmah, Merrill remained very modest about his achievements, attributing his success to his people, his faith in God, and a peerless product of his beloved country. He would frequently say that he was only a messenger.

With the introduction of Dilmah, Merrill kicked aside historical barriers. By launching the first grower-owned tea brand in the world, he encouraged growers the world over to shed the shackles first imposed by exploitative colonial economic structures, followed by their successors, the multinational corporations. He presented a role-model example, for emulation by industries in other countries with similar histories of colonial domination, such as coffee cultivation in Uganda and Ethiopia and cocoa cultivation in Nigeria and the Cameroons.

A FINAL WARNING

Merrill J. Fernando concluded his autobiographical work – ‘Disruptor, Teamaker, Servant’ – with a succinct analysis of the Sri Lankan tea industry, its logic irrefutable for being reinforced by personal experience in a seven-decade involvement in every aspect of tea.

In his customary forthright fashion, he pointed out where the experts had got it wrong and the regrettable inability of industry participants to learn from those mistakes. He did not hesitate to criticise the State for its unwillingness to give priority to the plantation industry, and for its failure to address its sustainable development as a national need, despite his frequent personal interventions on related issues.

Merrill with Daron Curtiss, NZ Advertising “Guru” & Wife Shirley

“I have, personally, repeatedly made representation at the highest level of government, seeking special status for the plantation industry, especially tea, advocating concessionary funding and related facilitations, for re-planting, factory development, crop-diversification, and other useful initiatives.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

He deplored the lack of initiative and sense of enterprise of the local exporter, content to remain a servant of the multi-national.

“I have repeatedly lamented the lack of initiative, the timidity, shown by many of our local exporters, and their failure to develop international brands of their own, instead of permanently being rooted in serfdom to foreign-owned brands and multi-national interests…”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

He reprimanded the State for enforcing politically motivated policies on the industry, which were clearly adverse to the interests of the plantations.

“…The cumulative impact of such irrational, politically motivated decisions, which defy scientific truths and fly in the face of expert advice, will surely hasten the further relegation of Ceylon Tea, which has already yielded a previously pre-eminent position to Kenya and other emerging tea-producing nations, such as Vietnam.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

He ended his no-holds-barred autobiography with an uncompromising and unambiguous statement, which was also a stern warning to all stake-holders in the industry, against the imprudence of continuing to test the resilience of the industry.

“…despite the admirable durability it has demonstrated, unless we act immediately to rescue the industry from the trough it is in now, the decline will soon be beyond retrieval. It must be done today. Tomorrow will be too late.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A LIFE TO BE CELEBRATED

Merrill’s life was one of service, first to the industry and Pure Ceylon Tea, and then, from the fruit of his enterprise, to people and planet. He was a complex man with a simple vision. Whilst he clearly enjoyed

The Story of an Extraordinary Life

driving an enterprise and revelled in the thrust and parry of competition, the primary intent was service, at which he worked ceaselessly. He was a warrior but with a higher purpose.

For over seven decades, from 1950, his day started as early as any one of his workers, and ended long after theirs did. It was so from the very beginning, till being disrupted somewhat by the unpredictable dynamic of the Covid pandemic, but resumed soon after. Towards the very end there was a slowing down owing to ill-health, which, with that indomitable spirit which enabled seemingly impossible achievements, he defied as very few other men of his age would have done.

He crammed into his life a multiplicity of achievements, adventures and incidents, whilst building a massive circle of friends. Victory and disappointment were both accepted as part of God’s plan, an entity with whom he had a very personal relationship.

Merrill J. Fernando moved on, on July 20th, 2023, a couple of months after his 93rd birthday. After 73 years, he has set aside his tea apron and laid down his tasting spoon. His family lost a deeply caring father and grandfather, and the company lost an iconic and inspirational leader. Pure Ceylon Tea lost its most vigilant guardian and its most ardent champion. But such is the foundation which he built his enterprise on, with its firm anchor to ethics, authenticity, and social responsibility, that the inheritors will be able to continue to successfully build on it.

The industry itself lost a path-breaking innovator, a man from a subject country, who challenged the establishment and demolished barriers and limits to individual enterprise, in an industry ruled largely by West-imposed, colonial convention. But, as he too would have wished, Merrill J. Fernando will be best remembered for the goodness his enterprise created, and the many individual lives and communities he transformed and enriched through his philanthropy.

What Merrill J. Fernando brewed with his Dilmah was indeed a Cup of Kindness.

Merrill, In Celebration with His Special Children, Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation Centre, Moratuwa

CHAPTER FOUR

The World Acknowledges a Special Value

Recognition of Excellence

Dilmah stands apart because of its commitment to integrity of origin, quality and freshness of product, sustainability, and ethical business practice. Its ”True to Nature” philosophy focuses on preserving the environment and strengthening local communities, through support of education and healthcare, and poverty alleviation. The world has judged the value of Dilmah for the extraordinary outcomes it has delivered, by fusing features normally irreconcilable in enterprise.

Merrillbuilt his brand with an unwavering commitment to authenticity and accountability, accompanied by quality delivered at a commensurate price. As the head of an enterprise with a deep-rooted connection to the land, he was always conscious of the entrepreneur’s obligation to the sustainability of the plantations, and its people, which grew his tea. His contribution to people and planet, funded by the surplus created by Dilmah, and delivered through the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation, are described elsewhere, in this book.

Merrill did not look for public praise or acknowledgement of the goodness delivered through his enterprise. In fact, for many years, he was deliberately reticent about them. As an entrepreneur with a conscience, he was simply discharging an obligation to society, a precept first absorbed in childhood, from his mother’s teaching. However, with the rapid expansion of the activities of public and environmental welfare, and the partnering with likeminded individuals and international associations, these initiatives were brought to public attention. Public recognition was also accompanied by many formal awards over the years.

BRAND WITH A CONSCIENCE

In one of the first such recognitions, in 2005, the Medinge Group – an international think tank based in Stockholm, Sweden – selected Dilmah as a ‘Brand with a Conscience’. The decision criteria was based on the brand’s clearly evident socially responsible and humanistic operational philosophy, and not on commercial performance or output. The significance

attributed by the Medinge Group to the Dilmah ethos was further demonstrated when, in 2016, a book titled ‘Brands with a Conscience’, released by the Medinge Group in Amsterdam featured the Dilmah story prominently.

BUSINESS FOR PEACE – OSLO

In 2015, the Oslo – Business for Peace Foundation bestowed formal recognition on the Dilmah brand, for its unique style of operation and ethical foundation.

The Oslo Foundation selections are made by a panel, comprising Nobel Prize Laureates in Business and Peace, and the award criteria focuses on the key principles which drive the enterprise, as well as the commitment of the enterprise leaders to the creation of long-term benefits, to both business and society.

The award was delivered in one of Oslo’s most iconic locations, the City Hall, which is also the venue for

Merrill with His Award on His Birthday

the annual Nobel Prize awards. As Merrill has said in his autobiography:

“I was both privileged and humbled by this recognition, especially the association of the presentation venue with genuine greatness in accomplishment.”

Symbolically, the presentation had taken place on May 6th, Merrill’s 85th birthday, with the 900 strong assembly singing “Happy Birthday” immediately afterwards.

A RESPONSIBLE CAPITALIST

Titles such as “capitalist,” “tycoon,” and “business moghul,” commonly used by publicists and writers to describe successful, high-profile entrepreneurs, were labels which Merrill abhorred. However, ironically, he did receive one such title, in 2016, soon after the Medinge Group award.

In November that year Merrill accepted the ‘FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism,’ from the Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond, MP, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, UK.

‘FIRST’ is a multi-disciplinary international affairs organisation, founded by Rupert Goodman, British entrepreneur, to recognise enterprise leaders who have combined commercial success with social responsibility.

“MARKETING GURU” LAUDS DILMAH

Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Marketing, and the author and co-author of 166 published articles and 80 books on diverse aspects of marketing.

Merrill accepting his Award for Responsible Capitalism

Malik, Merrill, Philip Kotler & Dilhan

In his 2019 book, ‘Asian Competitors, Marketing for Competitiveness in the Age of Digital Consumers,’ he has dedicated six pages to Dilmah. Offering Dilmah as an example of differentiation and uniqueness, Kotler describes the brand as “…an authentic local brand from Sri Lanka due to the quality perceivably lacking amongst other players”

In the book Kotler has cited 10 attributes of Dilmah as elements which, collectively, seal the image of Dilmah as the “Flag-Bearer of Authenticity”.

The many features of Dilmah, which distinguishes it from peers and competitors, also resulted in it being taken up for a special study by the prestigious INSEAD School For Business, a graduate-only business school, with campuses in France, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and San Francisco.

The INSEAD award was recognised by the World Association of Chefs’ Societies, also known as Worldchefs, a global network of culinary specialists founded in 1928, which honoured Merrill with an award for the commitment of the Dilmah brand to Ceylon Tea and to ‘Human Service’.

HONORARY DOCTORATE

In 2019 Merrill was nominated for a honorary doctorate by Massey University, New Zealand, in recognition of his contribution – and that of Dilmah –to the global food industry. On account of the longstanding business connection between Dilmah and New Zealand, as well his personal relationships with

the people of the country, Merrill also derived much personal satisfaction from the award. However, as he describes in his autobiography, these awards and recognitions were simply the happy outcome of the Dilmah philosophy.

“To me, personally, these awards, tributes, and acknowledgements, accepted by me on behalf of Dilmah, are a recognition of the potential inherent in ‘Pure Ceylon Tea,’ when it is driven by ethical business principles…. I am simply a messenger for a wonderful national product; providentially, my message has been accepted by the millions of loyal consumers of ‘Dilmah’ worldwide, who have played an invaluable role in the success of the brand.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Merrill with Doctoral Award from Massey University -Flanked by Dilhan, Malik & John Burton, longtime friend and Dilmah partner in New Zealand

CHAPTER FIVE

Tradition Fuses with Modernity

Without Compromising Taste and Goodness

Dilmah has stayed true to its roots in the Purity, Quality and Authenticity of Ceylon Tea, whilst embracing innovation, technology and branding. The outcome is a brand that meets modern consumer expectations, despite marketplace challenges, without compromising the values built on the Founder’s philosophy of authenticity, taste, goodness and moral responsibility.

Inheritance is always a responsibility. When inheritance is invested with the weight of achievement, accomplishment, ethicality, and public good, the nature of the inheritance becomes weightier by an order of magnitude. Dilmah, the creation of Merrill Joseph Fernando, is one such.

The second generation of the Fernando family, Dilhan and Malik, having worked at their father’s side for decades, have absorbed the founding philosophy, with mind-sets acutely sensitive to the needs of the modern marketplace. They have pledged to honour the heritage and the foundation of the enterprise, by holding fast to the traditional values, craftsmanship, ethics, and culture which define its identity.

The strategies of process innovation, integration with the latest technologies and methods, streamlining of processes, efficiency, and productivity improvements, whilst maintaining the essence of traditional workflows, commenced during Merrill J. Fernando’s lifetime itself. A perfect example is the state-of-the art Dilmah packing facility at Peliyagoda, one of the finest in the world.

The highly flexible and diverse company structure addresses a multiplicity of requirements, with its integration with many related aspects of its core business of tea, providing it with the agility and adaptability to meet the many challenges thrown up in the modern business landscape.

Its customer-centric approach, which was personalised from the inception by the Founder, is now reinforced by all the modern tools available for

data analytics. Its sustainable practices resonate with the traditional wisdom of respect for nature and society, whilst meeting the demands of responsible modern entrepreneurship. A highly trained workforce, at every level, ensures that internal skills meet emerging requirements. A culture of openness to change encourages employees to embrace innovation, whilst retaining the values of traditional practices.

The Dilmah brand narrative is linked inextricably to tradition and artisanal skills. It uses the rich history of the island and of the product, to create a compelling and authentic story of health and natural goodness, which resonates with customers who care about what they consume; not only what it is made of, but, also, how it is made.

The key feature is the sustainability of the enterprise, which provides it the stability, structurally, morally, and financially, to meet challenges successfully. The following chapters briefly describe how Dilmah has achieved this.

But its greatest strength is that it is a closely-knit family company, bound by simple family values.

MEETING CHALLENGES IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Dilmah offered the world a unique philosophy. It was an old-fashioned notion of quality, authenticity, and singularity of origin, carrying the personal guarantee of the head of a small family, who was behind the creation. He held himself personally accountable to the consumer, for the contents of the “cuppa”. Social

Malik, Merrill & Dilhan in pursuit of the ideal brew

responsibility was another unusual feature of this philosophy.

This concept was the very antithesis of the multinational strategy, of mass marketing of a product driven entirely by price, with authenticity, origin, and quality buried in its journey along a long chain with a series of anonymous links. Accountability was another casualty in this unattractive process. The relentless pursuit of profit and market-share did not leave space for ethics.

Competing with the almost limitlessly funded corporates, with their no-holds-barred strategies, and still staying true to its founding philosophy was a daunting task for Dilmah. It had to contend with rapidly shifting consumer patterns in a volatile market, ruthless competition, fluctuating prices, and quality parameters of the raw material and other related adversities. Traditional Dilmah was also competing in a market place, in which the introduction of electronic mass media and social media platforms, delivering instant knowledge and seductive, often misleading, messages, impacted on an already fickle consumer base.

NEW TOOLS FOR A NEW AGE

Dilmah, with its unique message of a family-owned brand driven by a special set of values, has carved a niche for itself in the international market, despite the entrenched power of the opposition. The competition, with brands of long-standing recognition, supported by extensive distribution networks, has enjoyed significant market share for

decades prior to the entry of Dilmah, the upstart from a small island in Asia. The marketing strategies and campaigns of the long-standing brands are relentlessly aggressive, funded by seemingly limitless resources, and reinforced by the ready willingness to compromise on quality and price, in order to retain existing clientele and to entice new consumers. In combination, these advantages enable rival brands to mount a formidable opposition to Dilmah.

Such multi-faceted challenges have compelled Dilmah to frequently adjust its marketing strategies, to innovate and differentiate in order to capture and retain market attention. However, the direct connection between the brand, the family, the distributor and the consumer, and the land which grows the tea, is a composite advantage which very few of the competitors have and that has helped. Despite the intensity of the contest, Dilmah has remained true to its founding principles. To Merrill J. Fernando, those core concepts were immutable.

Merrill J. Fernando was an innovator and a fearless thinker and, also, a traditionalist who did not hesitate, when necessary, to disrupt. Emerging from an era pre-dating the modern obsession with, and reliance on, theory and statistics, he operated largely on instinct, but backed by an intimate personal knowledge and experience of markets, acquired over decades. As the results have amply demonstrated, his instinct was very rarely wrong.

The new generation, led by his sons, Dilhan and Malik, whilst staying true to tradition and

the Founder’s philosophy, have reinforced its effectiveness and the validity of the message, with scientific, data-based strategies, proven marketing dicta, and the prudent and ethical use of social media. Analysis of social media responses have helped understand customer sentiment and sources of influence. Effectiveness of marketing strategies can be tracked in real time.

These tools have played a crucial role in understanding contemporary consumer behaviour, identifying ideal target groups, optimising market campaigns, and generally enhancing brand performance. Analysis of consumer preferences, purchasing patterns, and international tea consumption demographics, have also helped in accurately identifying target audiences, understanding their needs and tailoring market strategies accordingly, whilst staying true to the founding concepts of authenticity and quality of product and origin.

Apart from the above, Dilmah has always been marketed as a Single Origin, Pure Ceylon Tea, with all the traditional advantages that entails. Dilmah has also used unique vehicles, such as the School of Tea and t-Lounges, to promote itself, which, whilst showcasing Dilmah, also highlights Pure Ceylon Tea in general, as a highly desirable product.

Dilhan - delivering the Dilmah quality in Spain

Call to fix advice super reforms

income heavyweight called for the govensure any changes to are coupled with to financial adAustralians have a retirement.

The Australian on Challenger chief execuHamilton warns that inchanges to super are around the edges of a framework, without bigger who has run the income giant since after more than company, said the government should Michelle Levy’s financial advice, changes to super. reforms are posito ensure prothe ‘good advice’ the outcome of the Income Covenant) retirement income,”

key element that had to be combined with super changes.

Mr Hawkins said there was an opportunity for “seismic change and success for Australia” if the government considered the changes to super and advice together.

“We’ve saved a huge amount of money as a nation. Now what we need to do is create the settings to bring households the benefit of those savings, which has incredibly positive knock-on effects for Australian society,” he said.

Challenger is one of Australia’s leading retailers of fixed income products.

It plans to shed its bank in a $36m deal with New Zealand’s Heartland Group.

The diversified financials group offers annuities pegged to both the cash rate and the official inflation rate.

Mr Hamilton said the challenge highlighted by the debate about hefty super balances showed the need for more “offramps” for retirees.

financial advice role in contribustrengthening, the fiwellbeing of retirees as it purpose of super and the Retirement Covenant are realised.”

Challenger boss notes the risked “one set of rediminishing the other”. realise the purit’s not effectively through the Covenant access affordable advice,” Mr Hamilton Mr Hamilton told there needed to for retirees to super balances financial comfort.

said the proan objective for at an opportune

inflation played expected savings bal-

pretty important

“The real story is how you give confidence to all Australians who will flip from receiving a fortnightly or monthly pay cheque to confidence of an income that comes in every month,” he said.

“We know that people are too scared to spend their money in retirement and live a very frugal retirement, which doesn’t really serve the purpose of superannuation.”

Mr Hamilton said the recent period of low interest rates had presented issues for retirees, with many struggling to get good returns. Australia’s cash rate slipped below 1 per cent in October 2019, and did not rise above that level until July 2022.

Mr Hamilton said the recent increase in rates was a “normalisation” and presented better earnings outcomes for Challenger’s annuities.

But he said Challenger did not take interest rate risks and was not exposed to the rate accounting crisis that led to the blow-up of Silicon Valley Bank.

One of the world’s biggest tea companies, Dilmah Tea, has threatened to pull its products from Australian supermarket shelves unless the major retail chains agree to pay more for its handcrafted brands of Ceylon teas and cease their demands for discounts.

Leading Sri Lankan businessman and Dilmah Tea CEO Dilhan Fernando said the company had been losing money in Australia for more than a decade and its market share continued to fall as it refused to compromise its commitment to sustainability and ethical sourcing.

Dilmah, Sri Lanka’s biggest global brand, is sold in more than 100 countries and is among the top 10 tea brands globally.

However, Mr Fernando revealed that Dilmah would be prepared to pull out of mainstream retail and become a super premium brand for sales just through hospitality venues and online unless retailers stopped pushing the firm to commoditise its brand and compromise its unique supply chain through discounting.

“We have been told in no uncertain terms that we have to change our model. But we would rather close our doors than compromise,” Mr Fernando told The Australian during a visit to Australia last week, his third since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It is not fair or ethical to have a fundamentally unfair trading system. The producer needs to be empowered to offer a product with passion where corners are not cut. That can only happen when there is a fair price paid for the product.”

Dilmah’s tea remains singleorigin and unprocessed, meaning the tea reflects where and how it was made.

Ceylon Tea, part of the specialty tea category that is the fastestgrowing globally, sells at a premium over most other black teas from other countries due to its artisanal style of manufacture.

It has remained largely unchanged for more than 150 years since its introduction by the British.

Rival producers have followed Dilmah’s lead in responding to consumer demand.

In September last year, the private equity-backed T2, which now employs more than 1000 people and operates 70 retail stores across the world – including 60 in Australia – reached its longawaited goal of having 100 per cent of its tea blends sustainably and ethically sourced.

It was the culmination of a landmark three-year project, which started when sustainably sourced tea leaves represented less than 5 per cent of the T2 product portfolio.

Mr Fernando said the new generation of tea drinker was looking for single-estate teas and quality in the cup, which was being ignored by retailers who were simply looking for “the next big thing”.

“Consumers are giving us a clear message yet the perspective of the retailers is fundamentally different. Significantly here, but also in other countries such as England, there is a very short-term perspective,” he said.

“In this rush to find the next big thing and to address profitability, the retailers are pushing to commoditise our brand. Our effort should be in partnering with retailers to add value in a sustainability way. Consumers are look-

ing for quality. But the directions we are being pushed in are an abandonment of this … It is crazy.

“We are being forced to chase our tail to deliver the next big thing when what we have in our hands is so substantial.”

The tea industry employs about 10 per cent of the workforce of Sri Lanka, which is home to more than 20 million people.

a responsibility to the Sri Lankan people to support the farms and workers that supplied its products.

Dilmah exports 95 per cent of its tea to 104 countries.

“Today, our responsibility as a producer is much greater. Quality is critical. But we also find ourselves at the front line of climate change. We have a responsibility to look after the soils and build

‘Consumers are looking for quality. But the directions we are being pushed in are an abandonment of this … It is crazy’

DILHAN FERNANDO DILMAH TEA CEO

The country has been going through one of the most tumultuous times in its history as a political crisis has triggered an explosion of inflation plus serious fuel and food shortages.

Mr Fernando said Dilmah had

sustainable farming methods and introduce biodiversity,” he said.

“We have an equal commitment to the community and to nature … It would be tragic if all of what we see were to force us and other growers to be compromised

and to move to commoditisation. You would be undermining and destroying an industry that has sustained millions over 150 years.”

Mr Fernando said the combined impact of the Covid pandemic and the exploitative freight rates that followed had fuelled inflation and a multitude of other social and economic issues.

At the height of the pandemic, shipping containers from Colombo were taking six to eight weeks to arrive in Australia, where previously it would be 21 days.

“It was exploitative, horrible freight rates during the pandemic,” Mr Fernando said.

“That has come down in the last few weeks. The rates have come down nearly to pre-pandemic levels … But in between us and the consumer, you have had massive margins being made.

“In our supply chain, we make single-digit margins and in Australia we have been underwater

JARED LYNCH

“We mark to market those fixed incomes every day, which make us very different to SVB,”

Dilmah boss: We’d rather leave than compromise

for most of the time since the GFC. The industry is steered by a trading mindset: buy at the cheapest price and sell at the most expensive.”

Mr Fernando said Dilmah had not been able to deliver a profit in Australia since 2009 “because we have maintained an uncompromising commitment to quality”.

The company’s annual Australian sales are now $29m, down from $37m five years ago. Its market share has dropped from double digits to 7.5 per cent.

“We have already cut down by 40 per cent in terms of our team here. We have just 10 people here now,” Mr Fernando said.

“We have stood our ground on quality and discounting so our market share has suffered. Discounts are funded by workers, not players in the supply chain.

“My father said even if you close your doors, you don’t compromise.

“That will be OK for me and my family. But there will be millions of voices that will not be heard and the irony is consumers are willing to help. The people’s goodwill here is unrivalled.”

In the Australian market, Dilmah makes about 85 per cent of its sales from the retail sector, and 15 per cent from hotels, hospitality venues and the food service channel.

“We would not do much more than $150,000 online so it isn’t much. But this year we are increasing our emphasis on it and it is growing phenomenally,” Mr Fernando said.

His father Merrill, who turns 93 in May, was one of the first locals from the British colony of Ceylon – now known as Sri Lanka – to train as a tea-taster before he started Dilmah.

In 1988 he convinced supermarket giant Coles to stock the Dilmah tea brand, which was named after his sons: Dilhan donated the first syllable, his brother Malik donated the second.

It proved to be a launching pad for a brand that grew to turn over more than $500m.

The now billionaire stepped down as chief executive in 2019 for Dilhan to take over the reigns but remains involved as chairman.

Dilhan’s son, who is named Amrit and just turned 22, is now a junior executive with the company and is currently visiting Australia with his father.

“My son bears my father’s name. My father trained him from the time he was five years old,” Mr Fernando said.

“He has an incredible passion for the family business. I bring him with me to see this is a business driven by relationships and integrity. He is learning the hard way.”

because this is a pretty

Dilmah Tea CEO Dilhan Fernando says the company refuses to compromise on sustainability and ethical sourcing

DILMAH REFUSES TO COMPROMISE

The Dilmah fidelity to its founding ethos was sorely tested recently, in the Australian market, where the Dilmah brand was first introduced to the consumer in 1985.

“The company has been unable to profit in Australia since 2009 because we have maintained an uncompromising commitment to quality… We have been told in no uncertain terms to change our model. But we would rather close our doors than compromise. My father said, ‘Even if your close your doors, you don’t compromise.’”

DILHAN C. FERNANDO, CEO, DILMAH TEA

When Merrill J. Fernando launched Dilmah in Australia almost four decades ago, he never anticipated the race to the bottom that would follow, in response to the challenge he posed to the multinationals, by offering quality at a commensurate price. The reaction from competing brands commenced with an almost immediate price discounting of parallel products, followed by a further devaluation in 2008, consequent to the Global Financial Crisis. It is a discount culture which seduces the customer with the mirage of quality at low price, whilst holding the socially-conscious producer to ransom. In her ground-breaking book, ‘Cheap; The High Cost of Discount Culture,’ Ellen Ruppell Shell, (Professor, Boston University, USA) captures the duplicity inherent in this strategy:

“If enough dishonest merchants water their milk, more and more customers will forget what normal milk tastes like and buy only the cheaper, watered-down variety.”

That is exactly what has happened, with the commoditisation of tea and the process that which Merrill, with his Dilmah, sought to combat and reverse.

Merrill eliminated the middleman from the trading equation and brought his produce direct to the market, in order to retain the added value in the country of origin. His concept of fair trade provided the margin for the benefit of Sri Lanka, a rich land impoverished by the extractivism of a colonial regimen. The latter was a model which denied the benefit of the trade in the product, to the country of the product’s origin. Merrill sought to restore the balance and give justice to his country by changing the model.

It was thus that Merrill J. Fernando, the father, challenged the discount culture four decades ago. Recently, Dilhan, the son, has once again thrown down the gauntlet, as it were, against the same odious culture, not with a threat but with a simple affirmation of the Dilmah philosophy: “We will leave rather than compromise.”

In his categorical refusal to submit to discounting, which implies devaluing of product quality, Dilhan has very clearly cited the entrepreneur’s responsibility to society:

“…..because we are at the frontline of climate action, in the vanguard of the battle for social inequality, education, our actions critical in education, gender equality, innovation, food security, clean air, protecting water quality, and a host of other critical aspects of life on earth that follow the pandemic as humanity’s next greatest challenge.”

For the CEO of Dilmah Tea, that is not mere rhetoric. The above are a few of the many issues being addressed systematically by the remedial, transformational, protective, and proactive initiatives of the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation. The Founder has moved on, but his philosophy is in safe hands. And the sustainability of those initiatives are subject to Dilmah being able to sell a quality product at a commensurate price. That is why Dilmah refuses to compromise by discounting and lowering quality, despite the threat of the loss of business.

In the 1950s, Merrill J. Fernando fought the colonisation of the tea industry. Seven decades later his son, Dilhan, is fighting the commoditisation of the product. He, and Dilmah, are doing it not by attacking opponents but by doing the right thing by themselves.

DISCOUNTING – THE HIDDEN EVIL

Buying, packing, branding, and value addition at source enables a larger and more equitable proportion of profits to be retained within the

country. It enables a part of the surplus to be channelled back to the grower, the worker, and the land which produced the tea. The discount culture of the modern mass marketer and retailer, specially designed to woo the gullible customer, is the antithesis of ‘Fair Trade’. Delighted supermarket shoppers, foraging through the shelves on special discount days, load their carts with more goods than they need, but, simultaneously, and unwittingly, diminish opportunity for workers and their families in the land where the product is grown.

“Agencies with vested interest, charities in the business of charity, and activists of all sorts point fingers at growers supported by images of impoverished people, undernourished children, and broken roofs, forgetting that for every extended finger, three point back at the accuser; everyday low prices, ‘Black Fridays,’ ‘White Mondays,’ and other record-breaking retail events are built on the backs of workers and the environment, the savings that consumers delight in are compensated by diminished opportunity for workers and their families, and too often also force environmental degradation.”

DILHAN C. FERNANDO

Dilhan with a Dilmah Special tea

CHAPTER SIX

A Renaissance of Tea

Rekindling the Tradition of Goodness and Authenticity

China, followed by Japan and Korea, discovered the charming mysticism of Tea, which transcended functionality. The West, with its greed for profit and passion for consumerism, corrupted the sanctity of that gentle Eastern philosophy. Many centuries later, through inspired initiatives, Dilmah has revived that lost tradition by aligning Tea with culture, and finding a deeper meaning in the magical fusion of Tea, the spirit, the mind and the senses.

Clock-wise from top-left: Reliving an ancient ritual, tea and food, Dilmah t-Lounge

Akeyaspect of the Dilmah enterprise ethos is its respect for tradition and its ability to fuse the best of those features, with innovations designed to meet the demands of a new age. Two of the most interesting of those novelties are the ‘Dilmah School of Tea’ and the ‘t-Lounges,’ a revival and re-imagining of the ancient tea houses of China, the world’s first tea lounges.

As with all other new-age modernisms championed by Dilmah, both are embedded in history, tradition, and respect for the wellness of the brew, for its health-giving properties, and for the artisanal preparation of the tea, which helps preserve its natural goodness.

As the tea houses of ancient China did, the Dilmah School of Tea and the t-Lounges seek to entertain, celebrate, educate, and stimulate participants and customers, with the experience of ‘Real Tea’ in all its wide variety.

The Dilmah School of Tea and the t-Lounges present events and places dedicated to Pure Ceylon Tea, in a magical fusion of science, art, and artisanal skills, imbued with love for the world’s best known and most versatile herb. Dilmah remains faithful to the taste, quality, and authentic, inherent wellness of tea, abandoned by many other teamakers in the race for easy profit.

TEA HOUSES OF ANCIENT CHINA

As the tea drinking habit permeated the general society in China, tea houses emerged in Chinese cities and towns and even along trading highways.

Historically, the first such tea houses are attributed to the latter part of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The Chinese tea houses presented a unique combination of service features: hostelry for travellers, outlets for food and drink, centres for entertainment delivered by performing troupes, space and opportunity for business discussions and the playing of board games, and, in regions such as Sichuan, as unofficial court houses for resolution of disputes. All these revolved round the ritualistic drinking of tea, accompanied by snacks of pork buns, steamed shrimp dumplings, and other sweet and savoury culinary specialties. The Guangdong Province was especially known for this feature. This practice, originating in the tea houses of Canton in the 10th century, is said to be the precursor of “Dim Sum” (which means “touch the heart”) – today a hugely popular culinary feature right across the globe, but always associated with Chinese cuisine.

In the Quichuan Province in particular, customers were encouraged to spend hours in private rooms, dedicated to chess games and the drinking of tea. This engagement was said to cleanse the minds of contestants and onlookers and drive away worry and suffering, and was referred to as “Wangyoujin,” or “Worry Free”.

ENTERTAINMENT

MARKETING THE TEA

Customers of the tea houses were entertained by visiting jugglers displaying their skills, poets and story tellers delivering their compositions, and songs

and plays performed by professional singers and actors. Many tea houses cleverly ensured repeat patronage, by getting the performers of plays and tellers of stories to deliver separate segments each day, or each week, thus enticing customers to return regularly to hear or witness the next episode. In an era when the written word was available only to a minute segment of society, oral communication and cheap, or free-of-cost street theatre were of vital importance to ordinary people.

As much as provincial wine houses of France and other wine-growing countries would focus on serving the brew of the region, the tea served in Chinese tea houses would usually be the locally produced specialties.

As is evident from the story of tea consumption across the ages, irrespective of the country and the society, ambience was as crucial as the brew. Apart from the use of specially crafted utensils and other trappings, ranging from the spartanly functional to the elaborately decorative, most of the tea houses also featured elegant internal décor, the nuances of the separate aspects representing the general socio-economic levels of the people of the area. All these dimensions were reinforced by artfully laid out gardens, which provided open but discrete spaces for customers, especially during the warmer months of the year.

TEA, FRIENDSHIP, AND RESPECT

The enduring commonality of tea drinking across the centuries, irrespective of country or society,

is not only in the charming and often elaborate rituals, but the bonding and togetherness it creates between individuals and communities. Opponents reached accord by sharing a cup and strangers met over a pot of tea and became friends. Customers to the tea house shared stories, poetry, and arts such as calligraphy, an important aspect of the ancient Chinese literary and artistic tradition; merchants transacted business and scholars exchanged ideas.

“For centuries, problems of mankind have been solved over a cup of tea, whether they were problems between nations, amongst businesses, even in families, between husbands and wives, tea has been the soothing balm that helped their solution. The simple act of pouring a cup of tea is, in itself, an ice breaker, providing pleasurable anticipation of the goodness that is to follow. I have dedicated my life towards providing that cup not only to solve problems but to add sunshine to our day, with every sip of Dilmah.”

MERRILL J. FERNANDO, FOUNDER OF DILMAH

Tea time was when the family met, or neighbours talked to each other and exchanged news and information. Focusing on the ritualistic sequence of tea preparation and serving, enabled people to forget unpleasant distractions and calmed the mind in flux. Tea-time was a time for peace, friendliness, mindfulness, and respect for each other.

“Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one’s life more full and complete.”

MYOYAN EISAI, JAPANESE BUDDHIST MONK, 1141-1215

TEA AND FOOD – AN ANCIENT FUSION

The Chinese were the first to recognise the logic and sensory delight in combining tea and food. Within its infinite range of types, tastes, and other sensory features, there is a tea which provides an ideal pairing, an accompaniment, to any type of food. With the advancement of their tea house culture, they also framed the consumption of tea with many other activities, all designed to entertain the spirit, stimulate the senses, or soothe the mind.

From the take-away of a fast-food counter, to an exquisite preparation by a culinary expert, there will be a tea to complement and elevate the food and the occasion; it could be a sharp, spicy cup of “Chai” from a vending cart on a Chennai pavement, consumed with a vegetable or mutton samosa; a strong, aromatic, sugared “plain” tea, spiced with ginger or cinnamon, standard fare in village teashops in Sri Lanka, preceded by a meal of hot rice and fierce curry or pan-fried flour cakes; or a subtle, single-origin, specialty brew delivered in a silver tea service, accompanied by delicate hors d’oeuvres, from a five-star hotel – irrespective of the ambience and the occasion, there will be a brew to match.

Despite the centuries-old history of the tea ceremony, in most countries and societies where it is consumed, the image of tea has been commoditised and reduced

The variety of tea - top to bottom - Way side stall in Sri Lanka, Chai from Chennai and five-star delights

to the status of a convenience beverage. This is the result of a combination of many influences and factors: the evolution of societies over time in habitual tea drinking communities, culture-specific adaptations in various communities, and the quickening of the pace of life in societies, especially in the West, which does not permit time and space for ritual. Multi-nationals with global outreach, massmarketing competencies and only the profit motive in view, have cleverly tapped into these changing social demographics and, taking away its ritual and the beauty, reduced tea consumption to the status of a quick fix, with the delivery of a multiplicity of cheap, featureless, and homogenous products.

DILMAH SCHOOL OF TEA

SHARING AN ANCIENT PASSION

Unlike in most other tea-growing countries, in Sri Lanka, with its low level of automation and mechanisation, the processes of cultivation and production of tea still remain largely traditional and artisanal. Whilst the economist may argue that such a system does not make commercial sense, in an industrial world driven by bottom lines of balance sheets, the adherence to tradition ensures the preservation of the qualities of natural goodness and health-giving features of Pure Ceylon Tea. In its ideal setting, as it is in Sri Lanka, the process of the manufacture of Black Tea is a field, where science meets art, and, combining harmoniously, produces an unmatchable brew.

Dilhan at the School of Tea- Explaining differences and celebrating virtues

Mentoring - facets of the School of Tea. Merrill, Malik, Dilhan with renowned French Chef, Paul Bocuse

Dilhan C. Fernando, the Chief Executive of Dilmah Tea and the company’s marketing innovator, envisioned a novel vehicle to carry to the world, a different message about tea; that tea, whilst conveniently and quickly meeting a need, was also multi-faceted in aspect, potential, and possibility and, within its great diversity, there was wide space for the perfectly balanced pairing of tea and food. Dilhan’s message also carried the concept of the preparation of the brew, the intricate and ritualistic sequence, as absorbing to the eye and the mind as the taste was to the palate. It was the recreation of Tea and Zen, or an experience of Tea and its Tao, but in a completely different setting.

So the Dilmah School of Tea was born, conceived by Dilhan, as a vehicle to carry to the world the knowledge of ‘Real Tea’.

In May 2009, timed to coincide with Merrill J. Fernando’s 60th year as a Teamaker, the Dilmah School of Tea was launched, in association with Institut Paul Bocuse (IPB), the world’s leading centre of culinary and hospitality excellence. The IPB had been founded in 1990 by the renowned French Chef, Paul Bocuse, and Gerard Pellison, President of the IPB and the Co-founder of Accor Group.

The School of Tea seeks to share the Dilmah passion for real tea, with tea drinkers, tea aficionados, and those engaged in serving tea and food the world over. It strives to forge an intelligent and scientific link between elegant, exclusive cuisine and tea, and to convey this knowledge to those at the frontline

of culinary service. The School seeks to dispel the common notion of tea as a “daily cuppa,” by highlighting its natural attributes which, presented appropriately, elevate its image above that of a banal, convenience drink.

“To me it seemed that the capacity of tea to excite the senses had been eclipsed, by being frequently relegated to the bottom of the menu. For 5,000 years the world had traditionally enjoyed tea in a cup. Dilmah, through the School of Tea, took tea to the world on a plate.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

William Gorman, Executive Director of Britain’s Tea Council, was highly appreciative of Dilmah’s tea innovations, saying: “This is an industry that has been incredibly slow to innovate, and relatively tiny Dilmah has showed it how.”

The School of Tea practical instruction sessions commenced in October 2009, and since then has educated and inspired thousands of participants across the globe, from Sri Lanka to Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Chile, China, France, Poland, Japan, and Singapore.

In Sri Lanka, the sessions have been taken to tea plantations owned by Dilmah, providing participants an insider’s view of the culture of Ceylon Tea at its very source, and educating culinary specialists in the

hospitality industry and customer service, in the art and science behind tea cultivation and production. It also teaches participants of the special goodness of artisanally-produced tea and its proven health benefits.

CELEBRATING THE DIVERSITY OF TEA

Events inspired by the School of Tea – such as the Dilmah Thé Culinaire, Dilmah Tea Sommelier, Chefs and the Teamaker, Tea in the Five Senses, Mixologists and The Teamaker, and Real High Tea – were designed to spread the message of specialty tea and refined food, and to motivate culinary and hospitality professionals to offer guests and clients special experiences in food combined with tea.

Along with the technicalities of tea production, the Dilmah School of Tea shares with its participants the mystery, the romance, and the history of the world’s

oldest non-alcoholic beverage and the singularity of Pure Ceylon Tea, as a unique blend of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology.

Since its commencement, with 77 programmes in 25 countries, covering four continents, over 5,500 participants have gone through its training modules.

“Pure Ceylon Tea is a joyful fusion of the cool, dry breeze of our highlands, the balmy, warm winds of the wet lowlands, the dexterous but caring hands of our tea pickers, and the artisanal skills of our traditional teamakers. It has no peer in the tea-producing world. That is the lesson that the School of Tea seeks to teach and the message that it seeks to deliver.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Simon Toohey - tea mixologist, Tea-inspired Food, Peter Kurvita - restaurateur

Global Real High Tea Challenge 2015: Top-lef: The winners - Laurent Loudeac & Camille Furminieux from Museum Art Hotel New Zealand

The Mixologists and the Teamaker - Left-centre: In the field with the Founder

The art of Tea Mixology is an innovation of Dilmah. It is the art of respectfully combining nature’s most indulgent herbal beverage with other ingredients, to produce tea-inspired cocktails, mocktails, and shooters. Mixing different ingredients to produce harmony on the palate is a special art and tea in particular, because of its wide taste and aroma profile, presents a greater challenge to the mixologist than any other beverage. As Simon Toohey, Celebrity Mixologist of Australia, says: “I know now that when I go back to Australia, everything that I see, smell, and touch that is to do with a product of tea, it is a completely new world.”

THE CHEFS AND THE TEAMAKER

In celebration of the 21st anniversary of Dilmah in 2009, Dilmah launched a programme to integrate tea, an age-old brew, with modern cuisine and modern lifestyle.

The first ‘Chefs and the Teamaker’ event was held in 2008, when Sri Lankan-born Australian Chef, Peter Kuruvita, brought eight celebrated chefs from Australia on a culinary adventure in Sri Lanka. The second session took place in 2010, when chefs from 12 different countries participated. Subsequently, in May 2014, a group of 10 chefs again met in Sri Lanka, and, after a wide exploration of the limitless possibilities of tea and food, took back with them to their respective home countries, all those novel experiences which they would share with their customers.

Tea Gastronomy: Bottom: The chefs learning the art in the field

THE DILMAH t-LOUNGES

Every hotel, eatery, or wayside stall in countries where tea is habitually drunk, will serve you with a cup of tea. But the Dilmah t-Lounges make it their specialty to showcase the synchronicity of tea with food, as well as the artisanal features of Pure Ceylon Tea, which distinguishes it from other teas. The t-Lounge concept was a natural extension of the Dilmah commitment, to providing the world a premium tea experience.

Dilmah Tea innovations have also been driven by the expectations of a post-modern generation, in pursuit of eating and drinking experiences outside traditional boundaries. The difference between the Dilmah t-Lounges and other similar establishments, is that in the t- Lounges, the central theme is the serving of tea, in various forms, from the exotic to the traditional, with food being a tasty counterpoint to the brew. The emphasis is on authenticity and quality; traditional brews and exotic, innovative, tea-infused drinks are accompanied by gourmet, tea-inspired cuisine, served in a serene, elegant ambience.

Tea is the only beverage that offers the same variety, the delicate regional differences that characterise fine wine. Tea is very much a product of its “terroir,” as good wine is. The Dilmah t-Lounge is the ideal place to experience the wonderful and literally limitless possibilities that the wide range of tea offers.

The well-trained serving staff are knowledgeable, caring, and committed to the cause of real tea and

help customers navigate the menus, enabling them to make intelligent selections from a wide range of offerings.

The Dilmah t-Lounges are not just about drinking tea and eating; they are also centres for education, where customers can learn about the history of tea, how to distinguish between subtle flavours and aromas, the varying refinements of tea, and, most importantly, observe the complex and absorbingly interesting art of brewing. In its totality, it is an immersive tea experience for the genuine tea enthusiast, looking for an unusual and rewarding tea encounter.

The following comment by Dilhan C. Fernando, CEO, Dilmah Tea, encapsulates the philosophy and history of the ancient Chinese Tea culture, presented in a modern setting but with age-old authenticity.

“Fine tea has the ability to dignify food in a way that no other beverage can. Functionally, tea is an elegant accompaniment to food for its ability to cleanse the palate of fats and sweetness and prepare the taste buds to appreciate the next dish. Good food, good tea, delicious individually but together having the potential to produce a magical sensation on the palate.”

The Dilmah t-Lounges are where the art of tea reemerges from the ancient tea houses of China; it is the revival and re-imagining of a 2,000-year-old tradition, delivered with a modern flavour but without losing an iota of its ancient charm or the traditional respect for the brew.

Top: Dilmah t-Lounge Bottom: Pairing Tea & Food

The marvel of tea is that a brew from 40 centuries ago, has integrated seamlessly into a 21st century lifestyle. In fact, it is far more relevant to the society of today, as a beneficial counter-agent with proven therapeutic value, to the lurking dangers of an unarguably unhealthy modern lifestyle. Tea is traditional, but it loses nothing of its age-old charm for being treated un-traditionally. With its infinite spectrum of colour, taste, fragrance, flavours, strength, and mouth-feel, it offers a multi-featured palette to the skilled mixologist and culinary artist.

BREW 1867

In general, the Brew outlets also cater to the tea drinker but targeted from a different angle and at a different customer segment. Whilst the t-Lounges are meant more for the connoisseur and the tea enthusiast, Brew reaches out to out the tea drinker seeking a quicker gratification.

The outlets are located in the busiest, but exclusive business centres of Colombo city, at Flower Road, Nawam Mawatha, and the Colombo Fort, World Trade Centre. These cafes, which serve both tea and food, are highly attractive to younger office workers looking for a satisfying tea drinking experience in quick time.

Brew 1867 variety of food and tea

DILMAH – EMBRACING THE GLOBE

The Dilmah Partner Conference is as much a family gathering, as it is a convocation of business associates and partners of Dilmah Tea, worldwide. Dilmah Tea has always been a family business and those values have been extended to all its partners, irrespective of nationality and country of domicile. The conference brings together Dilmah’s business partners, distributors, retailers, and other stakeholders, all of them in pursuit of a common cause. Dilmah has enfolded all its overseas associates in its warm familial friendliness and passion for Pure Ceylon Tea.

This event was first held in 2003, and has been celebrated regularly once every two years, except for a brief hiatus during the period of the Covid pandemic. Traditionally, it is always held in Sri Lanka, as that is the home of Dilmah. Since the first

there have been 10 such gatherings, the last in 2023.

On an average the conference is attended by about 150 international delegates of Dilmah, representing close upon 70 nationalities. The event features presentations from the prominent members of the Dilmah operation, led by the Chairman, with contributions from overseas partners as well.

The conference is a platform for the exchange of ideas, for discussion around new products and innovations, the sharing of the company’s vision and future plans and strategies, and for updates on global developments in tea and related markets. It is also an opportunity for problem solving and celebrating significant achievements. The followup action, in the form of newsletters, publications, dedicated brand information portals and other forms of easy-to-access knowledge platforms, ensures that the momentum of the conference continues beyond

Dilmah Global Family

Dilmah Global Family Conference 2023: Launching of the Founder’s autobiography

the event, transforming ideas and discussion into actionable outcomes.

Other features of the conference are the breakout sessions and workshops, which provide opportunities for the discussion of common problems and the sharing of useful experiences and best practices. Problems across countries exhibit surprisingly common features, whilst solutions need to be tailored to meet local conditions. Panel discussions led by industry experts, marketers and tea-scientists, provide participants with useful insights and specialised knowledge on wide-ranging aspects of tea, not easily accessible through other sources.

It is the widely expressed opinion of most delegates, who have participated in similar events in many other countries in the world, that, in terms of quality, content, relevance, and impact, the Dilmah Partner Conference is without peer.

Various Sri Lankan cultural events and visits to places of historical interest arranged for the delegates ensure variety and avoid a surfeit of tea and business.

For the 10th conference – themed ‘Making the World a Better Tea’ – inaugurated on May 6th, 2023, when the delegates arrived at the Dilmah, Peliyagoda premises, they were all greeted in the traditional Sri Lankan style, each being handed a sheaf of ‘bulath’ leaves. Thereafter, they were conducted into the building, led by a troupe of Kandyan dancers, another feature which epitomises Sri Lanka’s culture.

A special feature of the 10th Conference was the public presentation of the autobiography of the Founder, ‘The Story of Ceylon Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, Disruptor. Teamaker. Servant,’ at a brilliant event in the evening of the same day, at the Grand Ballroom of the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo. All the guests, delegates, and special invitees were given complimentary copies. Symbolically, it was also Merrill J. Fernando’s 93rd birthday.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Building Resilience

Empowering a Philosophy

Through innovative business strategies, and diverse but interlinked and interdependent initiatives, which embrace a multitude of conflicting but essential features, Dilmah has created a highly sustainable business model. It is unique in its fusion of a vision of social responsibility and economic prosperity, whilst staying rooted to its national heritage.

Diversity generally provides stability, whether it is a community, an eco-system or an enterprise, bringing more to the table, in terms of products, abilities, values, new learnings, market competitiveness, and cultures. There is greater cohesion and resilience to adversity whilst space for employee growth, vertically and laterally, is wider.

The Dilmah enterprise, the MJF Group of Companies, is a very interesting example of such diversified growth. Despite the wide variety of businesses it is engaged in, the common thread in the tapestry is tea. Its growth has encompassed strategic acquisitions, partnerships, and alliances, all of which, in combination, invest it with a rare stability and manoeuvrability, as well as distinctive competitive advantages. Such alliances are not confined to Sri Lanka but are also represented in other countries, in which the MJF Group – Dilmah, does major business.

A special feature of the MJF Group, with its roots firmly embedded in tea, is its linkages and control –

through a series of associations, partnerships, and fusions – of the value chain from production on the plantation to the supermarket shelf.

As Merrill J. Fernando himself has said:

“In this age of enterprise complexity, admittedly, it is difficult for any operation, however efficient it may be, to be totally self-sufficient… However, in regard to my tea export business, the mainstay of my group enterprises, I was determined that I would become totally self-reliant.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Dilmah’s stability and sustainability is not a happy accident but the result of carefully orchestrated strategy. As has been mentioned earlier in this narrative, and as will be illustrated in greater detail further on in chapter (8), under ‘Dilmah and its Impact,’ a unique feature of the Dilmah value chain is its inclusion of the community, the environment, and public good, as important links and stakeholders in its enterprise; in fact, important enough for the diversion of 15% of the company’s annual pre-tax profit into related initiatives.

A GLOBAL PRESENCE

The Group employs over a 1,000 employees across its main company and subsidiaries, not including the plantation sector. The Dilmah brand reaches over 100 countries across the globe, through an extensive network of sales agents and distributors. Its products, numbering around 3,000, possibly the

Quality in the cup

widest range of any tea company in the world, are testimony to the variety of consumer preferences and markets it caters to. It is also a reflection of the variety and range made possible by the nature of Pure Ceylon Tea.

Of its employee cadre, 45% are female, whilst its retention rate is around 90%. Of the total force, 63% have over five years of service.

Given below is an overview of the Dilmah enterprise diversity; the linkages, commonalities, interdependence, and convergence of primary purpose is clear. Equally clear is the reinforcement of the philosophy, ‘Business is a Matter of Human Service,’ as well as the Dilmah commitment to the sustainability of the tea industry.

DILMAH CEYLON TEA COMPANY

The Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company PLC (DCTC) is the heart of the Dilmah operation, and its main production and export arm. It exports around 6 mn kgs of value added tea annually, and, despite marketplace volatility, has been a very consistent performer.

Process of excellence - from the tea room to the cup

A DISTINGUISHED BOARD

Merrill J. Fernando founded Dilmah, a tea export business, on the values and principles of a closely-knit family business. Since then it has demonstrated a rare vitality and wide-ranging growth, which include produce broking, hospitality, printing and packaging, tea-beverage production, plantation management and spice cultivation. As a production and marketing entity with a global outreach, it maintains a balanced understanding of a wide range of cultural and social backgrounds on a global stage. Its wide-ranging internal skill-sets have been complemented by on-board experience and knowledge, to enable it to successfully navigate overseas markets and to address growth opportunities, worldwide. The company’s commitment to ethical business practices, product quality, environmental sustainability, community development and social inequality remediation, resonate with both consumers and stakeholders in an increasingly sensitive market. Its board members, with backgrounds in relevant fields, both locally and globally, reinforce the internal management group with governance oversight and long-term strategic direction.

Until his demise on July 20th, 2023, the Founder, Merrill J. Fernando was the Chairman of the company. Soon, thereafter, his younger son, Dilhan C. Fernando, was appointed Chief Executive Officer/Co- Chairman. Dilhan is a graduate – BSc (Hons) Economics – of the London School of Economics and joined the company 30 years ago, as a management trainee.

Malik Fernando, elder son of the Founder, the other co-chair of the group, is the Director Operations of the Group. He obtained a BSc in Management from Babsons College, Boston, USA and joined the company as a management trainee 35 years ago. He is also the Chairman of MJF Leisure (Pvt) Ltd., the holding company of Resplendent Ceylon, the hospitality arm of the group.

Himendra Ranaweera, Deputy Chairman, has served the company for 30 years. His five-decade career as a senior business manager and a production management specialist, includes a long spell in the Hayleys Group, Sri Lanka’s most diversified conglomerate, as well as service in overseas corporations.

Roshan Tissaratchy, Director of the Group, is a graduate of the University of Colombo and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He also holds an MBA from the University of Jayewardenepura, Colombo. He has been with the company for 25 years and has, altogether, 30 years of professional experience in his field.

Darshana Gunasekera, Group Finance Director, joined the company in 2015. He is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of management Accountants, UK, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of UK. He holds a BSc degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo and is also qualified in marketing. He has over 25 years of experience, including overseas exposure, in multi-national companies.

Minette Perera, Non-Executive Director, was the Group Finance Director till retirement in 2013. She is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of UK. She has over 40 years of experience in finance, in both local and international companies. She is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director of several listed and non-listed companies in Sri Lanka.

Rajan Asirwatham has been a Non-Executive Director of the company since 2008. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and, after a long and distinguished career at Ford Rhodes (now KPMG), retired in 2008 as its Senior Partner and Country Head. He is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of several other listed companies.

Dr. Ravindra Fernando was appointed Non-Executive Director of the company in 2022. He is an alumni of the University of Cambridge, UK, with a Post Graduate Certificate and Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration Degree from the European Business School and has been Executive in Residence, INSEAD Business School (France), since 2010. He is the Chairman/CEO of Global Strategic Corporate Sustainability Pvt. Ltd., operating in Luxembourg and Sri Lanka. His multinational experience, through 1981-2007, includes Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, and Smithkline Beecham, covering Africa, Middle East, and Asia.

John Lo joined the Board of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company Plc as a NonExecutive Director in 2023, bringing over 30 years experience as an investment professional, primarily at Fidelity International Ltd( FIL). His portfolios include large –scale sovereign wealth funds and corporate pensions. He played a key role in establishing FIL’s Singapore Investment office in 2005 and later served as its Head of Equity.

Anil Dias, currently a Non-Executive Director of Mercantile Investments and Finance Plc, and Chairman of a rural poverty alleviation entity in Sri Lanka, is a financial professional with 40 years experience, globally. He was Chief Financial Officer of the Global Industrial Division and on multiple country boards of Coats, Plc, UK, a FTSE 250 company. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Post-Graduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura.

MJF EXPORTS PVT LTD

Operating within DCTC, the company exports limited volumes of bulk tea to select destinations and for private brands.

TEA – PLANTATIONS AND ASSOCIATED INTERESTS

Talawakelle Plantations Plc – 6,500 ha (16,060 acres) of tea, represented in both prime high grown and select low-grown plantations, annually producing around 6.2 mn kg of tea; the MJF Group acquired a 15% stake in the company in 1997.

Elpitiya Plantations PLC – 8,600 ha (21,250 acres) of tea, rubber, palm oil, coconut, and cinnamon, located mostly in the Southern low-lands, producing around 4.5 mn kg of tea, 500,000 kg of rubber, and about 21 mn kg of palm oil, annually. The MJF Group acquired a 15% stake in the company in 1997.

KAHAWATTE PLANTATIONS

Kahawatte Plantations PLC (KWPL) is a Regional Plantation Company comprising 15 plantations with a mix of tea, rubber, and cinnamon, across a total extent of around 13,000 ha (32,000 acres) of land, divided between two distinct agro-climatic regions. It employs around 4,100 employees – 2,100 females and over 1,900 males.

One group of purely tea plantations is located in the central hills, south of Kandy, ranging in elevation from medium to high. The tea-cum-rubber plantation group is in the Sabaragamuwa Province, in the wet, humid low-country, also famous for its rich, gem-

laden land, which yields some of the world’s most prized precious stones.

KWPL produces around 5 mn kg of tea, 870,000 kg of rubber, and 65,000 kg of cinnamon, annually.

The MJF Group acquired a controlling interest (70%) in the company in 2000. Together, Talawakelle Plc, Elpitiya Plc, and Kahawatte Plc, account for around 5% of the average annual national tea production.

The ownership of the tea gardens is central to Merrill’s founding philosophy of Dilmah; to take to the world a single origin tea, grown, nurtured, and packed in the country, by the family which owns both the land and the product.

The broad elevational variations represented by the Kahawatte tea plantations enable the production

of a wide variety of tea types, ranging from light, quality tea with refined flavour, characteristic of the high-grown sector, to the heavy, rich-bodied teas with colour and strength, which epitomise the warm, humid, lowland plantations of the island.

Wide-ranging improvements and rehabilitation to tea factory plant and machinery, reinforcing a focused quality enhancement drive, introduced no sooner the Dilmah Group gained control of the company, took the Kahawatte prices, which had been languishing at the bottom for many years, to the very top of the country’s RPC tea-price ranking list. It has maintained this pre-eminent position for over a decade.

Manicured tea slopes, Harvesting Cinnamon Sticks, Latex collection

Crop Diversity

Fostering diversity has been a fundamental aspect of the Dilmah philosophy, as reflected in its holistic approach to enterprise management, particularly the transformative and remedial initiatives driven by the MJFCF and Dilmah Conservation. The same principle has been applied to the land usage of Kahawatte Plantations. Merrill J. Fernando has long been an advocate of the need for crop diversity:

“Another glaring weakness in the producer sector is its almost total reliance on a monocrop. In a small island with such wideranging agro-climatic, soil, temperature, and elevational features, an obvious longterm strategy would be to broad-base the crop asset with multi-crop cultivation. Tea, in particular, would lend itself easily to both diversification and mixed crop cultivation –fruit, spices, timber, and even vegetables.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Cinnamon

From the very inception, Merrill J. Fernando, as Chairman of the company, spearheaded a capital intensive consolidation of both tea and rubber in Kahawatte. He also launched a crop diversification initiative, with the planting of cinnamon in the low-country plantation belt. Presently, Kahawatte has around 330 ha (830 acres) of cinnamon under cultivation, making it the largest single owner of cinnamon in the country. It also has a cinnamon

peeling and processing centre, employing about 50 workers each day. The processing centre converts the raw cinnamon stems to finished quills of varying grades of export quality, going through the entire process of cleaning, peeling, drying, quill-preparation, grading, and baling. It is a highly labour-intensive operation, as there are still no viable mechanical or automated alternatives to any of the separate steps in the process.

A separate cinnamon oil processing unit produces around 1,500 kg of cinnamon leaf oil, annually.

Encouraged by the example set by the KWPL cinnamon cultivation, villagers in the area have also commenced cinnamon cultivation on their own. KWPL is setting up a mechanism to buy back such cinnamon from the village growers, thus enhancing the KWPL factory output and, also, providing an additional source of income to the community.

In a further engagement with the local community, KWPL also supplies about 200 children in a school in close proximity to the cinnamon centre with a daily free meal.

Kahawatte Cinnamon: from the field to the quill

Durian

Durian, a member of the genus Durio, is a unique, fibre-rich tropical fruit, highly prized for its taste, high nutritional content, and medicinal value, which is currently being researched. Of the 30 known varieties of Durian, nine are edible, with the most sought after being Durio Zibethinus, native to Borneo and Sumatra, but widely cultivated in many other countries in South-East Asia because of its commercial value.

In 2019, Kahawatte launched a pilot cultivation, on a 6 ha (app. 15 acres) block on Hunuwela Estate, in the low-country region. The results have been very successful, with very early fruiting, and offer potential for expansion.

Coffee

Coffee has been planted, as a pilot project, in a total of 20 ha (50 acres) in several estates in the Nawalapitiya region. Another 50 ha (123 acres) have been earmarked for expansion of coffee within the next three years.

Agro-Forestry – Rilhena Model Project

A total extent of over 1,000 ha (2,471 acres) of abandoned land within the company’s estates, equivalent to 8% of the total cultivated extent of the company, have been committed to an agro-forestry programme, following a feasibility assessment utilising available maps and plantation data. The pilot project will commence with the planting of 50 ha (123 acre) on Rilhena Estate, a tea-cum-rubber plantation in the company’s low-country segment.

The above is a collaborative initiative between Kahawatte Plantations and the Dilmah Agricultural Innovation Nucleus. The majority of the tree species

Tree - laden with fruit

Coffee - ripe for picking

selected for propagation will represent naturally occurring jungle varieties, not meant for future felling, following the principle and example of ecosystem restoration set by the Endana Bio-Diversity Corridor, which is described elsewhere in this writing.

Commercial crops such as garcinia, pepper, durian, and rambutan, will also feature in the re-forestation programme.

A Traditional Sweetener

Jaggery, an ancient type of sweetener produced from the kitul palm (Caryota urens), has been very much part of Sri Lankan cuisine for centuries and whilst accurate records are not available, probably long predates the use of cane sugar.

The kitul palm is not cultivated commercially but grows wild in most parts of the island, except at the higher elevations. The ‘tapping,’ or harvesting the flower for its intensely aromatic syrup, is a highly traditional and family-based craft, now fast disappearing.

Kahawatte Plantations has identified over 1,200 kitul palms growing in its low-country estate sector, and is strategising an initiative to revitalise interest in the industry, mainly to provide the community with an additional source of income.

Left: Agro-Forestry Right: Kitul palm

Hydropower

A major issue facing all production enterprises in the country is the high cost of energy, both electricity and fossil fuel. Kahawatte Plantations, where possible, has looked to its own resources and harnessed hydropower, and through four schemes, is generating 260 KW internally.

Rainwater Harvesting

The disruption of normal weather patterns and the recent unpredictability of annual monsoons, justifiably attributed to climate change/global warming, have had highly adverse impacts on agriculture, especially on large-scale commercial crops and, particularly, perennial varieties like tea.

As a counter action, Kahawatte Plantations has commenced a programme for the harvesting of rain

water during the wetter months, for use as reservoirs during the dry periods. Using a number of lowcost strategies, such as roof-top collection systems, earthen dams, and gravitational dams, depending on the conditions in each location, the storage capacity has already reached approximately 130,000 cubic metres.

Apart from what is described above, Kahawatte Plantations has undertaken many other useful sustainability and community welfare initiatives, in collaboration with the MJF Charitable Foundation and Dilmah Conservation. These include climate change evaluation projects, forest conservation, ecodiversity mapping, plantation children’s education, and children’s nutritional and health enhancement. They are described separately in other segments of this book.

Left: Hydro generator Kahawatte Plantations Right: Rainwater Harvesting

TEA – SPECIAL PRODUCTS

MJF – BEVERAGES SL

Since 2007 the company has been operating a Ready to Drink Tea (RTD) factory, at Rilhena Estate of Kahawatte Plantations, producing both RTD and tea concentrate, developed from the freshlyplucked green tea leaf, in a ground-breaking process innovation developed by Dilmah after several years of research. It is a Board of Investment (BOI) project, with a mandated 90% export volume and an approved 10% of total production, for sale in the local market. The factory produces about 150,000 kg each year.

The bulk of the exports are to Australia, New Zealand, and Poland.

From the field to the glass - Ready to Drink tea from Rilhena

MJF BEVERAGES ANZ

A New Zealand subsidiary of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company, MJF Beverages ANZ, bottles an innovative selection of natural iced tea, low sugar tea sodas, and premium tea mixes, using the tea extract produced at the Rilhena RTD factory. Despite the operation being based in New Zealand, 10,000 kilometres from Sri Lanka, Dilmah stays true to singularity of origin and authenticity. The raw material for the product is sourced from a family-owned tea garden in Sri Lanka and the green tea leaves are hand-picked.

The iced tea flavour range includes peach, blood orange, lemon, grapefruit, and rosemary. In October 2023, 32 years after Merrill J. Fernando launched Dilmah Black Tea in New Zealand, his son, Dilhan and grandson Amrit, launched a new set of Dilmah tea products in the land of the Kiwi, where Merrill was known affectionately as “Mr. Dilmah”. Speaking at the launch, with son Amrit at his side, Dilhan commented:

“…New Zealanders have accepted my father’s invitation to ‘do try it’ for decades, and made Dilmah their favourite tea. We are genuinely delighted to bring our authentic, single origin Ceylon iced tea, tea sodas, and premium mixes to New Zealand as a delicious, yet healthier, and genuinely inspired beverage.”

Dilmah Iced Tea in New Zealand

DILMAH – EMERALD GREEN TEA

CEYLON TEA FARMERS

In 2013, Dilmah obtained an idling High Grown Black Tea factory, located at an elevation of around 6,400 ft above msl, in Nuwara Eliya, the very heart of Ceylon quality tea, and converted it into a Green Tea processing centre.

Known as the Park Green Tea Factory, it produces a wide range of green tea grades from freshlyharvested green leaf, sourced from plantations in close proximity. On an average it produces about 400,000 kg annually, almost all of it exported.

PRODUCE MANAGEMENT – FORBES & WALKER

Forbes & Walker is a leading produce broking company in Sri Lanka, having commenced commercial operations in 1882. The MJF Group acquired a 70% interest in the company in 2000,

whilst the balance 30% is held by the management of the company.

The practice of produce broking would have come into being in Ceylon in Portuguese times, as an ancillary to the spice trade. However, it came into its own as a pivotal component of the commodities trade, with the development of coffee cultivation in the island. The brokers acted as intermediaries, or facilitators, between the producers and buyers, performing a key role in executing sales transparently and efficiently.

The first formally recognised broker in Ceylon was Englishman William Somerville, whose firm, Somerville & Co, established by him in 1876, conducted the first Ceylon Tea auction in 1883. That company is still in the same business.

Forbes & Walker was founded as a partnership between James Forbes and George Chapman Walker,

Dilmah - the Emerald range

Colonial era tea catalogue

two pioneering British entrepreneurs, the first a tea man and the second a financier. Whilst there is no record of the actual date of establishment, the first cash book of the company, still in the custody of the company’s Finance Director, records brokerage as having been earned from August 1881. That fact, supported by reference in ‘Mercantile Lore’ by Sir Thomas Villiers (Chairman, George Steuart & Co., 1928-1949), places the establishment of Forbes & Walker in or around August 1881.

In 1948 the company was incorporated as a Private Limited Liability Company. In 1975, coinciding with the nationalisation of British-owned plantation companies, the management and ownership of Forbes was handed over to senior Sri Lankan members of the company. Over the next couple of decades the company was subject to much internal turbulence, till stability and order was restored consequent to its acquisition by the MJF Group of Companies.

Today, the original produce broking company is a highly diversified group in itself, whilst maintaining its core business as the leading produce broker in the island, but having also moved into logistics, agriculture, and marketing of gourmet food products. Annually, the company markets 22% of the national tea production and around 50% of the national rubber production, both being the highest volumes handled by any broker. The company has held these pre-eminent positions for over a decade. It is also the only structured organisation of its kind in Sri Lanka, involved in the marketing of spices. Its state-of-the

art warehousing arm provides turn-key solutions in the storage of clients’ produce, and in inventory control and delivery.

F&W Fine Foods specialises in the growing and marketing of gourmet food products. Complementing the parent group’s cashew cultivation drive in the Eastern Province of the island, the company commenced marketing of cashew nuts and is now a leading player in this business in the island.

F&W shares the Dilmah commitment to sustainability and social and environmental responsibility and contributes 10% of its pre-tax profits to the MJFCF. It obtained membership of Bio-Diversity Sri Lanka in 2014 and is presently a Patron member. F&W energy efficiency initiatives were recognised by the Sri Lanka National Sustainable Energy Authority with the Bronze Flame Award in 2018.

The acquisition of F&W in 2000, followed soon after by that of Kahawatte Plantations PLC, gives the Dilmah brand greater control in the supply chain and has strengthened its position in the tea industry, both domestically and internationally. In totality, it presents a working model of vertical integration, which no other international tea brand from Sri Lanka could boast of.

OTHER EXPORTS

DILMAH CEYLON CINNAMON COMPANY

With the Dilmah focus on presenting Ceylon Cinnamon to the world, on the same footing as Dilmah Tea, the above company assumes primary

importance. The Dilmah cinnamon initiative is described separately, under both ‘Kahawatte Plantations,’ the primary grower of cinnamon for Dilmah, and ‘Cinnamon, the new Fragrance at Dilmah’.

CEYLON SPICE COMPANY

The company is involved in the export of cinnamon and other spices such as pepper. It also houses a state-of-the art sterilisation plant (Safesteril), which provides sterilisation for export spice consignments, both in-company and for outside companies.

MJF EPIGRO – RENEWABLES

The company imports and distributes solar panels and other equipment related to renewable energy. It has already supplied the Group companies, with the Peliyagoda premises and the Dilmah Hendala premises (PCL Solutions and Timber Concepts), as well as Rilhena and Ketaboola Estates of Kahawatte Plantations, being equipped with solar power.

Ansell Lanka, one of the biggest glove manufacturers in the region, is also a client of Epigro.

PRINTING AND PACKAGING

PRINTCARE

Printcare was founded in 1979, by Merrill J. Fernando and K.R. Ravindran, a like-minded entrepreneur. The combination of Merrill’s knowledge of tea and Ravi’s expertise in printing, each equally passionate about their respective vocations, was a potent recipe for success. From the outset they worked with unshakeable mutual trust and the business association soon matured into a life-long friendship as well.

Over the decades Printcare has evolved into a ‘superbrand,’ one of South Asia’s most respected printing and packaging solutions providers, with a cadre of over 800 employees. Along the way it also became a listed company in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Today, with multiple locations in Sri Lanka and operations in India, Kenya, and England, Printcare services customers in about 40 countries in five continents, working across a broad spectrum of industries, including tea, telecommunications, apparel, print, specialised digital media, education, and lottery. Within a short space of time, Printcare became one of the best-known suppliers of tea bag packaging across the world, servicing nearly every major tea brand from UK to Australia.

Cinnamon, Turmeric and Pepper

The advent of Printcare coincided advantageously, with the shift by Merrill into the value-added tea industry from bulk shipments. In another demonstration of Merrill’s unerring instinct and informed vision, he foresaw, two decades into the future, the evolution of the industry’s need for quality packaging and printing.

Sophisticated packaging

In the early days Merrill would spend hours in the pre-press department of Printcare, working on his designs. This was another example of his drive for excellence and passion for detail. Subsequently, he set up his own art department in the Dilmah premises.

Merrill had complete confidence in his ability to compete in the market, as well as a deep caring for the tea industry in Sri Lanka. Therefore, he had no misgivings about Printcare servicing other members of the tea trade, including his own competitors, and providing them as well with high quality packaging.

Whilst most forms of packaging in the tea industry in Sri Lanka in the 1970s, involved the extensive use of heavy wooden chests and containers, there were already concerns, both within the industry and outside, of the need for moving into lighter, userfriendly, and environmentally more sustainable forms of packaging.

Both Merrill and Ravi were also conscious that no consumer in a developed country bought tea off a tea chest. Purchases were always in a finished package form, from a store or a supermarket. Simultaneously, they also foresaw the growing trend in international markets in this direction, and the imperative for exporters, especially from Sri Lanka, to take advantage of this shift and move into the value-added segment of the tea business. Packeted tea is the lowest form of value-addition, followed by tea bags and, then, flavoured tea.

Printcare was the first company in South Asia to produce tea bag tags and envelopes, establishing itself as the first from this part of the world to supply such tags to world markets. With the gradual development of quality packaging for tea bags in Sri Lanka, the export industry itself advanced into a different dimension.

PCL SOLUTIONS PVT LTD

The company, launched about 40 years ago, as a subsidiary within the MJF Group, is the exclusive local agent for many top-of-the-line suppliers of packaging machinery and materials for a number of industries. Consequent to its association with Dilmah, its primary focus is the tea industry.

The company imports tea-bagging and other sophisticated, precision machinery, as sole agent in Sri Lanka. Its wide range of imports include filter paper, plastic crates, stationery, calculators, and Kodak batteries.

TIMBER CONCEPTS

The Dilmah tea involvement in the hospitality trade provided the impetus for the incorporation of Timber Concepts, in 2000. It was first engaged in the manufacture of high-quality timber presenters, for the presentation of Dilmah Tea in hospitality channels.

The extensive use of timber had been an undesirable feature of the tea industry for decades, till the gradual conversion to paper sacks, light containers, and other more environmentally friendly packaging, enabled producers to minimise the use of timber.

However, stronger and more durable containers are still necessary, especially when exporting delicate types of tea, generally in quantities ranging from 1-5 kg, much sought after in the top-end Middle Eastern markets. Another key requirement in such packaging is the artistic, sophisticated crafting of the presentation container.

The company was another strategic investment made by Merrill J. Fernando, with his unerring instinct for anticipating needs before they became realities.

Finely crafted timber products

CHAPTER EIGHT

Resplendent Ceylon

Hospitality Infused with Tea

The Dilmah hospitality initiative offers a curated experience of the journey of Ceylon tea, from bush-to-cup, in an environment of old-world charm, understated luxury and epicurean gastronomy. It also showcases the island’s ancient cultural identity, its unmatchable beaches, the diversity of its climate, geography and fauna and flora; all these features are supported at every destination, by unobtrusive but deeply caring service.

THE TEA TRAILS HOSPITALITY

In 2003 Merrill, Dilhan and family, holidayed in an exclusive hotel complex in Bali, Indonesia. It was a unique, personalised concept which offered the guest both luxury and privacy.

What he saw stimulated Merrill’s interest in the hospitality industry and, eventually led to the implementation of the ‘Tea Trails’ concept, masterminded by Malik, Merrill’s eldest. Typical of the Dilmah ethos, it was a combination of tea, pleasure, excellence of service, exquisite cuisine, and luxury. Equally typically, the location was the tea country of the central hills of Sri Lanka.

The upcountry plantation areas are the most scenic in the country, with the orderly, emerald green tea cultivation cushioning the undulating terrain, whilst streams, waterfalls, and wooded ravines disrupt and decorate the lush green uniformity. The landscape is overlooked by brooding mountains and rocky escarpments, often covered by montane forest. Within the plantations are the historic planter’s bungalows, always commandingly located, sprawling, comfortable, and surrounded by landscaped gardens. They are amongst the most visible, and attractive, legacies of the British colonial occupation of Ceylon.

Initially, four bungalows were chosen – Tientsin, Norwood, Summerville, and Castlereagh – all in the Bogawantalawa-Norwood area, selected for best configuration, accessibility, and garden layout. The proximity of the picturesque Castlereagh Reservoir was another attractive feature. Later, Dunkeld

bungalow, located close by in the Fernando’s familyowned tea property, was added to the ensemble, in order to cater to increasing demand.

Tientsin is named after the Chinese village, an original source of tea, and is located a half-hour ride up the Bogawantalawa Road, at the entrance to the Bogawantalawa Valley. Summerville, Castlereagh, and Dunkeld overlook the reservoir, and are within a 15-minute cycle ride of each other. A feature of all these bungalows is the not-too-distant, commanding view of Adam’s Peak, sacred to all religious groups in the country – a picture-book perfect mountain thrusting sharply upwards from the island’s Western mountain barrier.

The interiors of the bungalows were reconfigured by a South African designer, unobtrusively introducing modern amenities, without intruding on the oldworld charm of the bungalows. The new was made to merge seamlessly with the old, whilst the designer’s hand remained invisible. Despite wide-ranging changes to meet the demands of the modern-day traveller, all the bungalows remain faithful to the original design.

Tea Trails took the over-used concept of boutique hostelry to a different level. The ambience, the personalised service, and the menus designed to suit individual palates and desires, provided guests with a unique experience, whilst living in a charming microcosm that the march of history had left behind.

The innovatively crafted cuisine of the bungalows is supported by organically grown vegetables and herbs, from own gardens.

The Tea Trails ensemble

The Tea Trails enchantment- A magical fusion of elegance, colonial charm, modern comfort, attentive service, serenity and adventure.

The drive from Colombo takes the traveller through teeming roadside towns, fields carpeted with their soothing green growth and coconut cultivations and, then, along winding roads which sometimes double back in serpentine fashion, climbing quickly into the lush tea country of the central hills. The hill country roads, generally firmly surfaced but narrow, take the traveller through challenging terrain of rare scenic beauty. The views of the surrounding landscape are often quite spectacular.

The journey by road also provides the traveller with a capsule view of the busy, cluttered towns and bazaars of the country. The towns of Sri Lanka, especially in the outstation provinces, generally comprise densely packed buildings of varying sizes and configurations, all standing cheek by jowl along the main thoroughfare, which is also the highway to your destination. These towns seem to have grown organically, with no planning or zoning, but that is also part of the charm.

For the more adventurous, the sea-plane ride, starting from either the broad stretch of the Kelani River opposite the Peliyagoda, Dilmah complex, or from the picturesque Diyawanna Lake, and alighting on Castlereagh Lake, opposite the Dunkeld factory, is less than an hour’s flight.

Each one of these bungalows has its own rich history, some of it reaching back to the coffee era, featuring colourful and idiosyncratic British pioneers.

All visitors to the Tea Trails bungalows are given a comprehensive tour, led by a retired plantation

manager with more than half a century of service in the tea industry. The factory tour, in the Dunkeld factory, provides all visitors with a view of the actual manufacture of Black Tea, commencing with the harvesting of the green leaf in the field, up to the point of grading of the tea.

For the exercise-conscious, kayaking is arranged in the Castlereagh Reservoir, whilst cycling and walking tours are a daily feature. All the Tea Trails bungalows are located within stage 8 of the famous 300 km “Pekoe Trail”, a 22-stage hike winding through the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. It is a trek specially

The Pekoe Trail merges with Tea Trails

configured to cover a cross-section of the entire highland plantation country, commencing from the Ceylon Tea Museum above the city of Kandy, and traversing the Hatton hills, Horton Plains and the Uva Region, before doubling back and terminating in Nuwara Eliya.

On account of the exceptional package provided by Tea Trails, it was invited to join the prestigious Parisbased Relais & Chateaux Association, an entity held in the highest regard in the hospitality industry, for its uncompromisingly rigid and exacting admission standards. Since its founding in France 1954, it has admitted only 580 hotels, worldwide, to its exclusive circle.

The BBC recently featured Tea Trails in a one hour long prime-time episode, of its “Amazing HotelsBehind the Lobby” series, together with other globally iconic hotels. The airing of this episode and its reruns across the world, probably represent the most significant promotions in recent memory for Sri Lanka Tourism.

Tea Trails is also the first ever hotel in Sri Lanka, selected for the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller Gold List, another exclusive catalogue which features only the best hotels in the world.

The visitors’ comments reinforce the international accolades;

UNDERSTATED ELEGANCE

A television programme about this hotel whetted my husbands appetite to stay here. Nothing could have prepared me for the beauty of Castlereagh lake and the surrounding tea plantations. We crossed the lake to get to our bungalow, Castlereagh and spent three nights there. The bungalow overlooks the lake and boasts a lovely garden with pool and croquet lawn. Our suite was large and airy, and sumptuous. It has a private terrace where one can enjoy the local bird and wildlife. The bathroom was elegant and understated. The bungalow manages to retain an air of informality despite its luxury and impeccable service. …..We were very sad to leave and hope to return. Words cannot do justice to this beautiful hotel. It is perfect. ( 380rahula, Singapore)

TRULY TRULY TRULY, ONE OF A KIND

This is an experience to be remembered for a while. Perhaps to even be savoured later. The world is a big place, and one rarely repeats a country, but if one were to do so, Ceylon Tea Trails would be on the list. The charm of the property, the above and beyond service, the great food. It really cannot be explained without having done it once. ( Mar 18 2024)

CAPE WELIGAMA

Following their success with Tea Trails, Merrill and Malik looked outward, towards the ocean surrounding the island. Sri Lanka has a total beach frontage of 1,340 km, comprising a wide assortment of coastal types with amazingly varied topography. It encompasses vast shallow lagoons teeming with marine and bird life, small fishing ports, sheltered coves protected by coral reefs, massive commercial harbours, rocky headlands, verdant, mangrovestudded littorals, and long stretches of wide, brilliantwhite, sandy beaches, fringed and shaded by leafy coconut palms. None of these locations are more than a four-hour drive from Colombo, the capital city.

At the extreme southern rim of the island of Lanka, 150 km from Colombo, is a soaring palm-fringed cliff, an elevated headland overlooking the Indian ocean, close to the ancient fishing village of Weligama.

On the very edge of this land, 12 acres of verdant tropical garden, Dilmah has housed a collection of 39 separate suites and villas. Beneath the traditional clay-tiled rooftops, the stylish interiors offer the traveller the most luxurious and comfortable living. Each unit enjoys a large private terrace, in-house dining facilities and spacious sleeping and living areas. The crescent-shaped pool poised over the ocean at the outer edge of the property, offers the bather an uninterrupred view across the Indian ocean, all the way to the South Pole. Below the resort is the Weligama Bay, one of the busiest fishing ports in the South of the island.

Weligama, in the Sinhala language, literally means “sandy village”, perfectly descriptive of the stretches of white crystalline beach between the resort and the Indian ocean. 16 km from the resort is the ancient port-city of Matara, one of the island’s most attractive travel destinations. It is a city with a rich history, reaching back over 20 centuries. Along with Galle, an even older port-city 35 km before Weligama, Matara featured prominently in the trade of cinnamon and elephants in the time of the Sinhala kings.

In the sea off the bay, on a rocky, wind-swept island, is a picturesque, neo-Palladian villa, built about a century ago by an eccentric Frenchman- Maurice Tavalande-who styled himself “Count du Mauny”. He called the house “Taprobane”, and despite passing through a succession of owners, it still retains much of its original charm.

Whilst there are a variety of beaches to choose from in the area, the sea around the resort, calm and friendly for the better part of the year, is ideal for those looking for a comfortable introduction to surfing. 8 km further south of the resort is the beach town of Mirissa, the seas around which are wellknown for whale and dolphin sightings. A favourite land-fall for at least five of the most endangered marine turtle species in the world, the sea around Mirissa is one of the few places in the world where swimmers can actually paddle alongside these magnificent creatures. Along the coast, between Hikkaduwa (a tourist resort 55 km north of Cape Weligama) and Weligama, several turtle hatcheries provide havens for newly hatched turtles, till they are mature enough to take to the sea.

Along the scenic Southern Expressway, slicing through paddy fields, rubber, tea, and oil palm plantations, cinnamon cultivations, jungle patches, village vegetable gardens, and crossing rivers, offering the traveller an intriguing cross-section of the hinterland of the island, the Cape can be reached in less than two hours from the Katunayake International Airport. Visitors comments are nothing short of ecstatic;

A FABULOUS HOLIDAY

Everything is done to make your stay as comfortable and happy as possible. The site is stunning and as the gardens mature, the landscaping ensures privacy even within areas with shared pools……without spoiling the surprise, it is much more than it sounds (Greater London, United Kingdom)

OUTSTANDING RESORT IN EVERY WAY

The hotel is now, without a doubt, the finest I have ever stayed at. I travel well and enjoy writing well-deserved reviews. Firstly, the rooms are outstanding…..The bathroom was outstanding, again with every detail covered. The restaurant and food was of an exceptional standard and the service was superb. The service- how and where do I start? Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, was too much trouble for any member of the incredible team that made our stay so exceptional. I could write for ages as this was an incredible stay and an incredible experience. I would love to return. (karene O5247NB, London, United Kingdom)

A spectacular layout, traditional yet stylish

WILD COAST TENTED LODGE

This collection of 28 luxury tents, which sits on a seven-acre stretch of scrub jungle bordered by a rugged beach, is at the edge of the Yala Safari Park, the best place in the world for leopard sightings. This resort is an arresting fusion of two extremes, the wildness of the surrounding jungle with its threat of danger and risk, and the understated opulence and comfort within. Its unique design, organic yet spectacular, which won a UNESCO award, blends seamlessly into the surrounding jungle, like a collection of seed pods dropped accidently from above. Wild Coast is the 3rd Relais & Chateaux resort in the Dilmah, “Resplendent” ensemble.

Comments

from delighted visitors

AMAZING PROPERTY IN TO THE WILD

We chose the best property for our honeymoon in January. We spent two nights and enjoyed to the fullest as we felt a homely feeling no sooner we entered the property. The staff was amazing. All with a bubbly smile and always with a big heart to serve us and make sure everything was smooth……not to forget the candle lit dinner by the beach. That was lovely. Beautifully decorated space for us.

AN 11/10 EXPERIENCE

Wild Coast Tented Lodge was our second stop after Ceylon Tea Trails. A part of the Resplendent Ceylon Hotels. Truly worthy being a Relais et Chateaux Hotel and Restaurant. The staff were going above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and relaxed. …..I would highly suggest this hotel for honeymooners and groups of friends.

INCREDIBLE INDIANA JONES EXPERIENCE!

This was without a doubt, one of the best experiences we’ve ever had at a hotel. The all-inclusive a la Carte meals were all spectacular and presented beautifully, our cocoon pool suite was just incredible and like something out of Indiana jones. The attention to all the details were just spectacular.

This is what a safari camp would have been a century or more ago, but today equipped with the finest amenities, service and cuisine that the 21st century can offer.

A 19th century safari camp, with understated opulence within

RESPLENDENT CEYLON

Malik J. Fernando, the brains and the driving force behind these three disparate but exceptional designs, has successfully captured the contrasting aspects of natural beauty and scenic diversity this country offers the traveller. Quite appropriately, he calls this varied collection ‘Resplendent Ceylon,’ which, despite the luxury and exclusivity, still provides an authentic, intimate journey across the essence of a beautiful country; the gentle, quaint, old-world charm of the plantations, the warm, balmy, beach land of the South, and the harsh, arid beauty of the South-East.

That this entire collection has been honoured by inclusion in the membership of the Relais & Chateau Association seems to be a given, considering the unique features of attraction they offer the traveller.

Resplendent Ceylon is acknowledged as the pioneer and leading luxury hotel operator in Sri Lanka. A team of 600 dedicated hosts, experienced and highlytrained in the art of hospitality, provide travellers with unforgettable memories of this beautiful island.

In 2023, Resplendent Ceylon launched two other beach-front properties, under its Reverie brand. Both represent a concept slightly different to the others in the Resplendent portfolio, but still embracing the same sense of intimacy and privacy, and that peerless fusion of traditional simplicity with understated luxury and comfort.

Summerville bungalow - the pool and the Castlreagh reservoir are one

KAYAAM HOUSE

Kayaam House is a secluded spiritual sanctuary abutting the ocean, in Rekawa, Tangalle, 215 km from Colmbo and 85 km further south of Galle. It is a three-hour drive on the Southern Expressway. Kayaam House offers the traveller a journey of restoration, with spiritual and physical recovery as key components of the experience.

Delighted vistors have commented;

A HOME MORE THAN A HOUSE

First time in Sri lanka and we could not have found it nicer. After a long drive from Colombo we were warmly greeted and found our way to the room with the jacuzzi, or home for 12 nights. After seeing YouTube reviews we weren’t disappointed as Kayaam House is a haven of tranquillity and beautifully presented. All the staff are fantastic and we wouldn’t want to single

our anyone for special mention as they all deserve it. The food is delicious and we ate most of the menu.

(N8961BPgrahamb, Catterick, United Kindom)

PARADISE IN SRI LANKA

We had a fantastic stay at Kayaam House. The hotel is beautifully designed, the décor is sophisticated and calming and the hotel has a wonderful setting right on the beach, away from the crowds. We walked along the beach at sunset in the evenings- a perfect way to end the day. It is very tranquil and we felt very relaxed and spoilt at Kayaam house after having spent the last 3 weeks back- packing around Sri Lanka. The manager and his staff go above and beyond to make you feel at home. Their service is always present but not intrusive…….we loved our stay there and would highly recommend a visit! (flyer60187792454, London, United Kindom)

AHU BAY

The Ahu Bay concept mirrors that of Kayaam House, finding a synergy between an authentic, laid-back beach house experience, which peels away the stress of everyday life, and offers the understated luxury and comfort delivered by a personal concierge service. The Ahu Bay experience is designed to heal, relax and pamper.

Visitors’ comments;

Top rated luxury boutique hotel right on the beach. Amazing experience! This is a wonderful place, with immaculate rooms, directly on the beach, which is picture perfect. Food is amazing and service excellent. Three days of pure bliss! ….Great attention to detail, stunning all round experience (obyMustapha, London, United Kingdom- 21 Dec 2023)

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOTEL AND BEACH SETTING! JUST WOW!

The best accommodation we had in Sri Lanka. Such a beautiful location, stunning beach, we swam in the sea every day, the waves were manageable, no sea lice, nothing to bother you in the sea. …….We arranged a private cooking class with the talented chef, who taught us all the traditional spices, techniques and recipes…… the seafood is incredibly fresh. Try the seer fish!...staff incredibly friendly, helpful and professional. (Sunshine 0297316133, Armadale, Australia)

Above - Ahu Bay Calming the mind and raising the spirit, in luxury

Opposite - Kayaam House

SIGIRIYA

Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress, located on the summit of a spectacular granite outcrop, rising to about 350 mtrs (1,150 ft) above sea level from the Central Province plain, close to the historic city of Dambulla. Whilst archaeological evidence indicates its occupation since pre-historic times, there is strong historical proof that it was a Buddhist monastery as early as the 3rd century, BC. In the 5th century AD, Prince Kasyapa, an allegedly parricidal usurper to the throne of Sri Lanka, converted the rock to his capital, building a palace on the summit. The administrative buildings of his regime dotted the plain at the foot of the rock. Historians attribute many of the surviving Sigiriya constructions to the Kasyapa period. An outstanding feature of Sigiriya are its wall paintings- the “Sigiriya Frescoes” attributed to the same period- of exotically beautiful women in devotional attitudes, the remnants of an enchanting tapestry, which may have originally encircled the entire waist of the rock.

In view of its magnificent location, unique configuration and the well preserved ancient constructions, Sigiriya is considered to be one of most important of such historical sites in the world, and has been declared a UNESCO, World Heritage Site.

Resplendent Ceylon’s ensemble of small, luxury Relais and Chateaux enclaves will soon welcome a new destination, a 33-room resort nestled unobtrusively in the ancient forested land in the

Top: A Citadel of rock

Bottom: Rock mural - cloud maidens

shadow of of the Sigiriya rock. Its biophilic design will enable the dwellings to integrate seamlessly with the surrounding jungle. Luxurious tree pods will be connected by canopy walks at various heights, overlooking ancient lakes and with views of the surrounding forested hills and paddy fields , the latter under cultivation from the time of the Sinhala kings.

The interiors will take guests back to the era of the British explorers of old Ceylon, of the Victorian era, in the second half of the 19th century, when they first discovered the wonders of the ancient Buddhist civilization of the island.

Dilmah’s leisure company has acquired land in very close proximity to Sigiriya and is formulating plans to set in place another one of its unique, boutique guest residencies.

KELLBURNE

Kellburne is a privately owned tea property, located at the very edge of the Haputale escarpment, with a spectacular view of the entire Eastern and Southern plains, all the way to the Indian Ocean on a clear day.

The Dilmah leisure sector has acquired a controlling interest in the property, with a view to developing the existing facilities into one of Dilmah’s unique guest residency complexes.

A spectacular view

CHAPTER NINE

The Dilmah Ethic

Authenticity, Quality, Accountability and Social Responsibility

The Dilmah ethic had its genesis in the childhood of the Founder. It presents a unique example of global expansion, being driven by national cultural traditions and simple family values, by a company rooted to its country of origin, whilst making the Dilmah brand globally synonymous with premium, ethical and authentic Ceylon tea.

The Dilmah ethic was birthed and shaped decades before Dilmah, the brand, was born. It had its genesis in the early youth of the Founder, with the values passed on by loving but strict parents, especially the mother, who was both a fount of wisdom and a source for guidance, as well as a model for emulation.

“The principles that I still live by were articulated for me, very early, by role model example by my parents, especially my mother. They were conditioned largely by the teachings of my religion and the decent ethics of life, which are common to all great religions and principled societies… I have been exposed to different learnings and varied influences. However, the strength of that early indoctrination is such that I have remained true to those principles of conduct and interaction.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Speaking of his four years in the seminary, Merrill J. Fernando says:

“I must also acknowledge that the excellent education at the seminary gave me a distinct advantage over my fellow students when I re-entered mainstream school, whilst the discipline and the sense of responsibility drummed into me has stood me in good stead all my life.”

Merrill J. Fernando transmitted his work ethic to others by personal example. He did not ask anybody else to work harder, or be more diligent, than he was. He created a product and a brand driven by passion and integrity, and he invested his two sons, his grandchildren, and his workforce with the same values.

The Dilmah Industrial Estate at Peliyagoda, the heart of its operations, reflects this passion and purpose, with its orderly segregation of activities, both within and outside. The lush, green surroundings and the leafy, flower-strewn front lawn bordering the Kelani River, shaded by tall, heavily-canopied trees and flowering arbours, speak to the Dilmah passion for nature, the land, and its conservation.

As one enters, what strikes the visitor, apart from the exotic, tropical surroundings, is the peace and tranquillity within, a startling contrast to the innercity turbulence of dust and clamour, just outside

Heart of the Dilmah Operation

the entrance gates. Within, the normal clatter of industry is muted, understated. Despite the debris that all industries generate, especially packaging operations, there is no litter or waste to be seen and the geometrically precise layout, of plant, machinery, carparks, and office, is a model of neatness. One is immediately reminded that the heart of the Dilmah operation is a Carbon Neutral facility.

As one walks down, the sensitive nose will detect the aroma of tea.

Dominating the landscape at the entrance is a 21-ft granite slab, a dedication to the Lord, which symbolises Merrill’s personal and business philosophy. The inscription reads: “JESUS is the Head of Dilmah and the unseen driving force which has inspired our staff to achieve success, which seemed beyond the reach of ordinary men and women.”

In the entrance foyer of the main office building is a pastiche of mangrove life, another reminder of the Dilmah concern for nature.

The fourth floor of the building, the Dilmah hub of creation and creativity, is where the Dilmah vision first meets process. It is the nerve centre of the family business.

FINDING THE PERFECT DILMAH BREW THE SANCTITY OF THE TEA ROOM

Dominating the fourth floor, at its southern end, is the tea selection centre, from the very infancy of the industry known in every tea company, by the quaint euphemism of “the Tea Room,” irrespective of size. It is illuminated brightly from overhead, the lighting as close as possible to natural light. Despite the exponential expansion of its range of activities, the volumes handled, and the number of people involved, the literally ritualistic working style of the Tea Room has not changed since the time of James Taylor. The Tea Room is the temple where the tea experts, white-robed priests, practice their ancient, arcane art of tea-tasting. It is also where the fragrance of tea, which one catches as one walks in through the gates, is the strongest and the most unmistakable.

Symbolically, as one enters the fourth floor, one is confronted by a half wall, assembled entirely from

discarded metal tea-sample boxes, reminding the onlooker that the Dilmah enterprise is all about tea.

Samples of tea in little, battered, unpainted, numbered metal boxes, each perhaps double the size of a normal box of matches, are arranged in their hundreds, in neat serried rows along a rectangular table configuration, which takes up the centre of the floor. Each little box contains about 25 grammes of black tea, representing a 1,000 kilo consignment, still lying in a plantation factory warehouse a couple of hundred kilometres distant. Opposite each box is a gleaming white ceramic bowl, half-full of steaming tea, brewed from the black tea in the corresponding box. Between the metal box and tea bowl is a little white mug, on which rests its upturned lid, covered with a layer of infused leaf. The practitioners of a mysterious art, men clad in white aprons with the Dilmah logo, move rapidly along this table arrangement.

Dilmah wall of Tea

An array of tea samples

These men inspect the black tea in the box, sniff it, shake it, weigh it experimentally on the palm of the hand, and toss the grains on to a white board for contrast, thus visually evaluating its value and suitability for the Dilmah purpose. They will then check the infused leaf on the cup lid, for colour and aroma. The next step is the decider, when they inhale the bouquet of the brew in the cup, noisily swirl a sip from each cup around their mouths, spit it out into brass spittoon, and dictate their opinion on the appearance of the tea, the taste profile of the liquor, and the price that should be paid for it, to an acolyte following behind respectfully.

The tea-taster, palate refined and eye trained by thousands of hours of repetitive practice, thus evaluates each tea sample for uniformity of particle size, texture, shape, lustre, and weight of leaf, and the corresponding liquor for subtle nuances of aroma, body, colour, strength, quality, and taste profile. In an unbroken sequence of separate actions, completed with machine-gun rapidity in less than a minute per box, a taster will move through several hundred samples each day. It is a magical fusion of science, art, and sensory and visual sensitivities, refined by daily practice over the years. It is also a sacred rite which permits no interruption to its flow.

In their ceaseless quest for excellence of brew, the Dilmah tasters may sample as many as 10,000 cups –each cup representing an individual tea – each week. It is after this exhaustive evaluation, that the Dilmah buying team will go to the auction and buy the tea, that Dilmah will finally deliver to the consumer. The Left: Tea - ready for the taster

tea tasters’ role is crucial to the selection of the best tea for the Dilmah purpose.

TASTERS AT WORK

The Dilmah range of products, at around 3,000, may be the largest of any tea export company in the world. What is important to bear in mind is that each of these products requires a particular type of tea, which conforms, in terms of quality and taste parameters, particle size, particle weight, and product hygiene. The tea taster must ensure, through that ritual in the tasting room, that the tea selected against any particular standard or product is in conformity with all specified parameters and that there is no variance between separate batches. A particular product, whether packed in January or December, must taste the same to the consumer, day after day, year after year. That is the bush-to-cup authenticity and answerability Dilmah guarantees.

CTC AGAINST ORTHODOX MANUFACTURE

Universally, tea bag manufacturers prefer tea produced by the CTC method (Crush, Tear, and Curl).

It is a process in which fresh, whole leaves are fed into CTC machines, which macerate the leaf and produce tight little brown pellets. Such teas were specially developed for the tea bag market, first appearing in the 1930s. It is a style of manufacture which has no respect for the multi-layered quality and taste profile of the natural product, which is best expressed with “orthodox” manufacture. It is a

The Founder mentoring his sons

Top: CTC manufacturing process Bottom: orthodox manufacturing process

process which suppresses origin, originality, variety, and the natural goodness of tea.

Dilmah, led by Merrill, completely up-ended the process, insisting on using quality “orthodox” tea only, produced in Ceylon, for his tea bags. The “orthodox” system of manufacture (described elsewhere in this book), which involves the selective plucking of the green leaf, withering, rolling, and oxidation/fermentation, respects the inherent goodness, taste, and quality parameters of tea and is geared, at every stage of the process, to ensure that those features are retained and finally reflected in the end product.

SPECIAL MOMENTS

To the end of his days, despite the increasing demands on his time, arising from the exponential growth of his original tea business, Merrill used to still find the time to “spit some tea” – another hoary term still in use in a tradition-driven enterprise. Without doubt, he would have been the first head of a company to be so closely involved with the selection of tea, that would eventually reach the customer.

Sometimes a batch of tea of special interest would be infused, and the head taster would walk into Merrill’s office, at the extreme northern end of the floor, and respectfully invite him to taste. One immediately knew when Merrill entered the tea room – striding as quickly and purposefully as he did seven decades ago, casually elegant in light colured slacks and opennecked long-sleeved shirt– by the hush that stifled the usual babble. An attendant would reverentially

hand over to Merrill, the taster’s apron with his name prominently woven across the front. His personal tasting spoon would be placed within easy reach, immersed in a white, ceramic bowl, half-full of warm water. Respectfully, the other experts would move aside and let the master have the floor. His opinion would be the final word.

CHAPTER TEN Generations

Transition

Merrill J. Fernando, from beginning to end, maintained an absolutely hands-on approach to the business, which was transferred to the sons and the grandchildren. Internal mentorship, and knowledge, skills and value transfer within the family, has been a relentless pursuit. Merit superseded entitlement and one’s mettle was constantly tested, in an atmosphere of bottom-up learning.

“My two sons have surpassed my expectations, absorbing my passion for tea and its ethical delivery to the consumer. Malik and Dilhan are the most trusted partners in my business and are both now skilled and successful entrepreneurs in their own right.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A PLANNED SUCCESSION

It was on the fourth floor in Peliyagoda, and before that in similar locations elsewhere, that both Malik and Dilhan, working at the father’s elbow, refined palate and sharpened the eye, in pursuit of the Dilmah brand of excellence and fulfilment of consumer satisfaction.

Merrill J. Fernando’s role as trainer, mentor, guide, and disciplinarian, features which distinguished his persona, was extended with equal vigour and objectivity to everybody around him, including his two sons. The blood-tie made no difference and did not confer special concessions or favours. Malik and Dilhan learnt the family business from the bottom upwards, as every other novice to the business did. The training process was rigorous and comprehensive and, for the two sons, far more demanding than for any other beginner; the father’s gimlet eye was always on them!

“When Dilhan and Malik joined the family business, I made it very clear to them that I expected nothing less than total

commitment from them, as from every other employee in the company and, that, in the office, I was their employer first and father second… as management trainees initially, they worked in every aspect of the company’s operations, immersing themselves in the business from the bottom up.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Dilhan, who leads the tea operations of the company today, as Chief Executive Officer of Dilmah Tea, travelled the world with his father for decades, learning from him the art and science of international tea marketing, whilst meeting Merrill’s associates and contacts, all over the world, and establishing personal relationships with them. Merrill, during his lifetime, mixing business and pleasure where possible, with every journey a teaching and learning experience, ensured the continuity of his dream and the furtherance of his philosophy and the Dilmah purpose. Dilmah is, first and last, a family company and Merrill passed on that concept through the generations.

A primary feature of the Dilmah business enterprise is that their business associates, agents, and others connected with the marketing and disseminating of the Dilmah message, worldwide, are all personal friends of the family and with each other. The small Fernando family has created a brand that links thousands of people, of varying countries

Grandfather and Amrit - first at play then at serious work, The Founder and the generations

and ethnicities, held together by a commonality of values delivered through the Dilmah philosophy of authenticity, quality and social responsibility. Merrill birthed a global family which loves Ceylon Tea.

The fourth floor Tea Room is where the first member of the next generation, Amrit, guided by both father and grandfather, commenced his training in tea. It began informally when he was a child, in playful imitation of his grandfather and father. Unbeknownst to him, however, there was future purpose in the play. It was resumed, with the genuine seriousness and purpose of professional practice, after he joined the family business as an adult. Today Amrit is very much his father’s personal pupil, associate, travelling companion, and business partner, as much as Dilhan was to Merrill.

The ‘bottom-up’ training, which is part of Amrit’s preparation for higher responsibility, exemplifying

the Fernando commitment to passing on the values of the Dilmah philosophy from generation to generation, was captured by Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, eminent environmental scientist of Sri Lanka, in a concluding observation in his review of Merrill J. Fernando’s autobiography, ‘Disruptor, Teamaker, Servant’:

“The family’s values came home to me when one morning this year I visited a Dilmah tea lounge and found Dilhan’s son Amrit waiting tables there. These, I told myself, are not common or garden Fernandos.”

There is no sense of entitlement. The lesson is clear. You may be the Founder’s grandson, but you still need to earn your keep and your place in the company. What Family Dilmah demonstrates is the unusual fusion of two normally irreconcilable features – a meritocracy within a family company.

The Fernando family- generations connected by the passion for Tea.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Dilmah Quality

a bush-to-cup answerability

Genuine quality is the outcome of a process driven by caring, authenticity and integrity of purpose, which invests every single member of the enterprise. Without those features even the most sophisticated process would deliver only mediocrity. The sustainable quality that Dilmah produces, day after day, year after year, has been made possible because every member of that large family has willingly embraced those values.

ThePeliyagoda premises houses separate warehouses, ergonomic role-models, for the storing and dispatch of the packed tea. One entire floor is dedicated to quality control, where the tea, the packaging material, and every connected component is verified against pre-determined quality and food-hygiene benchmarks, in furtherance of the Dilmah assurance to the world. At every stage of the process, a series of stringent examinations ensure compliance with international standards.

The packaging is carried out in the five-floor complex, commissioned in 2021/’22, which houses one of the most advanced tea packaging operations in the world. The sophisticated and robotically driven processes ensure that the Dilmah Tea, which the consumer drinks, is untouched by human hand, from the time the bulk is received at the Peliyagoda packing plant, till it reaches the cup, wherever in the world it is drunk. The state-of-the-art automation processes have remediated anticipated manpower scarcities, whilst reducing manual errors in production to a minimum, thus ensuring conformity to pre-determined standards of quality, hygiene, and packaging accuracy.

All Dilmah Tea packs carry the message of quality assurance, issued personally by the Founder, possibly the only instance of a head of a company taking personal responsibility for the quality of the product.

Dilmah Tea prioritises several key features in its quality assurance. The tea is single origin, sourced only from Sri Lanka/Ceylon, and some of it from

Robotics and science ensure Dilmah product hygiene

plantations owned by the MJF Group, which provide the Dilmah brand with a high degree of source control. The harvesting and processing is largely traditional and artisanal, ensuring the preservation of the features of natural goodness of tea. The selection of the right tea is the outcome of a series of stringent qualitative and quantitative analyses, as described earlier.

The conformity to a wide range of internationally accepted certifications, ensures that the Dilmah product meets international benchmarks for origin authenticity, worker safety, and product hygiene. The company initiatives for social responsibility and environment protection, driven by the MJFCF and Dilmah Conservation, affirms its commitment to sustainability. In totality, the above is a comprehensive assurance and commitment to ethicality and authenticity.

The quality assurance of Dilmah was not the outcome of an impersonal board decision, but the result of a personal thought process and commitment to man and nature, by Merrill J. Fernando. There is a touching human side to that story.

In 1991, Merrill J. Fernando recruited the young Vajira Karunatilake, as the Head of Quality Management of the fledgling Dilmah Tea export operation, then housed in the relatively cramped Maligawatte premises. In the course of a onehour interview, Merrill had inspired her to leave the security of a multi-national pharmaceutical corporation, for the then relatively unknown start-up

operation of Dilmah. She then became the head of a team of just three individuals.

- custodian of Dilmah quality

Vajira is the General Manager of Dilmah Quality Assurance today, heading a multi-disciplinary team of specialists in all aspects of quality control. At the outset itself she had realised that the level of quality Merrill J. Fernando sought, and the parameters he expected her to establish, did not exist with any other local producer then. In actual fact, years later, she found that the standards and benchmarks of quality Merrill J. Fernando was talking about then coincided with the parameters of quality specified by ISO standards much later. Merrill J. Fernando had anticipated future international product quality requirements a decade ahead.

She still recalls Merrill’s passion for what he was doing, and the respect he had for Ceylon Tea, epitomised in a request he had made during a conversation with her – “Please make the workers understand that they must handle the product with

Vajira

extreme care and gentleness. When they carry the tea boxes they must show the same care as if they are carrying a little baby” – demonstrating to Vajira how it should be done, by bringing both his hands together to form a little cradle!

Vajira says that she never forgot that message. For Merrill J. Fernando, the Dilmah Tea he sent out to market was as precious as one of his own children. It was a member of his family. That deep caring for the product reinforced a bush-to-cup answerability as no other producer did.

To express this caring for the product, in Vajira’s own words:

“…Our Founder’s dedication to quality was unparalleled. He meticulously attended to every detail to instil confidence in consumers. His daily routine included personally inspecting the production facility, emphasising the importance of packing products with the utmost care and affection, akin to cradling a new-born. Despite the semi-automated machinery of that era, his emphasis on the human touch and attention to detail remained paramount.”

The quality parameters maintained by Dilmah products are not limited to detection in process, but prevention, through robust research and development initiatives. Customer feedback is also a constantly used tool in the rigorous Dilmah quality assurance process.

A principle and a concept that Merrill J. Fernando instilled in all his people is that the customer is always right, even when the customer is clearly wrong. Customer complaints and feedback were evaluated in regular meetings chaired by Merrill J. Fernando and, irrespective of the degree of seriousness of the complaint, those responsible had to come up with viable remedial solutions.

Over the years, commencing with the ISO 9002 certification in 1997, Dilmah has been accredited with a series of internationally recognised food safety, process hygiene, worker safety, and environment conservation standards. Amongst them are FSSC 22000 Food Safety System Certification, the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, ISO 14001 Environment Management System, OrganicJAS, EU &NOP for Organic Products, Kosher, ISO 17025 Laboratory Accreditation, Carbon Neutral Certification, SMETA – Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit, and Supplier Workplace Accountability.

The Dilmah concern for impact on environment and sustainability, is reflected in the continuous improvement of process and material management, implemented over the years. Since 2021 the use of printing ink has been reduced by 60%, along with the proportionate minimisation in the use of carbon, plastics, and over-wrappings, combined with the maximisation of the use of recycled material. The shift from manual packing to automated packing has also contributed to greater efficiency and minimisation of wastage. The MJF Supplier Chain Sustainability Roadmap, defines clear and

measurable compliances, for all stakeholders in the operation.

The sustainability of quality parameters related to a wide spectrum of certifications requires rigorous testing processes, continuous auditing, and the development, amongst all employees, of a mindset attuned to quality. These conformances and standards are supported by a robust Research and Development foundation.

To frame it in Merrill J. Fernando’s own words:

“…my Unique Selling Point was that what I presented was garden fresh, unblended, Pure Ceylon Tea and of a genuinely single, and singular, origin. It was packed where it was grown. I was not just a seller or a marketer, or a middleman, selling a product he had no link to, but the head of a closeknit family, which was selling its own creation. I was also a messenger on behalf of a peerless product.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The creator of Dilmah was giving his customer a personal assurance of quality. But, in the final analysis, the success of Dilmah was the result of Merrill J. Fernando’s ability, to inspire the same passion for excellence in his people. It is a vision shared by the many hundreds who still pass through the gates of Dilmah, irrespective of relative positions in the manpower pyramid of the company.

Dilmah Quality Assurance

THE DILMAH QUALITY LABORATORY

An in-house laboratory, the heart of the Dilmah Food Technology Department (FTD), internationally accredited, is a key feature of the Dilmah quality assurance mandate. It carries the ISO/IEC: 17025;2017 International Standard Accreditation, awarded by the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (SLAB), in 2009, for the Chemical Laboratory and, in 2012, for the Microbiology Laboratory. Since its initial granting, the accreditation has been maintained without a break.

The unit is headed by Dr. Anudini Liyanage, who has over 20 years of previous experience in Tea Biochemistry at the Ceylon Tea Research Institute and four years of experience at the Tea Association of Sri Lanka. The unit supports a dozen technical staff, with graduate and post-graduate qualifications in multiple aspects of food science. These technologists reinforce the work of the tea tasters and the tea

buyers with precise scientific input on the tea that the latter select and any flavours that may be used on special tea standards. The Dilmah quality management is grounded in hard science.

It is in this facility that the micro-biological parameters relevant to all Dilmah products are determined, ensuring a ‘Quality Safe’ product to the consumer. It is notable that all Dilmah teas are free of genetic modifications and allergens, and are suitable for vegans.

The facility tests and approves all raw materials used in production – tea, flavours, herbs, and spices – prior to use. It issues certificates and reports to accompany shipments, and ensures that all products comply with stringent Food Safety standards. The laboratory also provides appropriate scientific input, on technical matters covering product, process, storage, and health benefits.

In the global market place, consumer sensitivity to product hygiene and safety has become a primary concern. In that context, possessing an in-house capacity to maintain and monitor required product hygiene parameters is a significant advantage. That capacity also ensures a rapid and transparent response, backed by expert scientific analysis, to complaints and enquiries.

The unit also conducts its own Research and Development in the growth and advancement of new products and innovations. Another key function of the unit is maintaining a dialogue between the Sri Lanka Tea Board, and the Tea Research Institute,

Anudini - driving the science behind the Dilmah food safety

on global tea industry requirements, trade barriers, and ongoing developments. It also liaises with similar reputed technical facilities overseas, in regard to issues related to product quality standards.

The tea that Dilmah delivers to the consumer, from the point of harvesting of the green leaf to the point of the supermarket shelf, undergoes stringent tests for suitability as a food product.

The Dilmah FTD plays a pivotal role in maintaining the quality and safety of all Dilmah products, reinforcing the Dilmah position as a market leader.

The technology behind the Dilmah food safety

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Dilmah People

Inspired by the Founder

Dilmah is the magnificent outcome of a vision underscored by passion. A key feature of the personality of Merrill J. Fernando, the Founder, was the ability to inspire all those around him with the same passion, and to persuade his people to follow his dream. They became committed shareholders and stakeholders in all outcomes.

TheDilmah Tea segment employs around 5,400 people, including 4,100 in Kahawatte Plantations. Of that number, close to 50% are female. The plantation workers are resident on respective estates, spread out across two regions, the Central Province and the Sabaragamuwa Province. The management and welfare of the plantation workers are the responsibility of the respective estate administrations, and input from the main company is confined to broad policy. That concept is also applicable to some of the other companies in the group, such as Forbes & Walker and the leisure sector companies. This policy of de-centralised management, ensures greater efficiency in the implementation of strategies and responses to worker-related issues.

WORKER BENEFITS

The Dilmah Tea workforce benefits from a wide range of welfare measures, which embrace not only the employee but the employee’s family as well.

At the end of each school year, the children of employees receive uniforms and school textbooks for the ensuing year. This was the first benefit that Merrill J. Fernando extended to his small band of workers, over 60 years ago, when he set out as an independent entrepreneur.

“In 1962, when I set up MJF company, I had 18 employees, and, at the end of the year, I gave each a small sum of money to buy school books for their children. Business

was good and I had more money than I ever handled before.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The children of employees are also entitled, from Grade 5 onwards, for scholarships up to and including the university entrance class.

An interesting feature of the Dilmah Human Resource management practice is the recognition of long service. Annually, employees with 10, 20, and 25 years of service are recognised at a formal ceremony, and felicitated for their commitment to the organisation. The fact that the number of such long-serving employees keeps increasing each year, is a direct indication of Dilmah’s status as a preferred employer, and employee satisfaction with the organisation.

Employees are also entitled to free medical examinations, emergency loans, housing loans, and thrift society loans, enabling them to tide over unexpected distress situations.

For female workers, especially those engaged in the tea packaging plant at Peliyagoda, there is an inhouse dormitory facility, so that they do not have to commute long distances daily in order to report to work. In the context of the relatively costly and often irregular public transport facilities, this is a great benefit.

A company-managed sales outlet enables employees to purchase essential commodities, at prices 15-20% less than prevailing market rates.

“In my business, in selling my tea, I have always relied on my personal contact with the buyer and, quite often, the consumer. I personally sold my tea; it was too important a task to leave to anybody else. Since my trade has always been in exports, it required a great deal of frequent overseas travel, which meant leaving in the hands of others the equally-important assignments to be accomplished in the home operation. However, I have been fortunate in being able to obtain the services of very diligent and loyal people and that has enabled me to travel frequently, staying out of Sri Lanka for long periods at a time, confident in the knowledge that the home operation would be well looked after in my absence.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The Dilmah Family at Peliyagoda

Another unique feature of the Dilmah employee benefit programme is its Small Entrepreneur initiative, by which employees facing retirement are assisted to set up small enterprises on their own, thus providing them with a source of additional income during retirement.

The plant employees are also given free training in Information Technology, in order to enhance their technical skills and their employability in the job marketplace.

BUILDING LOYALTY AND COMPETENCE

A key feature of the Dilmah company, and one of its main strengths, is its ability to inspire key people at all levels of the company hierarchy, and to retain them. This aspect of the organisation is demonstrated each year, when the long service awards are distributed. This ability to inspire and to bind people to the organisation is directly attributable to the people-friendly philosophy of the Founder, Merrill J. Fernando, and his innate kindness, despite a wellearned reputation as an exacting and difficult-toplease employer.

That apart, as will be demonstrated in the following individual accounts, Merrill’s honesty of purpose and his ethicality resonated with many. A few of them had interesting and touching stories to relate about their experiences with him. These features of his personality, which endeared him to his people and inspired them were revealed in all their aspects, in the preceding paragraphs by Vajira Karunathilake, but a few more examples would not be out of place.

Gunasiri Fernando

74-year-old Gunasiri Fernando is a senior Tea Buyer/ Tea Taster for Dilmah, who had joined the company in 1985.

Gunasiri, persuaded by Merrill J. Fernando, had left the security of a better paid position in one of Sri Lanka’s largest companies in 1985, to join the then start-up Dilmah operation.

He had joined Dilmah as a clerical assistant in the Tea Department and within three years had been promoted to the position of Junior Tea Buyer. Three years later he had been appointed Senior Manager, Tea Department.

From the very beginning of his employment in the company he had worked a six-day week, rarely leaving the office before dinner time. He says that he worked twice as hard at Dilmah as he did with his previous employer, but has no regrets as he has been amply rewarded over the years, not only in material terms but also in personal satisfaction and sense of achievement.

In an interview with the writer, he said that his role model had always been Merrill J. Fernando, who put in a longer day than any of his employees – a view echoed by many of Merrill J. Fernando’s people at Dilmah.

The story of P. Jesudasan, 64-year-old New Product Development Executive, at Dilmah, reflects both his own sense of enterprise and dedication, and Merrill J. Fernando’s faith in his people.

Dasan (as he is known to all) had been born as the

P. Jesudasan

eldest to a tea plantation worker family on Annfield Estate, Hatton. His father, a daily paid manual worker on the plantation, had died young, leaving the mother to bring up three sons and a daughter. Due to poor economic circumstances Dasan was forced to give up school at the 8th Grade, and join the household of a business manager in Colombo, to earn a living to support himself and his family. From there he had joined Merrill J. Fernando’s household in 1980.

In 1991, at his (Dasan’s) request, Merrill had given him employment at the Maligawatte Dilmah plant, with instructions to the plant executive that if Dasan does not use the opportunity to better his

circumstances, he should be sent home. By the time Dasan got his appointment he had become reasonably proficient in English – although he had commenced work in the Fernando household with only a knowledge of Tamil – as Merrill had only spoken to him in English. Dasan still recalls that with much gratitude.

Dasan started work as a Production Supervisor, got married in 1991, and had two sons, of whom the elder is a Mechanical Engineer, who lectures at Sri Jayewardenepura University, Colombo, whilst the younger is an executive at Hayleys, Sri Lanka’s most diversified conglomerate.

For Dasan, in his own words, his present circumstances and the achievements of his sons would normally be inconceivable, in the context of a plantation resident’s expectations. Had Merrill J. Fernando not been kind enough to provide him a home till he could afford one for himself, and to give him employment with potential for personal betterment, he would have been confined to the life of a domestic or a plantation worker, like his parents.

W.G. Upali retired in 2020, as Director, Engineering of Dilmah, having joined the company in 1993. A mechanical engineer, prior to that he had worked in a series of large manufacturing and production enterprises, which included the Oruwala Steel Corporation Production Facility, the Kantalai Sugar Factory, the Ceylon Gas Company, and Jinasena Ltd., the last a leading manufacturer of water pumps and related equipment. Most, if not all of those

production entities, were much larger than Dilmah at that time. Upali brought with him to Dilmah a wealth of experience and expertise.

Upali, interviewed by the writer, said quite categorically that despite his wide-ranging previous experience in large production entities, none of them gave him such job satisfaction as Dilmah did. He attributed this to the total freedom he enjoyed under MJF – as well as all his colleagues did – to innovate and to find his own way through problems and new developments, without any interference from Merrill.

Upali spoke with much amusement of his recruitment by Merrill J. Fernando himself, in an

W.G. Upali

interview which was considerably shorter than the very long wait for his turn to appear before Merrill. More than three decades after the event, Upali was still bemused by the brevity of that single interview, and the fact that Merrill himself had spoken very little, simply allowing Upali to talk about himself. Given the fact that Upali is a habitually reticent man, very sparing with words, one can only speculate about the nature of that meeting! Upali confessed that he was completely taken aback at being offered the job immediately after the interview.

When Upali joined Dilmah, the level of mechanisation and automation of the processes had not been very high. However, over the years, propelled by Merrill’s sense of innovation and his relentless drive for improvement, the factory processes had improved to the point where, today, the Dilmah plant stands as one of the most sophisticated of its kind in the world. One aspect of Merrill’s approach that Upali mentioned repeatedly, was his emphasis on continuous improvement and his relentless insistence on quality of process and product.

As Vajira, the Head of Quality Assurance did, Upali too spoke of Merrill’s insistence on delivering total satisfaction to the customer, and the seriousness with which he treated any customer complaint, however trivial it may have seemed. As a professional engineer of many decades, Upali paid Merrill a great compliment when he said that Merrill’s intuitive grasp of technical issues and the breadth of his vision compelled the company technocrats to seek excellence all the time. He called Merrill a man of

vision, who had “no boundaries to his thinking”, and that this freedom of thought enabled Merrill to innovate and create far more effectively than any other man he had known, whilst inspiring the people around him with the same passion.

Merrill, in his autobiography, had the following to say about Upali:

“W.G. Upali, who joined me in 1993 as an Engineer and retired recently after 27 years, as Director, was the technical brain behind the Dilmah manufacturing excellence. He was practical, innovative, and resourceful. A somewhat reticent man, of few words but eloquent in action, unobtrusively and uncomplainingly manipulated technology to meet whatever demands were made of him, especially by me. He never failed to deliver.”

Yshan Fernando, Managing Director of Forbes & Walker, also shared with the writer a few interesting insights on his journey with Merrill J. Fernando.

Yshan had joined the tea trade in 1983, as a tea taster at Eastern Brokers and in 1998, moved to Forbes & Walker – then in crisis – owned by Vanik Incorporated, an ambitious investment bank on the verge of what later became a financial implosion. Forbes was on the market for a couple of years and Merrill J. Fernando acquired it in 2000, in what Yshan described as a great blessing.

Merrill, from the very beginning, had demonstrated his understanding of the complex nature of tea brokerage in Sri Lanka, giving the management free rein to run the business. His first move had been to bring Forbes back to the management-owned status it had enjoyed, when it was one of Sri Lanka’s leading brokers, by offering 40% of the company ownership to the F&W management, who had finally settled for 30%. That, Yshan says, was the beginning of a great journey for F&W and he attributes its growth since then, and its present position as the premier broker in Sri Lanka, as well as its corporate stability, largely to the operational freedom permitted to them by the main shareholder.

Yshan, as the others did, spoke of Merrill’s visionary thinking, which introduced highly innovative concepts to an otherwise very conventional operation. He had wanted Forbes to be a one-stopshop, a total-solution-provider for the tea industry, a proposition quite foreign to a highly traditional broker in one of the most strictly regulated businesses in the country. However, Yshan believes that Merrill’s vision has been realised to some extent, as Forbes, today, offers more services to the industry than any other broker.

Yshan spoke of Merrill’s insistence on uncompromising ethicality, and his introduction to that aspect of Merrill’s philosophy at the very inception of their relationship, when Merrill advocated the cessation of certain business associations, although that meant the actual loss of considerable revenue to the company (F&W). That Merrill was prepared to lose money in order to maintain professional integrity, had impressed upon Yshan his uncompromising stance on transparency. Right through his association with Merrill, Yshan had found him an inspiration; as Yshan said at the conclusion of the interview: “Chairman inspired by what he did. After all, he was 57 when he started Dilmah.”

When he entered the tea industry, soon after leaving school, Yshan had not entertained the idea of making it a career of a lifetime. However, in retrospect, at the age of 62, conceding the reality that it is rarely possible to find the ideal engagement, he considered it to have been a decent choice.

Yshan Fernando

Shardha Soza, Finance Director of Forbes & Walker, had originally been with Dilmah Tea, having joined the company in 1989, pending the commencement of the first term of the Engineering Faculty at the Moratuwa University, to which he had been selected. However, owing to then ongoing JVP insurrection in the country, all the universities had been closed, with no prospect of early re-opening in sight. In the interim he had also secured Chartered Institute of Management Accounts (CIMA) qualifications. Shardha had been referred to Dilmah by an audit firm to which he had applied, originally.

He had been interviewed by Merrill and recruited immediately. His first major assignment had been to oversee the financial technicalities of the Dilmah export operation in Australia, which was then in its

early stages. He had also spent time in developing the IT systems at Dilmah. He said that Dilmah, inspired by Merrill, became one of the first tea export companies in Sri Lanka to have computerised vital segments of its operations.

In 1993 the universities re-opened and Shardha had been invited to join the faculty. When he discussed the matter with Merrill, the latter’s view had been that Shardha was better off continuing in his current position, rather than spending four more years to qualify as an engineer. Shardha had agreed and, as he said at the interview, today he was very happy with the decision.

Shardha recalled more than one instance of Merrill’s unsolicited generosity, which had been of great personal benefit to him.

In 2004, when Forbes needed a complete financial restructuring, Shardha had been assigned to that company.

As all the others did, Shardha spoke of Merrill’s readiness to take calculated risks, the ease with which he changed a decision if he thought it necessary, and the outstanding feature of his persona – a relentless drive for excellence in every aspect of the operation, without ever using the phrase “continuous improvement”. Merrill’s doctrine, that it was more important to be the best, rather than the biggest, was the foundation of the success of Dilmah. Merrill’s comprehensive grasp of marketing realities was another aspect which never ceased to amaze him.

Shardha Soza

In Shardha’s view, his personal and professional success was entirely due to Merrill J. Fernando’s stewardship and the example set by him.

Himendra Ranaweera, Deputy Chairman of the MJF Group of Companies, joined Merrill J. Fernando’s then small and relatively unknown operation in 1980, as General Manager, MJF Exports, leaving Hayleys Ltd., a highly diversified conglomerate and, unarguably, the largest and most successful such entity in Sri Lanka then.

“What attracted him to my little firm is still a mystery to me. When I spoke to him, along with my good friend and auditor, Selvam Mather, I was both impressed and pleased by his down-to-earth nature and serious manner. He also came from a very simple background like mine”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Interviewed by the writer, Himendra said that after about 10 years at Hayleys, he began to feel restricted by its effective but highly stratified and structured management system. Merrill’s offer of a multi-faceted, general management assignment had seemed more attractive. At the first meeting itself he had warmed to Merrill’s forceful but friendly personality.

“I accepted the offer, which of course turned out to be a massive learning curve and one hell of a ride”

(HIMENDRA, ‘THE TEAMAKER’)

Himendra Ranaweera

Himendra’s four-decade involvement with Merrill enabled him to clearly articulate the Merrill J. Fernando phenomenon – inspirational leader, dynamic and innovative entrepreneur, demanding employer, ethical businessman, supreme perfectionist, and, most important, genuine humanist and caring human being.

From the inception Himendra had felt inspired, as all others did, by Merrill’s dynamism, spirit, and demand for excellence, to which his people responded, not as reluctant acquiescence, but spontaneously. Merrill’s reputation as a hard taskmaster was not something which concerned people,

simply because the success which was generated by that fierce drive was enjoyed and shared by all those who worked with him.

Himendra illustrated Merrill’s uncompromising commitment to customer satisfaction, with an example of a tea shipment destined for Australia, stranded at the Colombo Port during an island-wide curfew, many years ago. Overcoming all official restrictions on personnel movement, Merrill had personally supervised the loading of the container into the vessel. His position had been, “Whilst other shippers are sleeping, in timid acceptance of the status quo, let us deliver on our customers’ expectations.”

Merrill’s leadership enabled his people to meet any challenge, as he fought side by side with them. Himendra also spoke of Merrill’s refusal to concede to the general panic during the 1983 ethnic riots, and the manner in which he personally ensured the safety of employees, particularly those at special risk, before looking to himself. He also provided many examples of Merrill’s concern for people, including him, and Merrill’s unsolicited, spontaneous generosity during times of personal difficulties, though Merrill’s caring nature was often obscured by a tough exterior.

Himendra left Merrill in 1990 and shortly thereafter re-joined Hayleys. In 1998 he was invited back to Dilmah, by Merrill’s sons, Malik and Dilhan, an offer which, of course, had Merrill’s blessings as well.

So began Himendra’s second stint with Merrill. By that time both sons were fully involved in the business and he was able to relieve them of many responsibilities, important, but not directly related to either their expertise or main areas of action. Since Himendra had an intimate knowledge of Merrill’s thinking and operational style, both had felt that he was the ideal conduit for effectively channelling Merrill’s wishes and vision to the management team.

To Himendra, his time with Merrill had been a massive learning experience, mainly due to what he described as Merrill’s amazing versatility and total familiarity with every aspect of the enterprise, whether it be production, engineering, building construction, shipping, or marketing and selling. Himendra also remarked on Merrill’s remarkable mental agility and his phenomenal memory, which supported his ability at multi-tasking. With Merrill, every aspect was of the utmost importance and excellence the only acceptable outcome. The

Long service award to Himendra in 2018- a humorous moment

construction of a warehouse, the setting up of a packing plant, and the ordering of a meal, all received the same meticulous attention to detail.

Himendra, like many others who had the good fortune to spend time in Merrill’s organisation, was given the opportunity for professional growth, under Merrill’s management style of empowerment with surveillance. Himendra, personally, would never fail to deliver on Merrill’s expectations, though the means he sometimes employed would not have been what Merrill desired.

Himendra spoke of his empathy with Merrill, which underpinned a rewarding partnership, founded on the similarity of personal background, professional training, thinking styles, and value systems.

He touched upon an aspect which had escaped the many others who had spoken about Merrill; that he was a man driven by an acute awareness of the limitations on the time available to achieve one’s objectives. Hence Merrill’s impatience, which was

also a key feature of his personality. He had long relinquished the desire to acquire wealth – the normal objective of most entrepreneurs – and was looking for more meaningful outcomes, greater goals to achieve, and different worlds to conquer. One outstanding result, of course, was the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation (MJFCF), and his championship of many other causes for public and industry benefit; in Himendra’s view, natural and logical outcomes of Merrill’s inherently caring nature.

When Himendra re-joined Merrill in 1998, he had made only one condition; that he be permitted to work till 65 years of age. Merrill’s response had been that Himendra could stay on as long as he liked and decide for himself when to retire. That decision is still in abeyance, as Himendra continues to play a key role in the Dilmah enterprise.

The common threads running through the reminiscences of those who have worked closely with the Dilmah founder, are the latter’s commitment to pure Ceylon Tea, his inspirational leadership, the immaculate work ethic, the relentless pursuit of excellence, the unsolicited generosity and passion for detail. Roshan Tissaaratchy, presently a Director of the company, who joined the Group in 1998 as International Marketing Manager, added another dimension to this multi-layered tapestry; Merrill J. Fernando’s unerring- and according to Roshan- an unparalleled instinct for marketing in combination with aggressive entrepreneurship.

But this is getting ahead of the story.

Vajira, Upali, Merrill & Himendra - Dilmah Production Facility

Roshan Tissaaratchy - Director

Roshan was educated at St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia (’73 – ’84), one of Sri Lanka’s leading boys’ schools. On leaving school, he gained entrance to the Colombo University where he read for a Bachelor of Arts degree. Whilst at the university Roshan also completed the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK examinations and qualified as a professional marketer. Subsequently employed in an export marketing company, he gained experience in multidisciplinary aspects, ranging from Technology to Fast-Moving Consumer Goods( FMCG), followed by Advertising, as a young CEO in yet another organization.

However, his passion and interest lay in export marketing, his métier. Thus, he was both intrigued

and excited by a newspaper advertisement he saw one day, for an International Marketing Manager in an export marketing company; a rare opportunity as most export companies were operational traders. The advertisement turned out to be from the “Dilmah” company. After a series of discussions, first with Malik and then with Dilhan, Merrill J. Fernando’s two sons, Roshan joined a company and a brand that was not well known in Sri Lanka then. He finally met the Founder himself on his first day in the company.

Speaking of Roshan and his subsequent success in the company, Malik and Dilhan used to make fun of their father, claiming credit for all the good decisions that were made, including recruitment; a comment which used to amuse MJF!

Roshan moved in to an operational segment which was personally supervised and controlled by Merrill J. Fernando himself and his two sons, handling Marketing, Customers and Export sales. To his surprise, and possibly to the surprise of many others in the company, he was able to win Merrill’s confidence in a short time.

Roshan brought with him wide-ranging experience of different aspects in the marketing field, built on a foundation of university education in the related disciplines. Whilst working at Dilmah, Roshan furthered his technical competencies with a Masters’ in Business Administration from Sri Lanka’s prestigious Post- Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

He spent the next couple of decades at Merrill J. Fernando’s elbow, as it were, observing the Founder in action at various marketing forums all over the world, competing fiercely and successfully with multi-national giants, despite the unequal terms. As a professional marketer himself, Roshan was fully aware of the difficulties in promoting a brand and maintaining brand leadership, especially in relentlessly competitive international markets.

To Roshan, the exposure to Merrill J. Fernando’s marketing ingenuity - untaught, but a fascinating amalgam of intuition, personal experience, and common sense reinforced by sharp intellect - had been a revelation and a completely new learning experience. Neither his university education, nor his previous professional experience, had prepared Roshan for the instinctive marketing intelligence Merrill J. Fernando displayed. In fact, at the Dilmah International Distributor Conference of 2003, the first of its kind, he had made a presentation titled”,

Why I Decided to Throw My Text Books Away”, depicting his experiences with Merrill J. Fernando!!

Merrill J. Fernando, in his autobiography, had the following to say about Roshan;

“An energetic man with an ebullient, cheerful personality, it has been a pleasure to have him at my side. Despite coming from a relatively conventional professional and educational background, he adjusted very quickly to my often unorthodox operational style which, as he himself says, is not reflected in any of the text books he has read!”

In a recent interview with the writer Roshan made a very interesting and astute observation, defining Merrill J. Fernando’s visionary style - “he read a balance sheet and saw the future”, a view echoed by different people in different ways, but all achieving consensus, perceiving Merrill J. Fernando as a visionary always ahead of his time.

In May 2005 Roshan had been invited to the Board of the company by Merrill J. Fernando himself.

Roshan describes the lessons he learnt from Merrill J. Fernando, especially the absolute impartiality with which he dealt with issues, irrespective of the nature of relationships involved. The delivery of ethical business was paramount and superseded all other interests; and always at the forefront was the drive for achievement, which did not permit the acceptance of negative sentiments. Equally inspiring

Merrill & Roshan at charity event in Russia

were the tireless personal efforts in relationship building, combined with the implementation of all the classic marketing practices, which came to him naturally. Despite all the impressive marketing qualifications Roshan had acquired over the years, there had been no instance where he could have questioned Merrill J. Fernando’s marketing sense or logic.

Roshan had been present at a meeting in Moscow, between Merrill Fernando and Olga Ivanovna, Chief Commercial Buyer of Beverages for the X-5 Group, Russia’s largest food retailer in the 19-nineties. Merrill was trying to obtain a listing for Dilmah tea with the X-5 Group, at what he considered was a reasonable price but Ms Olga was insisting on an excessive discount. What ensued, described in greater detail by Merrill himself in his autobiography, encapsulates Roshan’s evaluation of Merrill’s marketing acumen and his unwavering adherence to product authenticity.

“I was startled at the stiffness of her terms, but told her very courteously that the tea I was proposing to deliver was of the finest quality, direct from the plantations and superior to any product that she already had. I also made it clear to her that I would not be able to provide that package on the bargain basement terms she was proposing, as that would compel me to compromise on the Dilmah benchmark of product purity and authenticity. I explained to her that those were not concessions I was prepared to consider, irrespective of the rewards at stake. Having thus stated my position, I thanked her for her time and prepared to withdraw.

She then spoke to the Country Manager in rapidfire Russian and at the end of that exchange, turned to me and asked how quickly we could deliver one million units of Dilmah tea, at my price, for a special promotion. She also agreed to fund part of the promotional expenses. We came away from that meeting with an order for one million X 100 tea bag units.

To me, episode was in its entirety was the reinforcement of my long-held personal ethos, that if you have a good product and refuse to compromise on quality, at a commensurate price, the buyer –consumer will eventually accept the proposition as a fair bargain…..” - MJF autobiography.

Roshan also says that he considers Merrill’s absolute passion to achieve what he wanted was embodied in a “don’t say don’t, can’t say can’t” philosophy, pushing the Dilmah team to think and work beyond normal boundaries. This philosophy Roshan still inculcates with his teams, sharing the Founder’s way of life.

26 years later, at age 59, Roshan considers the time spent at Dilmah with Merrill J. Fernando, the most productive years of his life and professionally the most enjoyable. The totality of those experiences may one day fill a book.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Dilmah Range

Only The Finest

Dilmah, as few others have done, has explored the great diversity of orthodox, artisanal, Pure Ceylon Tea. The brand has embraced modern trends in flavor experimentation and offers a very wide range of attractive and unique blends, without compromising the integrity of origin, or the parameters of genuine quality.

“TEA IS TERROIR”

The Dilmah range of tea products, its offerings to the world of tea, also reflect the infinite variety of Pure Ceylon Tea which Dilmah has successfully tapped into.

In the context of tea production, Ceylon can be divided into 26 different agro-climatic ranges. The variations in climate, weather, rainfall patterns, soil composition, daily sunlight duration, wind, temperature, humidity, and elevation – all these conditions being specific to each region – influence the kind of tea produced in each agro-climatic region. All those external factors influence the growth of the tea bush and the content of the green leaf, which is converted to black tea, ultimately shaping the aroma, flavour, and appearance of the final product.

The tea plantations of Sri Lanka, of which there are several thousand, range from over 1,000 ha (2,470 acres) plantations of company-owned holdings, to small-holder extents which range from 50 ha (123 acres) to less than half a hectare (1.2 acres). There are even smaller cultivations, handkerchief-sized gardens in the backyards of village cottages. Each of these plantations, big and small, has its own type of tea bushes and its own style of land-management and cultivation practices. Those factors too influence the type of tea each unit of land produces. The small-holder tea segment in Sri Lanka, collectively, contributes over 70% to the average annual national production.

In these 26 agro-climatic regions, there are close

upon 750 active processing centres producing Black Tea. The very location of a processing centre, whether perched on a wind-buffeted hill-top or nestling in a protected valley, has its impact on the tea each factory produces. Therefore, the tea produced by one factory can be differentiated on appearance and taste profile, from the produce of another, despite physical proximity to each other.

It is the harmonious confluence of all these natural factors that produces a good tea. In Ceylon, all these disparate natural features are enhanced by its largely orthodox and artisanal style of process, which, being flexible, permits beneficial human intervention as and when necessary. The skill and the personal touch of each individual teamaker also cast their imprint on the tea from each processing centre.

The above, in very simple terms, defines the range and complexity of Pure Ceylon Tea. No tea from any other growing country offers that mystifying diversity. It is this diversity that Dilmah has tapped into, in producing its dazzling array to cater to a multiplicity of consumers and tea aficionados, worldwide. The only other comparable product diversity is in the world of fine wine, symbolised by the varying wine-growing regions in countries famous for it. Unarguably, the only two widelyconsumed beverages in the world, so strongly influenced by ‘terroir’ are tea and wine.

The Dilmah range includes traditional Specialty Gourmet and Premium Tea, Herbal Infusions, Pure Ceylon Green Tea, Fun Flavoured Tea, Spiced Chais,

Organic Tea, and the Dilmah Exceptional Range, the latter with its contemporary selection. These are complemented by the Boutique Watte Range, which are exceptional Single Estate teas, each representing a specific region. In addition there is the Dilmah VIVID range, the t-Series tea, Silver Jubilee Gourmet, and the exclusive Teamaker’s Private Reserve. This collection has been enriched by the new offerings, the Dilmah Elixir of Ceylon – an all-natural tea extract –and the luxurious Golden Pekoe Range.

DILMAH SUSTAINABLE PREMIUM

This tea is unique in the world of tea for a number of reasons. Its plant-based, sustainable tea bags are tagfree, and for every pack produced, there is a bounty paid to conservation, in the form of a tree planted. This tea represents the Dilmah commitment to conservation and restoration of natural eco-systems.

DILMAH SEASONAL FLUSH

In a range of exceptional products from Dilmah, its Seasonal Flush range stands out as something

beyond the simply exceptional. This really fine tea of rare quality comes from the perfectly harmonious confluence of natural circumstances, when the wind, sun, soil, and other multiple factors which affect weather and climate, come together in perfect proportion and balance. But that is not an everyday occurrence.

There are brief, fleeting windows of opportunity during the year, when the confluence of all such beneficial factors helps the skilled teamaker to produce a tea, that is never forgotten by the discerning consumer. The science of the manufacturing process, however precise, and the teamaker’s intervention, however ingenious, will both be ineffective, if even one of the conditions which produce that natural harmony is absent.

A skilled tea maker, of whom there are many in Sri Lanka, will produce a good tea every day, but a tea like the Dilmah Seasonal Flush also needs the benign intervention of Nature; the outcome is the refined togetherness of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

The Dilmah Seasonal Flush is made, either during February/March, or August/September, when ambient conditions are dry, windy, and cold. The days need to be brightly sunlit from dawn to dusk, and the nights brilliantly clear and unforgivingly chilly, with all the stars and constellations visible to the naked eye in a cloudless sky.

However, the exclusivity of the Dilmah Seasonal Flush is such that it is not made every year; such is the Dilmah insistence on perfection and excellence.

Dilmah Seasonal Flush

DILMAH, CEYLON GOLDEN PEKOE

Pekoe is a very special variety of tea, with a very distinctive, pellet-shaped, closed-leaf appearance, and processing centres produce only small quantities of this grade; volumes rarely exceed 2% of the total production in any factory. The extraction of this grade requires special interventions to the process, possible only within the highly orthodox and artisanal manufacture that is peculiar to Ceylon. It is also best when produced from the large, highly succulent leaf, that is a feature specific to the rain-fed tea bush in the humid low-country, from where the Dilmah-owned Kahawatte Plantations gets much of its tea. It is the combination of all those factors that produces a well-made Pekoe, a very special tea.

The Dilmah Golden Pekoe is a Single Region Tea, which comes from the Dilmah-owned tea gardens in Kahawatte. It produces an aromatic, flavoury liquor, with a very satisfying, somewhat malty, mouth-feel.

DILMAH GOURMET TEA SELECTION

This tea is specially crafted to complement a satisfying meal, such as a good breakfast, and to clear the palate of the aftertaste of oils, meats, fish, and fats. It is a traditional tea, typical of the Ceylon midlands and the upper reaches of the low-country, producing a rich, coloury liquor with a strong aroma. Each specialty tea has its own flavour, and includes the popular Ceylon Supreme, English Breakfast, English Afternoon, Earl Grey, and Irish Breakfast. Each one is original and traditional.

DILMAH INSPIRATIONS SELECTION

Dilmah Inspirations, offers an eclectic selection of the finest gourmet Black, Green, and Oolong Teas. They are authentic and artisanal, with inspired combinations of a multiplicity of flavours, herbs, roots, and spices.

DILMAH VIVID TEA

This selection portrays the teamaker as an artist – the Vivid range is a palette of different tastes and colourful flavours, framing the versatility of Ceylon Tea. It offers Ceylon Tea with Pomegranate, Springtime Chocolate Mint, and Minty Green Tea.

DILMAH, WATTE SINGLE GARDEN RANGE

‘Watte’ is the Sinhala world for garden and that is what each Dilmah Watte Boutique Tea represents – a special tea garden. Each offering reflects the special characteristics the tea is endowed with, on account of the particular location of the tea garden from which the tea comes; the elevation, climate, weather, sunlight hours each day, and the soil which sustains the tea bush. The location of the tea factory is another important contributory factor to the nature of the tea. Those are chief amongst the multitude of features, which give the tea its ‘terroir,’ as much as in the finest of wines, shaping the personality of the tea.

The Single Origin sourcing of the teas, selecting them from specific plantations of proven flavour and taste profile, allows Dilmah to showcase the diversity and complexity of Ceylon Tea.

Pedro Estate (peak elevation) is a plantation located at the foot of Pidurutalagala, Nuwara Eliya, the highest point in Sri Lanka, where the temperatures are very low and the wind sharp and bitingly cold. The tea is delicately fragrant, light, pale as in faded gold, and lightly fruity and gently astringent on the tongue. Tea from this locality, which has less than a handful of plantations, is what Champagne is to wine.

Somerset Estate (high elevation) is from a slightly lower elevation but conditions are still very chilly. The tea is a little stronger, with more colour and hints of vanilla and peach, but yet very light and floral on the palate, in the style of a Pinot Noir.

Craighead Estate (mid-elevation) is where conditions are warmer and less hostile. The tea liquor is stronger in the cup, yellow-orange in colour, and flavour, with a slightly woody mouth-feel, but still velvety, as in a Shiraz.

Nilagama Estate (low elevation) is from the warm, balmy, frequently damp lowlands. The tea is a rich orange in colour and the liquor more robust, with a weightier, distinctly malty mouth-feel, not unlike a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Each of the above teas accurately reflects the conditions under which it was fostered.

T-SERIES DESIGNER GOURMET TEAS BY DILMAH

The t-series represents the Dilmah Teamaker at his most liberal and expansive as an artist, with the palette an explosion of colour.

There is a tea for every occasion and for every mood, known around the world for their individual excellence. The wide range presents a dazzling array of gourmet teas, including very special rare tea, like the Ceylon Silver Tips and Seasonal Flush.

DILMAH 85 RESERVE

This tea is special – amongst the many other reasons which makes every Dilmah tea special – because it marks the year in which the Founder, Merrill J.

Fernando, offered Dilmah to the world, with his personal assurance of ethicality, singularity of origin, and quality.

85 Reserve is a selection of Dilmah’s finest handmade small-batch teas, some pure and others delicately scented with natural flavours, each in honour of Merrill J. Fernando, the world’s Most experienced tea grower and teamaker.

THE TEAMAKER’S PRIVATE RESERVE

Perhaps no other selection of teas represents Merrill J. Fernando’s knowledge of tea, and his sensitivity to the preferences of the discerning consumer, acquired over a seven-decade involvement in pleasing the world with good tea, as the Teamaker’s Private Reserve range does.

This is a very carefully selected collection of fine teas, which celebrates the infinite variety and complexity of Ceylon Tea. Each was handpicked by Merrill J. Fernando during his lifetime and still represents his

impeccable taste and judgement. Many of them are of rare and limited availability and all would be a connoisseur’s delight.

DILMAH FUN TEA

This range offers the consumer a series of flavours, with natural Black Tea, ranging from Mint to Strawberry, Mandarin, and Apple. They are nourishing, flavourful, and aromatic.

‘ARANA’ NATURAL HERBAL INFUSION

‘Arana’ is a classical Sinhala word for a wooded shelter; it implies sanctity, safety, and tranquillity. ‘Arana’ is a forested sanctuary with sunlight dappled by the heavy canopy, the floor a deep carpet of leaffall, broken by little streams of clean, clear water, inhabited by fish, frogs, and dragon flies. It speaks of the bio-diversity of both fauna and flora. It is in such places that many of the herbs, roots, flowers, and spices used in Sri Lanka’s traditional healing system – ‘Ayurveda’ – grow wild.

The Dilmah herbal teas are named ‘Arana’ because they tap into the natural wellness of that system and the offerings reflect respect for nature and are of genuine, plant-based goodness. These are herbs in use for three millennia, in a system, of traditional healing of proven efficacy, that is still practiced widely in the country.

DILMAH FINEST

This range captures the care resulting from generations of craftsmanship and personal pride, that is invested in the process. It is that caring which inspires every cup and represents a limited offering, which carries the personal signature of the Founder, Merrill J. Fernando.

DILMAH GIFT SELECTION

This range a wide selection of tea, of goodness and taste is ideal as a gift for special occasions. The price range is equally wide, with options to suit any budget, with the flexibility of customisation for corporates and organisations.

DILMAH ORGANIC RANGE

This range offers a selection of certified organic teas and infusions, designed for health and wellness. They include pure tea and natural organic herbal infusions, as well as Black Tea and Green Tea, which are IMO certified.

DILMAH ICED TEA

Dilmah Iced Tea is a testament to Dilmah’s relentless pursuit of excellence; developed, after five years of research, in a ground-breaking innovation in the

use of the fresh, green, tea leaf – instead of refuse tea or tea extract – it comes from Dilmah’s own tea gardens. The result is a wide range of tastes in iced tea, rich in natural anti-oxidants.

DILMAH ELIXIR OF CEYLON TEA

This is a natural extract of handpicked Ceylon Tea, from Dilmah’s own gardens, and produced in its own factory at Rilhena, Ratnapura, a tea garden belonging to Kahawatte Plantations.

It is ideal for iced tea, infused water, tea mixology, tea shakes, and tea smoothies. The extract contains the same taste and freshness of garden fresh tea and is rich in anti-oxidants.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Dilmah – Going Against Tradition

A Farmer Takes His Tea to Market

Dilmah, the brand, reflects the personality of the Founder; traditional yet innovative, globally appealing whilst being firmly rooted in the culture of its country of origin, and multi-faceted despite its adherence to authenticity and singularity.

Amongst the many popular tea brands in the world, Dilmah is quite unique for a number of reasons. It does not mesh with the conventional model of brand marketing. Its foundation of Single Origin and its refusal to blend with other origins, despite obvious cost and price advantages, its insistence on ethical and sustainable practices embedded in a broad philosophy of social and environmental responsibility, its direct-to-theconsumer trajectory, innovation, and variety, its resolute commitment to quality and the refusal to compromise its founding principles, even in the face of threats of loss of business, sets Dilmah apart from the herd.

“…the first principle is, irrespective of auction price, to maintain consistent quality. If you supply lower quality to maintain profit, the loss of the buyer is a guaranteed consequence. If you stay the course with integrity, you will eventually prosper.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Dilmah must also be the only brand of tea from a producing country, which established its brand superiority overseas before considering the local market seriously. Merrill J. Fernando, maverick, innovator, and inveterate risk-taker, at the very outset itself confounded the ‘Traditional Marketing Theory’, that brands must first be launched, tested, and established in the home country.

The other factor which differentiates Dilmah from the other global brands is that, despite its

international outreach, Dilmah still remains a family brand, a family company, with simple family values of transparency, accountability, and quality consciousness. And, as will be apparent from this narrative, in its partnering in other countries and in its many associations, it reaches out to those with similar values.

Before Merrill J. Fernando launched Dilmah as his private label, in 1985, he was already very wellestablished and connected to all the major tea markets in the world. During his bulk-trading days he had created a strong presence in the United Soviet Socialist Republic, the Middle Eastern countries –especially Egypt, Libya, and Syria – and Australia.

The marketing dynamics in those regions changed, following economic and geo-political transformations. In the Middle Eastern sector, the oil price increases in the 1970s improved the buying power in those countries and enabled them to purchase greater volumes of tea. This was further strengthened by the formation of the Gulf Corporation Council, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in 1981.

The dismantling of the Soviet Republic in late 1991 led to the formation of several independent states – initially 11, increasing to 12 with the addition of Georgia in 1993 – and the automatic de-centralisation of the previously centralised and State-managed purchasing system. The consequent market liberalisation brought about immediate, mid-term, and long-term changes.

The Founder in Russia with Dilhan (left) & Roshan (right)

With market liberalisation came competition and product diversification. Consequent to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, private enterprises and foreign companies entered a previously State-controlled market, exposing the consumer to a much wider variety of tea products, in a region which soon came to be known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

“At the time of the dissolution, only the Republic of Russia had the infrastructure for the import and export trade. Therefore, the release of tight State controls and the sudden exposure to a free market environment presented opportunities to aspiring private sector entrepreneurs to move into an area which, previously, had no direct dealings with local traders.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The Dilmah marketing thrust, especially in the CIS bloc, leveraged Merrill J. Fernando’s long connectivity with the regional markets, as well as his connections in the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Dilmah was one of the first brands of tea, to enter the New East European countries and the CIS bloc, especially Russia and Ukraine. In fact, Dilmah tea is the number one brand in Lithuania, with a very strong presence in both Estonia and Latvia. In all these countries there is a growing demand for herbal and fruit teas, in addition to the traditional Black Tea. This trend reflects a general health consciousness amongst consumers, resulting

in a marked preference for premium and specialty teas.

Poland, also a large consumer of tea, is another country in which Dilmah has a strong presence. Merrill’s connection to Poland goes back to the early 1970s, when he became friends with Janusz Witomski, Poland’s Charge’d Affaires in then Ceylon.

The Dilmah distributor in Poland is Tomas, Janusz’s son, who became one of Dilmah’s pioneering partners, as the head of the family-owned Gourmet Foods of Poland, which is still one of the top three importer/distributors of the Dilmah brand, worldwide.

Dilhan’s first business visit to any country with his father, was when he accompanied Merrill on a marketing tour of Poland, soon after his graduation from the London School of Economics.

The demand for Dilmah Tea is quite strong in Hungary and the Czech Republic, whilst the brand has also moved to other very challenging markets in the West African region, such as Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone.

Vietnam, despite being a tea-producing country, is another important destination for Dilmah Tea.

The background to the Dilmah brand presence in Vietnam makes a very interesting story.

Three Vietnamese youth, who had studied in Belarus, a strong market for Dilmah Tea, had become addicted to the Dilmah flavoured tea in that market. On their return to Vietnam they sensed an

opportunity and sold flavoured iced tea improvised from tea bags mixed with sugar syrup. It caught the fancy of the market as a cool drink in the warmer South Vietnam and as a hot beverage in the cooler winters of Hanoi and North Vietnam.

Propelled by very effective branding campaigns in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Dilmah brand acquired high visibility in North Vietnam, later expanding to Ho Chi Minh City and the South, and eventually becoming a household name in the country. From Vietnam it was a natural progression to other South East Asian countries, including Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia – the latter a large producer of tea – and even to China, the world’s largest tea producer and, also, to Japan.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Dilmah and its Impact

A family business serves humanity, through kindness to people and concern for nature

In the world of big business Dilmah embodies contradiction, as an entity which values social responsibility, kindness to people and concern for nature, as much as, or more than profit. The Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation reflects those values and its impact, on marginalized individuals, indigent communities and vulnerable nature, has been immeasurable.

Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation - Active across the plantations

THE VALUE CREATED BY DILMAH –THE MERRILL J. FERNANDO CHARITABLE

FOUNDATION

“As a principled human being, one cannot ignore one’s less fortunate neighbour. Similarly, as an entrepreneur, you cannot operate in isolation, indifferent to the plight of the deprived and the marginalised of the community, who may also, in some way, be contributing to your affluence. As a child I learnt that lesson from my mother and carried it into my later life as an entrepreneur.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

In 1962, when Merrill J. Fernando set up MJF Company, he had 18 employees and, at the end of the year, he shared with them a portion of the surplus generated by his operations. It was a gesture of goodwill by a man who had been taught by his mother, that kindness to people was important. That kindness is now represented by 15% of the pre-tax profit of the group, channelled to needy individuals, marginalised communities, under-equipped medical institutions, children with special needs, and the environment, through the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation (MJFCF).

Kindness is at the heart of Dilmah, a sentiment largely alien to enterprise at the time Merrill entered it. Prevailing wisdom was that the core responsibility of business was to make profit. It was a covenant

which immediately isolated Merrill, with his then quaint notions of a fairer, more ethical global tea trade, which accepted responsibility for an equitable and inclusive distribution of economic surplus, along the long chain which commenced with the grower and the farm worker.

Merrill’s philosophy of ‘Fair Trade’ also included the consumer, the end-user, who would be able to enjoy a product of quality and taste, at an affordable price. Morally sensitive consumers could rest assured that the cup of Dilmah tea they drank, wherever in the world it was, created the margin for assistance to a needy individual, a deprived community, a disabled child, or the conservation of a vulnerable eco-system.

A product for the consumer with a conscience

In 1985, when Merrill conceived the Dilmah brand and promoted the concept of a tea of excellence, it was also a composite of several important ingredients which were not present in any other tea in the world.

Dilmah tea is from the land which gave birth to the brand and the leaf is picked, not by machine but by caring and dexterous hands. The tea is made in the country in which it was grown, artisanally, by traditional and time-tested methods, which ensure the retention of all its features of natural goodness and health benefit. Part of the economic surplus created by Dilmah flows back to the land of its origin, to the people of the plantations who grew and harvested that tea, as well as to other social groups and individuals who need help to make their lives better and more bearable, whilst strengthening and healing vulnerable and damaged environments, and sustaining the soil of the plantations. Even in summary, Dilmah’s voluntary commitment to social responsibility is extensive in its scope and impact.

Dilmah gave the world a better tea, not because it simply tasted better on the palate, but because of the socially-sensitive philosophy of the enterprise, it also sits more comfortably on the conscience of society. With its unwavering adherence to its founding philosophy of quality, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship, Dilmah has carved out a niche for itself in a highly competitive market and earned the loyal following of tea enthusiasts, who value transparency and sustainability, along with the taste of quality tea.

THE DILMAH GOODNESS –BIRTH AND GROWTH

The growth of the company as well as the broadening of Merrill’s sense of social responsibility, which ran parallel to the increase of the company’s revenue, compelled a more formalised and structured approach to the Human Service aspect of the enterprise. It enabled Merrill to commit more to people and planet. This led to the incorporation of the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation (MJFCF) in 2002. Its core philosophy is not simple charity but “empowerment with dignity,” specifically avoiding the possibility of creating dependence, but enabling disadvantaged individuals and communities to become self-sufficient and personally responsible for their welfare and sustenance.

LEADERSHIP

The trustees of the Foundation are – apart from Merrill J. Fernando’s two sons, Malik and Dilhan – K. R. Ravindran, Managing Director, Printcare Ltd and 105th Chairman of Rotary International; Himendra Ranaweera, Deputy Chairman and CEO, MJF Group and Rajan Asirwatham, former Country Head and Senior Partner of Ford Rhodes and Thornton and Co.

Dilhan C. Fernando

Malik J. Fernando

K. R. Ravindran

Himendra Ranaweera

Rajan Asirwatham

MJF CHARITABLE FOUNDATION –BROAD SCOPE

ALTERNATE EDUCATION

Through a wide range of programmes, alternate education offers children opportunities, which go beyond normal school education. These include special English classes and training in Information Technology, Arts and Crafts, Music and Dance, Yoga, Martial Arts, Chess, Carpentry, Gardening, Cookery, Girl Guides and Scouting, and Leadership. Within this range of disciplines there are separate programmes for adults, with a greater focus on vocational training and skills development, which are more employment-oriented.

SPORTS TRAINING

Training in sporting disciplines is also part of the Alternate Education programme as, apart from specific skills acquisition, the programme also focuses on team work, mutual respect, related inter-personal skills, and punctuality and time management.

EMPOWER HOSPITALITY AND CULINARY SCHOOL

This is a programme supported by the World Association of Chefs (WAC), and the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka with such exclusive patronage and oversight. It is also accredited by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC), an apex body in technical and vocational training, established by the Government of Sri Lanka in 1990. The Board of Governors of the Culinary School consists of reputed

Top: Learning a new skill Centre: Sports for Children

Bottom: Culinary School

overseas and local chefs. It offers a four-month training course, which has already proved to be a very useful stepping stone to the culinary profession to youth who, under normal circumstances, would not be able to afford fee-levying training programmes.

CURTISS INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

The Curtiss Centre, established in collaboration with Daron Curtiss, the Dilmah advertising consultant in New Zealand, provides technical training in Information Technology and graphic design, to school children and school leavers. Given the importance attached in every employment sector to computer literacy, the centre’s training programmes ensure that school children are equipped with the relevant skills at the point of entry to the job-market.

Learning marketable skills

The programme trains over 300 students each week, some of them with congenital impairments. Since commencement it has trained over 5,000 students

and young adults, providing them with highly marketable technical skills and related competencies and opening useful career paths for them.

The Curtiss training programmes are available in both the Moratuwa Centre and its counterpart in Kalkudah, in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The Curtiss Centre is also accredited by the TVEC.

The Curtiss Centre is an excellent example of Merrill J. Fernando’s ability to inspire others, including business associates, with his sense of mission.

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CEREBRAL PALSY (CP) AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS

Located about 15 kilometres outside the Colombo city centre, at Ambagahawatte, Rajagiriya, this institution, on a daily basis, cares for over 100 children with disabilities. It provides behavioural therapy, speech and drama training, occupational therapy and sensory integration training, special

Training for special children

education for CP afflicted children, vocational training for youth with developmental disorders, and alternative communication for those with speech and hearing challenges, as well as other related therapies. Most importantly, the centre provides counselling and support to family members of disabled children.

AIDEX – SPORTS FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED

Aidex (Aid to the Ex-abled) is an annual sports festival sponsored by Dilmah and the MJFCF. Since its inception it has been providing a platform for those who are differently-abled, to engage in sports competitions and to channel their energies and competencies in a manner which gives them a sense of self-worth and dignity. The event helps showcase their abilities whilst sublimating their disabilities.

The events include cycle races, wheel-chair cycling, archery, track and running events, throwing events, and jumping events.

CRICKET LIVE

Cricket is a national passion in Sri Lanka, played enthusiastically in every part of the island. It is also a sport in which, for the past several decades, Sri Lanka has competed on equal terms with the very best teams in the world.

The Dilmah Cricket Live Foundation, established in 2014, has been an invaluable adjunct to the Aidex programme, using a special sport as an educational tool, a unifying platform, and a personal development vehicle for youth.

Top/centre: overcoming disabilities through sports Bottom: New Zealand cricketer Kyle Mills with a special cricketing group

The coaching staff has been drawn from some of the biggest names in international cricket, both in Sri Lanka and in other cricket playing countries. Events have regularly featured national cricketing icons, such as Romesh Kaluwitharane, Hashan Tillekeratne, and Lahiru Thirimanne, just to name a few. New Zealander, Sir Richard Hadlee, one of the finest pace-bowlers in the history of cricket, has also been a regular.

“A blind-folded Sir Hadlee, playing the forward defence against a cricket ball with a bell, in an engagement at the Moratuwa centre with visually-handicapped cricketers of the Cricket Live Foundation, of which he is the patron, is an image that will endure.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The late Mike Dormer, tea importer and Founder of the Willows Cricket Club, Christchurch, New Zealand, was a great supporter of the Aidex programme from the very inception, arranging and hosting several reciprocal tours between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

DILMAH – RESPONSE TO INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI, 2004

The tsunami, resulting from the Indian Ocean earthquake on December 26th, 2004, one of the worst natural disasters to strike South Asia in at least two centuries, killed about 35,000 people and injured many more, in Sri Lanka alone.

The response of the MJFCF to the ravages of the tsunami, to lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure, was

swift and immediate. As in other affected countries, the devastation in the coastal areas was immense, and the rehabilitation needs compelled a hitherto unplanned expansion of the scope of activities of the Foundation.

“The scale of the disaster and the consequent rehabilitation requirements compelled an unplanned, exponential expansion of the scope of the Foundation. Overnight, our mission was forced to grow wings.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A company team led by Dilhan visited the affected areas in the South and selected families for immediate assistance. A Tsunami Relief Logistics Centre was set up in Colombo, whilst other company teams visited affected areas in the North and North East, and helped set up relief centres. Medical teams were dispatched to several of the most heavily affected areas, such as Hambantota and Ambalantota in the Deep South and Kilinochchi in the North East. Assisted by Government forces, the MJFCF teams provided relief to affected people in areas then under the control of the LTTE, the Tamil rebel forces. Working with the latter and liaising with the State authorities was akin to walking a tight-rope, due to the prevailing animosity and lack of trust between the two groups.

The Foundation collaborated with the CEY-NOR foundation (a joint-venture between the Sri Lankan Government and NORAD), to fund the provision of boats and other fishing accessories to the fishing communities, which had been the hardest hit by the tsunami. The Foundation also donated around 200 bicycles to fishermen, to enable them to transport their catch from unloading point to market.

Most individual fishermen are at the mercy of buyers and buyers’ agents, especially during periods of heavy fishing, when they are compelled to dispose of their catches at relatively low prices as storage is not a viable option, due to absence of freezer facilities. The MJFCF resolved the problem by constructing ice factories in key locations, enabling fishermen to maintain the freshness of landed fish, till they personally took them to market. The Foundation also assisted by enabling links between fishermen and

shops and hotels in the area, so that they could sell direct and obtain better prices for their product.

The tsunami relief initiatives launched by the Foundation had short-term, mid-term, and longterm objectives, as rehabilitation of lives and livelihoods was bound to be a long-term process. Restoration projects launched had to take into account not only physical but emotional trauma, arising from the sudden loss of personal means in communities which, earlier, had been completely self-sufficient. Victims had to be empowered so that they could take charge of their lives again. It was not simply a question of providing money and material, but helping people to regain their self-respect.

Children affected by the tsunami had their own special needs. The Foundation made a major contribution towards re-establishing pre-schools in affected areas. Managing trauma amongst children

Left: Founder chats with a Tsunami victim Right: Dilhan gifting bicycles to the fishing community

who had lost parents and siblings was another important aspect addressed by the Foundation.

SMALL ENTREPRENEUR PROGRAMME (SEP)

This programme, initially, was the Foundation’s fast-tracked remedial strategy to the destruction of individual livelihoods in the tsunami.

Through this programme, consequent to a rigorous selection process, individuals with the capacity to rebuild themselves were identified and provided with material assistance to set themselves up in productive occupations. The assistance was in the form of equipment and material but not cash. For maximum benefit, selectees had to be individuals with responsibility to extended family. Such individuals were also expected, at some point in the programme, to take in apprentices and trainees so that the beneficial outcomes of the initiative would be passed on to the wider community as well.

Eventually, this grew into a separate project on its own, over the years benefiting several thousand people in different parts of the country. It fostered a wide and disparate range of occupations, including watchmaking, tailoring, building construction, papadam production, carpentry, pottery, agriculture, bicycle repair, and even beauty care.

In the areas where it was active, the SEP has had a substantial impact, creating positive economic growth, social development, and community resilience. Its thrust has also dismantled barriers to entrepreneurship and by, providing support when

Beneficiaries of the SEP - the happy smiles tell a tale

it was most needed, enabled individuals to build themselves from ground up, as it were, without having to seek institutional support from State or private commercial entities.

BUILDING RESILIENCE WITHOUT DEBT

When evaluating the importance of the role played by the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation, in empowering marginalised individuals and communities, one needs to consider the challenges which such communities and individuals face, in the form of systemic bias and socio-economic disadvantages, in obtaining assistance from profitoriented private commercial establishments and State institutions.

Marginalised individuals, generally, have little or no credit history and no collateral to offer. Implicit and explicit biases in both the private and State financial sectors, quite often lead to discriminatory lending practices, such as higher interest rates, stricter loan terms, or outright denial of financial assistance. Such exclusions may well be based on the race, gender, or socio-economic status of the applicant. Marginalised individuals often lack financial literacy and language proficiency and, therefore, find it difficult to deal with complex application processes, whilst irregular incomes make it difficult for such individuals to guarantee regular repayment. These are unpleasant realities rarely voiced in public, or acknowledged by the traditional, profit-oriented financial sector, but no less true for that.

The other factor is that in marginalised communities, especially disadvantaged individuals, have complex, wide-ranging needs, which do not fall within the scope of strictly-structured lending and assistance systems, available in private and State institutions. Financial products and services of profit-oriented lending entities, are not designed with marginalised communities or individuals in mind.

Even after overcoming all the above barriers, difficulties in repayment due to economic downturns or other disasters, completely outside the beneficiaries’ control, can lead to severe consequences in the form of accumulated debts and penal interest, or seizure of collateral assets and other related impositions, leaving the marginalised individual in a much worse position than before.

The Foundation’s system of identifying potential beneficiaries and the evaluation of the merit of a request, or a perceived need, is not based on creditworthiness and repayment capacity within a rigidly structured system, but on the basis of the urgency of need and case-specific, often-complex ground realities, which warrant a specially tailored solution in each case. Individual remedial strategies need to be innovative, flexible, and amenable to re-tailoring, depending on changing circumstances. As far as the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation is concerned, repayment and return on investment are measured only in individual and community empowerment and the visible happiness of beneficiaries, their families, and communities. Repayment instalments do not feature in the MJFCF empowerment ethic.

The Foundation’s total focus on empowerment of the individual and on community development, whilst raising awareness and providing individuals with the tools and resources, needed for the advocacy of their own rights and interests, establishes a lasting foundation for social and economic advancement and empowerment with dignity, as opposed to simple charity. What the Foundation offers is a holistic solution, which includes psychological comfort, vocational training, emergency relief, familial sustenance and care, technical and marketing assistance, and education. These features, either taken together or individually, form a comprehensive, multi-layered empowerment package for individuals and communities facing multi-layered disadvantages.

The Foundation addresses the needs of individuals and communities that are often overlooked, ignored, or deliberately excluded, by more formalised and traditional institutions.

The real-life examples described elsewhere in this chapter, portraying disadvantaged children, marginalised individuals and communities, and youth seeking skills marketable in the real world of commerce and enterprise, illustrate the practical implementation of the philosophy described above.

In outstation and rural areas, one of the most important outcomes of the SEP was the development of new skills and the generation of new job opportunities, in communities which had little prior access to anything other than the most traditional occupations, such as farming and fishing.

Empowered by simple endowments

To-date, over 2,000 families have been supported through the SEP programme. In the Eastern Province, through the Kalkudah MJFCF Centre, over 400 families have been empowered by home-based agriculture initiatives, with 70 families being selected for the establishment of a SEP Cooperative.

PEOPLE’S MARKET

Another important ancillary to the SEP programme has been the People’s Market, which provides beneficiaries with a platform for exhibiting and marketing their products and to connect with and establish clientele. In 2023, through three People’s Markets, close upon 100 vendors were provided common platforms which attracted over 1,400 visitors in total, whilst generating around Rs. 2 million in sales revenue.

PRISONER REHABILITATION

A significant feature of the SEP, quite independent of its activities within tsunami-affected communities, was that it also addressed the rehabilitation of exprisoners, enabling around 300 such individuals to re-integrate into society as productive and responsible citizens. According to records, not a single individual has reverted to crime.

THE FOUNDATION NERVE CENTRES

The initiatives of the Foundation, which have reached out to all corners of the island, and even overseas, radiate from two centres, one in Moratuwa, about 20 kilometres from Colombo and the other in Kalkudah, 280 kilometres from Colombo, in the Eastern Province.

Top/centre: Selling at the People’s Market Bottom: Fruits of rehabilitation

MJF Centre West in Moratuwa - the nerve centre of the Foundation

The Moratuwa centre, the nucleus and flagship of the MJFCF, is located on a 10-acre site of great commercial value, formerly a massive garment manufacturing complex. The MJFCF has transformed it into an oasis for the marginalised and a vehicle for the Dilmah philosophy of Human Service.

The centre houses facilities for the rehabilitation of children with developmental disorders, such as Down syndrome, Autism, and Cerebral Palsy.

The Rainbow Centre is specially equipped with infrastructure and trained staff to meet the exacting and wide-ranging training and rehabilitation requirements of children with special needs. These are all children who are unable to enter mainstream schools as, in Sri Lanka, normal schools are not equipped to handle special needs. Most of these children are also from low-income groups, where parents cannot afford private care either.

The annual ‘Celebrating Differences’ pageant and the event commemorating World Down Syndrome Day, showcasing the abilities of children otherwise condemned to isolation and deprivation, are two of the most important dates in the Dilmah calendar. They were two events which Merrill never missed during his lifetime.

“The performances that these differentlyabled children produce year after year, with such self-confidence despite impediments to speech, movement, and cognition, are inspirational and deeply moving. What is on

display is not just child-theatre, but, also, the power of love and caring. I witness this event every year and each time I am moved to tears.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

At Dilmah, the belief that every child is entitled to equal opportunity, irrespective of differences, is central to its philosophy. Accordingly, the Foundation creates programmes and platforms across the country to support the development of less-privileged children. The specially designed MJF Kids programme operates in 9 centres across six provinces covering Sri Lanka: Peliyagoda, Maligawatte, Weragodella, Siyambalanduwa, Pahalalanda, Kalkudah, Weligama, Moratuwa, and Point Pedro.

SPECIAL CHILDREN

Nipuni, 25 years old, diagnosed with Down syndrome from birth, entered the Moratuwa Centre Rehabilitation Programme in 2012, at age 13. Her father is a driver of a hired three-wheeler and the mother a domestic worker. Due to very limited income, the parents were unable to provide her with the special care and learning that Nipuni needed. Hence, the free-of-cost MJFCF special needs children’s rehabilitation programme was, literally, a heaven-sent opportunity.

The rehabilitation enabled Nipuni to overcome inadequacies and learn sewing and cooking skills. She is now permanently employed at the Suwasetha Bakery. She became a Girl Guide and was able to

win the All Round Cord, which is equivalent to the President’s Badge in Scouting.

Nipuni, smiling, cheerful, dressed in her smart serving uniform, spoke very confidently with the writer and explained to him, in English, the nature of the work she was doing. Given the nature of the congenital issues she had to overcome and the limitations of her background, under normal circumstances she would have been confined to a bleak, featureless existence. However, her life has been given both colour and purpose through the MJFCF.

Pabasara, 15 years old, another Down syndrome child, has been with the Moratuwa Centre rehabilitation programme since 2012. As a result of the corrective strategies delivered through the rehabilitation programme, he has been able to enter mainstream school.

During the interview with the writer, accompanied by his grandmother, Priyanka, he confidently wrote his name on the writer’s notebook and also the numbers from 1 to 10. Apparently, at home, he does many things on his own.

Considering Pabasara’s initial inadequacies, Priyanka’s opinion is that he has come a long way, and she is confident that he will improve further as the rehabilitation process progresses.

Matheesha Sankalpa, 12 years old, the youngest in a family of three, connected with the Moratuwa Centre’s Down Syndrome Rehabilitation programme

Top: Nipuni, Centre: Pabasara, Bottom: Matheesha

at the age of three. His mother, Sharmalee, a widow, was very happy with his progress after entering the rehabilitation programme. She has two older daughters; one of them is working in a bank whilst the younger is studying for her A/Level examination.

During the interview Matheesha took the writer’s notebook and wrote his name across the page, quite confidently.

The training at the Centre has enabled Matheesha to handle all his personal needs independently and Sharmalee is quietly confident that, in time, with the assistance of his tutors and trainers at Moratuwa, Matheesha will be able to fit into mainstream life.

Arun Prasath is a well-built, smartly-clad 21-year-old Tamil youth from the locality. His father, Mahendran, and mother are both domestic helpers.

Arun had been admitted to the MJFCF, Moratuwa Rehabilitation programme in 2016. Till then he had been living with his grandfather in Vavuniya, a large town in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.

Arun had been unable to speak but his hearing was perfect, medically an unusual combination of circumstances. Arun engaged very readily in the many sports programmes available at the Centre, and has become a proficient swimmer and a sprinter; so much so that he has taken part in the Paralympic games held in Dubai. He works full time at Hameedias, a leading clothing establishment in Colombo, which, apparently, is highly supportive of his sports activities.

Arun Prasath with his medals and certificates

WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (WDP)

Vocational training is provided for youth and psychotherapy and counselling for the emotionally distressed. The premises also houses physical templates for environmental conservation and ecosystem regeneration. Special spaces are provided for social interaction amongst the lonely elderly whilst a special Women’s Development Programme has, over the years, benefitted over 2,000 individuals. The majority of the latter are single mothers, who have been trained in specialised cuisine, sewing, and other crafts, enabling them to become self-sufficient.

Quite apart from the technical skills imparted to participants, in the moulding of youth, the Moratuwa MJFCF Centre serves another very useful, unquantifiable service. For youth of both sexes the Centre provides a very safe and a protected space in which to spend time, where the circumstances and the environment are designed and managed by professional adults, skilled in the art of guiding youth. The influences, by design, are beneficial with harmful impacts deliberately eliminated. In a modern society, full of unhealthy influences and temptations, especially for impressionable and vulnerable youth, the Centre provide a safe haven, even in the absence of parental supervision.

Soft toy crafted at the Centre

A cooperative women’s group was provided with a sales outlet in Moratuwa, from which they dispatched meals to customers in distant suburbs of Colombo.

Textiles and handicrafts produced by women and youth at the centre were sold at upmarket outlets in Colombo, whilst the centre’s culinary training programme, supported by world renowned chefs and international culinary associations, enabled children of plantation workers, and of low-income urban families to become cordon-bleu chefs.

EMPOWERING WOMEN

One of the most important outcomes of the WDP is that it empowers women, through the delivery of new skills and the enhancing of existing personal abilities, and, thereby, enables them to disentangle themselves from the shackles of dependence. Many of the women who benefit from these programmes by becoming independent entrepreneurs themselves are single mothers, who are unable to work at fulltime jobs as they also have to care for children and, not infrequently, look after unemployed or ailing parents.

The empowerment of such women has an important psychological aspect as well. It restores their selfconfidence and sense of self-worth, and provides them with significant personal identities and the mental satisfaction of earning a livelihood, by engaging in an occupation which is often a commercial extension of either a hobby or a natural talent. In many instances the income derived augments family earnings, especially when the spouse is not in regular employment.

Thus, women’s empowerment addresses a range of issues that many women face in our society; economic, physical, and mental health and wellness, leadership development, and gender inequality. By providing women with the tools they need to succeed as independent members of society, these programmes help break down barriers of chauvinism and create positive changes in communities.

Women’s empowerment is of special significance in rural and agricultural communities, in which women’s education tends to be neglected, especially because of early marriage, early child-bearing, the pre-conceived, traditional image of the woman as a mother and home manager, and the lowpriority attributed to women’s education in general. Traditional rural and agricultural communities the world over, especially in Asia and Africa, are generally characterised by deeply rooted concepts and social norms that subordinate women to men, and tend to be highly patriarchal and maledominated. This male dominance perpetuates a cycle of dependency and subordination, leaving women with little control over their lives.

For the above reasons, women’s empowerment is vital, as it restores gender equality whilst augmenting family income and reducing poverty. These objectives are best achieved by providing women vocational training, micro-finance, agricultural training, smallbusiness development skills, and artisanal crafts, all occupations which do not adversely affect a woman’s responsibility as a wife, mother, and homemaker.

The Women’s Development Programme of the Foundation addresses the relevant issues comprehensively, tailoring initiatives to fit location and circumstances.

The few individual examples described below illustrate and reinforce the above statements. In the stories narrated elsewhere in this writing, of individual cases in the North and the East of the island – areas deeply affected by the three-decade civil war – the importance and impact of women’s empowerment in rural areas emerge very clearly.

EMPOWERED WOMEN

Dushani Nanayakkara is 40 years old and is the mother of two sons. Her elder son is a special needs child and is undergoing rehabilitation and therapy at the MJFCF Moratuwa Centre. She connected with the Centre in 2021 and since her son’s involvement in its rehabilitation programme compelled her to spend time at the Centre, she enrolled in the WDP and became a proficient cook.

Dushani is now employed as a regular cook at the Suwasetha Bakery at the centre. She also takes online orders for external catering assignments.

She is very grateful for the assistance provided by the Foundation, as, apart from the free-of-cost specialised care and attention provided to her son, which she would not be able to afford otherwise, it has also provided her with an independent identity, as well as the means of augmenting an otherwise modest family income. Her husband is a pastor.

Top: Dishani Bottom: Sanjani

Nishanthi Kurukulasooriya is the 36-year-old mother of two daughters and one son, all school-goers still, the eldest being 11 years. Her husband is a motor mechanic.

Nishanthi connected with the Moratuwa centre through a friend and joined the WDP training programme, acquiring skills in the fashioning of hand-crafted items. She had earlier received a basic training from the State-run National Hand-Craft Centre (NHCC). At Moratuwa she learnt the crafting of soft-toys, school bags, and handbags.

She has marketed her products through stalls organised by the MJFCF, and, also, to the many overseas members of the Dilmah family, who are regular visitors to the Centre. Additionally, she supplies a few top-end shops in Colombo.

Sanjani Fernando is a vivacious, self-confident, single woman of 26, who joined the Moratuwa Centre WDP in 2022. She has two younger sisters, one in the Colombo University and the other still in school.

At the Centre she joined the dress-making training circle, as it was free-of-cost and also because she had been attracted to sewing from early youth. Very soon she had become proficient enough to create her own designs and when she felt confident of her abilities, set up a personal website and an online order business. From an investment point of view, an online business was advantageous as it enabled her to keep overheads low and made her very competitive in a challenging market.

Whilst she took many individual orders, locally, she also supplied local shops and, before long, she was even servicing customers overseas, shipping her creations to individual clients in Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom. She said that many of her overseas customers were Sri Lankans living abroad.

Sanjani’s father is in the timber business whilst her mother is a housewife. She still lives with her parents, in Panadura, a large, busy town a few kilometres further south from the Moratuwa centre.

Her business provides her with a very good income, enabling her to support herself and, also, to assist her family. She expressed her gratitude to the MJFCF for having made it possible for her to lead a successful life as an independent entrepreneur.

Subashani Siribandu is a 38-year-old mother of two children, both still in secondary school. He husband is a heavy vehicle driver at Sarvodya, a large NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO).

Subashani was a pre-school teacher who followed the Centre cookery training programme and, thereafter, was employed at the Suwasetha Bakery at the Centre. She also accepts special cooking orders from outside, which she prepares from home with the assistance of her parents.

At her Moratuwa centre she also learnt handembroidery, computer usage, and English.

Her present lifestyle, made possible by the MJFCF, enables her to earn a greater income to supplement the otherwise modest family earnings, and, also, to

Clockwise from top-left: Subashani, Thushari, Nilanthi and Sankalpi

spend more time with her children. As if to support this statement, her younger child, a hyperactive three-year-old daughter, insisted on sitting in on the interview alongside her mother.

Sakuntala Sandamali is a 37-year-old mother of two school-going children. Her husband is a motor spare parts dealer. Having followed the cookery and sewing training programmes at the Centre, she is now employed permanently at the Suwasetha Bakery. She augments her income from employment by taking in outside orders as well.

The training and skill development made possible by the MJFCF have given her a sense of independence and personal freedom, especially as she is able to make a regular contribution to her family income and still spend time with her children.

Thushari Dilrukshi is a 48-year-old mother of two sons, both employed. Her husband works in building construction as a skilled technician.

She joined the Centre in 2017 and learnt dressmaking and soft-toy crafting skills. She takes in special orders for both and works on them from her own home. Thus, she earns an independent income on her own time. For her, the value is in the sense of achievement, personal freedom, and pride in herself that it gives her, which far supersedes the monetary benefits.

Sankalpi Balasuriya is 25 years old, unmarried, and joined the MJFCF programmes in Moratuwa in 2011 at the age of 12. Her father had been a professional

photographer who fell ill some years ago and, as a result, was unable to work regularly thereafter.

At the Centre she had learnt to play chess, became a Girl Guide, and then decided to try her hand at photography. First she had rented a cheap Canon camera and, initially, she had been given the opportunity of covering various events at the Centre itself. With this experience and the money she earned, supplemented by funding from her family, she had bought a professional camera and started covering important events at the Centre and, also, outside.

She now makes a living as a professional photographer and credits the training given, freeof-cost, at the MJFCF for enabling her to become an independent entrepreneur. She too, like many others, speaks with great appreciation of the life lessons absorbed at the Centre, more than of the technical trainings.

Nilanthi Fernando is a 66-year-old widowed mother of two sons and two daughters. One daughter, Malindika, works at the Moratuwa Centre. Nilanthi lives close-by, to the centre, with her youngest son.

She connected with the Centre in 2019, when she was at a low ebb mentally, largely on account of loneliness and the absence of useful engagement.

At the Centre she attends regular yoga classes and has also learnt dress-making, soft-toy crafting, and the sewing of pot-holders. She is also involved in other activities at the centre, such as music, singing,

Avurudu festivities, and speech-making.

Nilanthi says that her engagement with the centre has enabled her to combat depression and a sense of isolation from society. To her, the value of her connection with the centre is not quantitative but qualitative.

Leelani Perera – A Mentor Inspired by the MJFCF Leelani is a retired nursery teacher and the mother of one son who lives in Bahrain. She lives alone, within walking distance of the Moratuwa Centre. Her husband had died 24 years ago. She is an old girl of Ladies College, Colombo, a leading girls’ school in Sri Lanka.

She is also a fine dressmaker, having acquired the basic training, informally, from her mother, who herself had been a highly skilled seamstress. Leelani had worked at a soft-toy factory for about eight years before she decided to set up her own business.

Having heard about the work being done at the Centre, through its head, Rehana, her niece, Leelani had decided to make a voluntary contribution to the Dilmah cause of ‘Goodness,’ by providing free training in smocking, her personal specialty, to women who participate in the Centre’s training programmes at the Centre. She works as an instructor at the Centre at least one day of the week and, apart from the training, also gives the participants professional assignments for which she pays them on a piece-rate. The assignments do not have deadlines as she wants the contractors, all of whom are women with families to care for, not to feel

Top: Leelani Perera Centre: Rehana Wettasinghe- Manager, MJFCF Centres Bottom: Child education at the centre

pressurised, thus ensuring that the completion of assignments do not impact on the discharge of family obligations, as Leelani considers the latter to be far more important.

As she told the writer, “Life is not about money; all of us must do something for ourselves and we also need to pass on what knowledge we have, and make the lives of other people better,” echoing, in different words, the philosophy of the Founder of Dilmah.

CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION

A primary feature of the MJFCF is its concern for the lives of children. Apart from the special training programmes for children with special needs, 10 centres across the island have ongoing projects for making lives of children more meaningful. These give less-privileged children access to better education, through various platforms and initiatives. They address inadequacies in the conventional educational system in the teaching of important subjects, such as Mathematics, Science, and the languages. This programme has enriched the life prospects of over 3,500 children.

Of the 554 children supported by the MJF Scholarship programme, 309 have entered university.

THE DILMAH CULINARY SCHOOL

The Foundation-funded Empower Culinary and Hospitality School has groomed 252 underprivileged youth as professionals in the highly specialised field of professional chefs.

One of them, Dinesh, a 19-year-old youth from a worker’s family at Rilhena Estate, a Kahawatteowned tea-cum-rubber plantation, won a Gold Medal at the National Bocuse d’Or Competition, as a Sri Lankan representative at regional level. Soon thereafter, he had secured a position as a Commis Chef at a highly prestigious private island resort in the Maldives. Under normal circumstances, without the sponsorship of a kind benefactor, that is the kind of achievement which, sadly, would not even be in the realm of dreams for a young man from a plantation background. His elder brother, Ushanandan, had been a member of the very first group of culinary trainees at the Culinary School and is now working as a chef at a large hotel in Hikkaduwa, in the South of Sri Lanka.

As Dinesh said to the writer, had he not been provided this opportunity and training at no cost to himself, on finishing school he would have ended up either without employment or as a daily paid manual worker.

Dinesh’s parents, father Ramachandra and mother Sivana, are still working at Rilhena Estate.

Samanthi Wijesuriya, 30 years old and wheel-chair bound her entire life, offers an inspirational example of the impact of the Dilmah Culinary School and of triumph over adversity, facilitated, by her own admission, by the MJFCF.

Samanthi’s physical disability is attributed to a possible medical misadventure during birth itself. Born in Kegalle, a large town about 80 km from

Top: Dinesh, Bottom-left: Samanthi Bottom-right: Asela

Colombo, the capital city, to parents who were village cultivators working for a daily wage, she had been rejected by many schools in the region because of her disability. Finally, when she was eight years old, her parents had admitted her to a care home in the suburbs of Colombo, from where she had been sent to a nearby school which accepted children with special needs. She had lived in this home for about six years, learning to care for herself, whilst helping to care for other children with more severe disabilities than herself.

Subsequently she had received training in dressmaking at a rehabilitation centre and then worked in a plastics factory, where she had met her future husband, also wheel-chair bound. Together, after marriage, they had bought land and built a house for themselves. In 2018 she had joined the MJFCF at Moratuwa and sold her dress-making creations from a stall provided for her by the Foundation. She had then joined the Culinary School, graduated in 2023, and is now serving as an intern at the t-Lounge, Horton Place, Colombo 7. Her ambition is to one day open her own restaurant and catering service.

What impressed the writer most was her cheerfulness and total lack of self-pity as she recounted her obstacle-filled life story and the confidence with which she regarded the challenges of competing in a world designed for the fully-abled.

Asela Madushanka is a 24-year-old from the nearby town of Katubedda. His mother was a daily paid worker at the Katubedde campus and his father, a

carpenter. His elder brother, Nuwan, as a special needs child, had been through the Rainbow Kids rehabilitation programme at the Moratuwa Centre and is now employed at the Dilmah Conservation Organic Farm at the same premises.

Asela had joined the MJF Kids programme in 2011, at age 12, and profited greatly from the many free-ofcost teaching programmes provided by the Centre, which had added much value to his learnings at the nearby State-run school where he was a regular student.

He enrolled in the Dilmah Culinary School in 2016 and, on completion in 2017, had been employed at the Shangri-La, one of the newest and most exclusive 5-Star hotels in Colombo. Today, with a series of quick promotions, he is 1st Commis Chef at the hotel. He still spends time at the Moratuwa Centre, voluntarily contributing to its many training programmes. Speaking of his time at the Centre, he said what was of most value to him were the teachings in life skills that the centre programmes provided. He was deeply grateful for the speech and drama skills and leadership competencies that he acquired at the centre. As a member of the traditional dance training programme at the centre, Asela had become so proficient at Kandyan dancing, that for four consecutive years he has performed as a lead dancer in the annual ‘Kandy Esala Perahera’ –Lord Buddha’s Sacred Tooth Relic Exposition – which is the grandest and the most significant Buddhist event of its kind in Sri Lanka.

Asela repeatedly emphasised to the writer that with his very modest family economic status, his parents would never have been able to afford the paid training, which, under normal circumstances, his present position in life would have required.

Tharusha Basnayake, 23 years old, also from Katubedde, is another graduate of the MJFCF Culinary School who has made it to the upper levels of culinary service, in a relatively short time.

Tharusha’s father is a retired Government employee and his mother a housewife. A friend who had been through the Culinary School had introduced him to the programme and, on completion, he had been recruited as a Trainee Cook by Cinnamon Red, a popular 4-Star city hotel and part of the larger Cinnamon chain.

He too spoke with much gratitude about the life skills he learnt at the Moratuwa centre, which he considered to be as important as the technical skills that enabled him to find professional employment.

Kavindu Fernando is 25 years old and is employed by the Sri Lanka Police Department as a Police Constable, attached to the Thalangama Police Station, in the outskirts of Colombo.

Kavindu had been 13 years old when he connected with the MJFCF Moratuwa Centre, having heard about it from a school friend. At the Centre he had been able to improve his English language skills and mathematical knowledge and also acquired competence in Information and Computer

Top: Tharusha Bottom: Kavindu

Technology, the latter not available through normal school. He had also become a Scout, learnt Sign language, speech making, and chess, and become involved in drama. In chess he had even won competitions. He had also become a competent swimmer.

Kavindu, in short, had acquired a mixed basket of skills and interests which had added much depth and value to his personal and professional life, and given him the confidence to face situations and accept wide-ranging responsibilities in the outside world.

He attributes his selection to the Police Department to the confidence built within him through his wide-

ranging exposures at the Centre and the life skills he developed, thereby. He refers to the Centre as his real school and still spends much time there.

CARING FOR CHILDREN – CEREBRAL PALSY

Cerebral palsy is a disabling condition, arising from complications in the developing brain, which occur in the womb itself, with symptoms manifesting themselves from infancy or early childhood.

The Foundation has established a dedicated centre (the Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy and Other Developmental Disorders – CCCPDD) located a few kilometres from Colombo. Here, affected children are provided with education, therapy, and

Overcoming inadequacies and learning motor skills

training, to enable them to become independent and to fit into mainstream society. Family members are also educated in care-giving.

During the Covid pandemic, the staff of the Centre devised innovative strategies to support children deprived of mainstream education on account of the closure of schools. Classes were conducted in the open air, in empty buildings, community halls, and in backyards of houses, whilst a mobile library provided children with additional reading material.

A distinctive aspect of the activities of the Centre is its interaction with external society. Most of the participants of the rehabilitation and corrective therapy programmes conducted by the centre have families, parents, siblings, and kith and kin. Managing seriously disabled individuals, especially children with congenital physical and cognitive impairments, needs the loving engagement of families who first need to be trained to understand the complex nature of such afflictions. The MJFCF trains the caregiver along with the sufferer.

HELPING THE SICK TO HEAL

Funding and reinforcing State medical infrastructure in difficult areas with vulnerable, low income groups has been one focus of the MJFCF.

In 2016, the Foundation funded the construction, at a cost of Rs. 45 mn, of a new wing for the Kayts Base Hospital, 426 kilometres from Colombo and 23 kilometres from Jaffna, the capital city of the Northern Province of the island. It benefited over 4,0000 citizens in one of the northernmost points in

Specialised attention for special children

Left: Foundation caring for the sick Right: The Kayts Hospital new wing offers a lifeline to the people of the area

Sri Lanka. The importance of the enhanced facilities was that patients, victims of accidents, sudden illnesses, and snake bites – the latter a very common occurrence in an area with a high proportion of poisonous reptiles – were now able to obtain immediate treatment, instead of having to travel to distant Jaffna.

In 2020, at the height of the Covid pandemic, the Foundation handed over 10,000 RNA testing kits at a value of Rs. 44 mn to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health.

In 2021, the Foundation, together with Kahawatte Plantations, at a cost of Rs. 25 mn, donated a fully-equipped High Dependency Care Unit for severe Covid patients, to the Nawalapitiya District General Hospital, a Government Base Hospital. The Nawalapitiya region – part of the larger Central Province of Sri Lanka – is located mid-way between the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya Districts and is home to seven of the Kahawatte PLC tea plantations.

The hospital serves the needs of around 500,000 residents, of whom over 70% live on the plantations, which includes plantations owned by other companies as well. The initiative was also part of the Foundation’s wider plan to reinforce State health infrastructure facilities in the plantation areas.

Although the provision of the care unit was the Dilmah response to the immediate needs of Covid patients, the unit will go beyond the pandemic, in enhancing the hospital’s capacity to care for high-risk patients with severe respiratory problems.

Top/Centre: New equipment at Nawalapitiya Bottom: Karan Family, Rajan Asirwatham & Dilhan opening the Point Pedro women’s care complex

In 2022, the Foundation, in association with the Barbara Karan Foundation of Hamburg, Germany, donated a 90-bed, three-storey complex, specially meant for the care of women, to the Point Pedro Government Hospital. The total investment cost was Rs. 110 mn. Point Pedro is 400 km from Colombo and is the northernmost point of the island of Sri Lanka.

The previous wards were over a century old and dilapidated, severely limiting capacity and facilities for the 150,000 plus local residents that this hospital serves. The new wing, which will house Psychiatric, Medical, and Surgical Wards and consultation rooms, will ease existing capacity constraints and increase bed strength to about 400.

ERADICATING DISEASE – FIGHTING CERVICAL CANCER

In Sri Lanka, cervical cancer affects 1,500 women annually, resulting in a near 50% fatality rate. However, it is a form of cancer which can be eliminated or fatalities minimised substantially, with the timely implementation of appropriate counterstrategies which include education and knowledge sharing, vaccination, screening, early detection, and competently-managed treatment.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022, nearly 94% of cervical cancer deaths, globally, occurred in low and middle-income countries, because of limited access to public health services, insufficient screening and treatment, and ignorance of early symptoms. By that measure, few diseases reflect global inequity as much as cancer of the cervix does.

In 2019, the Rotary Club of Colombo and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) united for a revolutionary first step towards eradicating this disease. However, further progress was stifled due to competing economic priorities, until Dilmah joined the compact.

In January, 2024, Dilmah, through the MJFCF, entered into an agreement with the Rotary and the GOSL, pledging formal support to the initiative, with the stated aim of eradicating cervical cancer in Sri Lanka by 2030.

This pivotal compact was signed by Dilhan C. Fernando (CEO, Dilmah Tea and Trustee of the MJFCF), the Minister of Health, and the President of the Rotary Club of Colombo, in the presence of Gordon McInally, the President of Rotary International. With the signing, the MJFCF committed an initial Rs. 75 mn to fund essential test kits for early disease detection.

CANCER IN CHILDREN

Whilst the incidence of cancer amongst children is not common, recent studies have indicated an increase of cancer incidence in the under-14 age group, even in Sri Lanka. Paediatric awareness and early detection are essential for successful treatment and Dilmah has canvassed both local and global support in raising awareness on this issue.

Dilmah, on its part, has pledged to dedicate a sum of Rs. 10 for every share of a designated video, dedicating it to Suwa Arana, the first Paediatric

Palliative Care Centre in Sri Lanka for cancer patients. Suwa Arana provides children and families with free accommodation, meals, and other essential services during the generally lengthy treatment periods. Over 22,000 patients have been treated so far and over 330 children supported, in the last six months alone.

TRANSPORTING THE SICK

A major difficulty faced by communities, especially amongst low-income groups, living in outstation areas with unreliable public transport and scarcity of private alternatives, is transport of the sick to hospitals.

The Foundation, in collaboration with Kahawatte Plantations, has pledged its commitment to the adoption of seven ambulances through the ‘Suwa Seriya’ ambulance service (provided by the Government of India, in an agreement with the Sri Lankan Government). The annual cost of the commitment is Rs. 35 mn and the vehicles will serve Nawalapitiya, Kahawatte, Hatton, and Nuwara Eliya – all plantation regions – and Jaffna in the North and Batticaloa in the East.

MJFCF CENTRE – EASTERN SRI LANKA

The Eastern Province of Sri Lanka was, for over two decades, directly impacted by Sri Lanka’s long civil war. With its long coastline of over 300 km, it was also ravaged by the 2004 tsunami. It is a province in which the main livelihoods are farming, fishing, and related occupations, and an area in which the civil administration is hard pressed to meet the normal

Top: Signing of MoU with Ministry of Health and the president of the Rotary Club of Colombo Bottom: ‘Suwa Seriya’ ambulance service

Battiacaloa lagoon

needs of the community. Its total population is about 1.7 million, whilst in the Batticaloa district, where the eastern arm of the MJFCF is located, the population is around 600,000.

The administrative capital of the region is Batticaloa, the largest and most densely populated city in the province. It is located in close proximity to three large lagoons, which, collectively, sustained fishing and shrimp farming industries, the two major livelihood avenues for a large proportion of the resident population of the district. The shrimp farming industry, badly affected by the long civil war, was practically decimated by the 2004 tsunami and never recovered.

In 2018, on a 20-acre site in Kalkudah, 35 km from Batticaloa town, the MJFCF opened a fully equipped centre, similar in infrastructure and provision of rehabilitation and therapeutic facilities, to its Moratuwa counterpart. Previously a barren extent of land with dry sandy soil, hosting a few gnarled cashew trees and sterile coconut palms, it has been transformed, in just six years, into a leafy, wooded oasis of healing and comfort to the disadvantaged and the needy. In a region less well-equipped in every aspect of infrastructure, than the other more densely populated provinces of the island, the Kalkudah centre provides an invaluable service to the community.

The services and the correctional and remedial facilities provided by both these centres, especially for children with special needs, are not available

in any of the mainstream schools in the relevant areas and only meagrely met, in overcrowded Staterun rehabilitation facilities. In addition, what the MJFCF provides, free of cost to the beneficiary, is not affordable to low-income families, because of cost, from private therapy providers.

ACTIVITY CENTRES

As in the Moratuwa Centre, much of the action at MJFCF East revolves around rehabilitation and therapy programmes for physically and neurally challenged children. As one enters, the neat row of wheelchairs lining the entrance, where, normally, motor vehicles and bicycles would be parked, immediately conveys the message that this is a special facility.

The Centre is headed by Safeeka Mohammed, a lady with considerable previous experience in similar projects, assisted by Priyan, the Premises Manager. The Foundation’s conservation initiatives are overlooked by Nidarshan, a retired Government servant with wide experience in agriculture, especially coconut and cashew.

The Centre supports 40-60 Down syndrome children daily, whose rehabilitation and therapeutic programmes are managed by seven specially-trained teachers, including two psychotherapists and two speech therapists. The training includes the delivery of reading and writing and other class-room skills, with equal emphasis on life skills. The primary objective is to make these children less dependent on institutional support and enable them to fit more

OPPOSITE: Top: Aerial view of Kalkudah, MJFCF Centre: Bottom-leaft: Culinary class Bottom-right: Coaching special children Kalkudah

comfortably into mainstream society. The acquisition of such skills also makes them less dependent on family support, so that they are able to take care of themselves and their basic personal needs, on their own, especially in their homes.

Since most of these children find it difficult, at this stage of their lives, to travel by public transport –generally unreliable in the region – the cost of daily hired transport is met by the Foundation. In some cases, depending on family circumstances, the reimbursement rate ranges from 100% to 70% of the total. Children are also given a nutritious mid-day meal.

The rehabilitation activities of the centre take place in separate sections of a long, segmented singlefloored building, constructed in a zig-zag pattern, so as to benefit from maximum cross- ventilation and natural light. An equally long central open space, a shady tree-lined arbour, protected on all sides by the buildings, houses the play area for children. It is complete with swings, roundabouts, and seesaws, well reinforced and protected with sturdy railings, built to accommodate wheelchairs and to ensure child-safety. There is also a separate space for parents, from where they can watch their children at play. The instructors and minders watch over the children whilst they are at play, quite often assisting them in various activities.

The centre sports ground, with its pavilion and other ancillary facilities, is good enough to host nationallevel sporting events.

CLASSROOM CHALLENGES

The children’s classrooms are sacred places and visitors are requested to leave foot-wear outside before they enter. Sitting at the back of a room full of Down syndrome children, all seated crosslegged on the floor, it is difficult not to be moved by the eagerness with which the children participate in reading, writing, and general comprehension, despite obvious inherent inadequacies. Several of the mothers too sit with their respective children, encouraging them with gentle affection and supporting the teacher. A major aspect of the rehabilitation of challenged children is the training of the parent in managing the child. For the training to be successful, the classroom process has to continue at home as well.

One child, Minnath, a 15-year-old boy, born without hearing and, as a result, unable to speak till he entered the centre programme two years ago, now speaks simple sentences in English and writes confidently as well. When this writer wrote his name on the classroom white board, in Tamil, Minnath pronounced the difficult Sinhala name and was able to write it correctly on the board, in English. The teacher, Dushalini, beamed proudly. Little victories like that, achieved through years of loving dedication, are major milestones in the lives of the disadvantaged.

Minnath is being brought up by his grandmother, as the mother is working in the Middle East, a very common circumstance in low-income families in outstation areas of Sri Lanka.

The Physiotherapy section is handled by Charles Nirojan, the section head, and his assistant, Devasudarshana – both graduates of Peradeniya and specialists in children’s rehabilitation therapy. At the time of the visit there were two children with serious mobility problems being patiently and lovingly put through simple exercises designed to improve physical coordination.

In another room, a little girl with pronounced Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was being gently coaxed to blow soap bubbles by speech therapist Katheesvaran.

In the culinary school training programme, currently the eighth batch of 22 students, which includes one female, is undergoing training. The course spans 12 months, of which the first six months is theory and the next six months, on-the-job learning. Trainees are given lessons in English, with an emphasis on speech and Information and Computer Technology.

Students, representing all three communities (Tamil, Sinhalese, and Muslim) are from different areas of the country – Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Gampaha, Batticaloa, and even Colombo. Outstation students are provided hostel facilities, free of charge. There is also a separate dormitory for girls, which is supervised by a female warden. At the time of the visit it was closed as, in the current batch, there is only one female trainee and that too from the area.

Of the previous trainees, 70% are employed in the hotel industry and some have become head chefs in major hotels. Nojitha, a former female trainee, is

Minnath

today the Head Chef of Jetwing Jaffna, a 4-star hotel and the biggest in the Northern Province.

The trainers for the current programme are Mohammed Rizwan and Jude Anderson, both specialists in the hospitality industry.

Computer and Advanced ICT training is another programme being offered. by the centre. The current group comprises 22 students, instructed by computer specialist T. Vishahar, and one assistant.

In the evenings, for students arriving after normal school, there are also special English, Mathematics and Science classes, for which the normal cost of tuition would be out of reach of students from lowincome groups.

The Beauty Culture training programme is proving to be very popular, with the second batch of 20 girls presently under training. Many of the students of the previous batch have already found employment, some of them in the area itself.

Dilojinie, a 27-year-old resident of Kalkudah, was a member of the first batch of students in the Beauty Culture programme. Today, from her own home, she runs a beauty parlour which she has equipped with assistance from the Foundation. Her husband, Kiritharan, had been working in a company in Qatar as a fire-technician but had returned recently, as the establishment had closed down.

Dilojinie very proudly showed us her tariff for various items of beauty care and the income she had earned

Dilojinie, beauty care from her home

so far from her business, all meticulously maintained in her own handwriting.

RAHUL KUMAR

–

CYCLE REPAIR TECHNICIAN

Wedged between a private house and a printing establishment, on Bailey Street, a narrow connecting road between two main roads in Batticaloa town, is a 10x8 shed, facing the road. It is shaded by a gnarled and knotty Jamaican Cherry (jam fruit, colloquially) tree. That is where Rahul Kumar, a slim,

wiry, 57-year-old man with cropped hair, deaf and speechless from birth but face lit with a sunny smile, practices his craft.

In 2011 he had obtained a compressor, fully financed by the Foundation, which had enabled him to expand the scope of his business, without having to enlarge the size of his workshop, which is located in a corner of his sister Dharmendri’s front garden.

The expansion of his business increased his revenue and enabled him to send his elder son, Priyanthan, to Sri Jayewardenepura University, where he had earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He is now an executive at the Batticaloa Branch of Ceylinco Insurance, one of the leading insurers in Sri Lanka. His second son, Thilaksan, is an Advanced Level student at a leading school in Batticaloa and is expected to sit for his university entrance examination next year. These are outcomes he had not even dreamt of, when he first sought assistance from the Foundation.

Rahul Kumar’s workshop is cramped and unpretentious, the broken cement floor littered with dried leaves, old nuts and bolts, small pieces of scrap iron, and other debris. Bicycle wheels, rims, and other metal objects lean against the walls and from hooks hang several old tyres and tubes. One wall is of un-plastered brick and the other is just a rusty, unpainted, corrugated iron sheet. The trunk of the cherry tree serves as one support to a corrugated iron awning, which is also the front door of the shop. It does not look like an establishment which has already sent one young man to university with another waiting in the wings for his opportunity.

When we visited the shop, his wife, Kamala, was also helping him. Despite the general disorder of the place, Rahul Kumar, dressed in a blue denim workman’s suit with tools protruding from its pockets, looked every inch the professional technician.

Rahul Kumar

The cost of the compressor had been around Rs. 41,000, but, provided without any strings and with Kumar’s desire to make life better for his family as the only collateral, it has delivered inestimable value in the many lives it has enriched. That is an outcome conventional lending institutions can never achieve.

SURENDRAN PUVANENDRAN – THE REINVENTION OF A MASON

Puvanendran had been a skilled mason, earning a regular income, till a tragic accident in 2013, involving a live electric cable, caused him severe injury. In order to save his life, doctors had amputated both his legs just below the knee. As a double amputee, he was unable to practice the only

trade he knew and, in order to sustain himself and his family, he had set up a bicycle repair shop, in Karuppiah Kerni, another narrow street not very far from Rahul Kumar’s workshop. At the time of the accident, his only child, daughter Aksiya, had been 10 months old.

Both establishments were strangely similar, including the ubiquitous Jamaican Cherry tree. The extent was more or less the same and so were the equipment and other debris. To describe one is to describe the other. The only difference was that in Puvanendran’s workshop there was a rough plank bench, obviously for visitors and customers, placed in the shade of the cherry tree.

In July 2023 he had obtained a compressor and additional equipment, fully funded by the MJFCF, enabling him to expand the scope of his business considerably, including the extension of his services to four-wheeled vehicles as well.

Puvenendran’s shop is located just in front of his modest but sturdily built house, much of it personally constructed by him before his accident. His wife, Pushparani, helps him in the shop, occasionally. Most of his work is done seated on the oil-stained floor of his workshop, as he finds it more convenient.

The main ambition of this couple is to provide a sound education to their daughter, their only child. Pushparani confided in the writer that since the work in the shop disturbed Aksiya in her studies, they had decided to build a separate room for her, away from the noise. After the introduction of the compressor and the resulting increase in revenue, they had been able to save enough to commence the construction and expected to complete it early next year.

The equipment had cost the Foundation Rs. 141,000 but, in just a few months, it has delivered unquantifiable value to Puvenendran and his family.

Puvanendran - overcoming disability

WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE – KALKUDAH

Mathiavathini of Kiran, Kalkudah, is a 43-year-old mother of four children. Helped by a 2” water pump obtained through the Foundation, in early 2023, she has cultivated a half-acre land which she owns, with ground-nut and other vegetables. With the income generated by her cultivation, she has leased a 3-acre extent in Thoppigala, a few kilometres away, and is planning to cultivate that as well, once a counter strategy is found for frequent elephant incursions in that area. During our visit to her cultivation, the enterprising lady discussed with Centre Head Safeeka, the possibility of obtaining Foundation assistance to set up a solar-powered electric fence in the Thoppigala land. Very prudently, she was not prepared to start cultivation work until she was assured of a workable solution to the elephant problem.

All her four children are boys and the eldest, Mathan Prakash, 24 years old, was employed by the Centre

after he successfully completed an Information Technology course conducted at the Centre itself. He very proudly accompanied us to his mother’s cultivation.

Mathiavathini employs four female workers a day, on a regular basis, on her cultivation, whilst her husband, Mathan, too, works on the land. At the time of our visit she, with her employees and her husband were busy on the land, sorting out the ground-nut harvest.

The water pump, costing Rs. 136,000, has enriched not only Mathiavathini’s life but her community as well, through the additional employment she has been able to provide.

Tissanayagi, 50 years old and also from Kalkudah, housewife turned cultivator, has been supported by the Foundation in various ways since 2022. She has been given a variety of vegetable plants from the Foundation’s nursery, at cost, which is one-third the market cost of the same varieties.

Mathiavathini with her team

Tissanayagi - successful vegetable cultivator

Apparently, she had turned to cultivation as a therapy, to counter her distress and depression arising from the tragic death of her eldest son in Sri Lanka’s civil war. An activity which she turned to for mental solace, with assistance from the Foundation in the form of a water pump and ancillaries, is now a regular source of income. With the income from her cultivation, she and her husband, Parameswaran, have leased out a 2-acre extent of land in close proximity, where they are planning to cultivate ground-nut and paddy. However, as in the case of Mathiavathini, they are also looking for a viable solution to the elephant problem.

When we visited her cultivation she was busy harvesting aubergines (eggplant) from her vegetable garden, for dispatch to market. She spoke to us with a basin full of brilliant, purple fruits balanced on her hip.

With the additional income generated after the introduction of the equipment, facilitated by the MJFCF, she has also built a new house on another part of the land. However, her old house has not been dismantled. It still stood, a bit derelict and part of its cadjan (dried coconut fronds) roof sagging, the difference between the old and the new silent testimony to the improvement in her livelihood and family living conditions, resulting from the Foundation’s intervention. All these improvements to her life was the result of the provision of the water pump, which cost the Foundation Rs . 34,000.

Of her two younger children, both daughters, one is

following an Information Technology course at the Kalkudah Centre.

Uthayashanthini is a 53-year-old widow with one daughter. She has been able to give full expression to her entrepreneurial spirit with a little assistance from the Foundation.

A chilli grinder, provided to her by the Foundation at a cost of Rs. 142,000, has enabled her to tap into the local demand. She has set up a business from home, making and selling evening snacks, rearing chickens, reselling clothes, making rice flour, and distributing tea powder.

Suhanthini, 41 years old, is a single parent from Valaichanai, with two young children and an elderly mother to support. The Foundation furnished her with a coconut grinder at a cost of Rs. 19,000 and the equipment to make string hoppers. Today, she caters to several small eating houses and is planning to open her own restaurant. Her day starts at 1 a.m. every day, so that she can deliver her food to her customers by 6 a.m.

Suhanthini’s story, and the few others which have been narrated here, are just a handful plucked from the many hundreds which reflect the impact that the Foundation has created in the many disadvantaged communities it has been assisting. The outcomes reflect the resilience and the entrepreneurial spirit that lie within many marginalised people, which only requires the right conditions and caring support to blossom. Despite intergenerational poverty, lack of material resources, low education, and the

terrible emotional burden of personal tragedies, these simple people remain strong and spirited. They have been relegated to destitution through ungovernable external forces and their inability to access meaningful assistance. All they needed to raise themselves and their dependents, were understanding hearts with whom they could share their pain, a little kindness, and simple tools given without crippling attached conditions. These are outcomes which cannot be produced by conventional institutions, which simply measure success in terms of numbers on a ledger or a balance sheet, whilst ignoring the vital element of the suffering of a permanent underclass of society.

AN OUTSIDER’S VIEW- “SINGING FISH AND THE MJF FOUNDATION”

Padma Rao Sundarji, an Indian national, is a veteran foreign correspondent based in New Delhi. As the long-standing South Asian bureau chief of the prestigious German newsmagazine, “Der Speigel”, till 2012, she had provided wide coverage of Sri Lanka during its long civil war. Her reportage was reinforced by extensive travel within the combat areas, as well as by personal interviews with politicians and war leaders of both factions, including Prabhakaran, the LTTE supremo. Her Sri Lankan experiences across two decades are detailed in a fascinating book, “Sri Lanka, The New Country” (published in 2015).

In her book she speaks of the impact of the rehabilitation and humanitarian work carried out in the Batticaloa region, by the MJFCF, led by S.

Top: Suhanthini, caterer

Bottom: Book on Sri Lanka by Padma Rao Sundarji

Kamalanathan of the MJFCF, with the assistance of his local partner in Batticaloa, pastor Ravi. This was before the Kalkudah Centre was set up.

Below are a few relevant extracts from her book, from the segment under the heading, “Batticaloa, the Singing Fish and the MJF Foundation”.

“……But the charming phenomenon of the singing fish aside, there were serious problems that threatened livelihoods, the fragile ecology and therewith the marine life of Batticaloa’s lagoons.

The lagoons are surrounded by densely populated areas where the mainly rural Batticaloans cultivated rice, coconut and many other crops. Shrimp farming once flourished. But the mangrove swamps that attracted a wide variety of sea birds and allowed fish to spawn unhindered were almost completely destroyed both during the war and again by the tsunami of 2004.

Merrill J. Fernando, after whom the foundation is named, is the founder of Sri Lanka’s best and globally renowned tea company, Dilmah, which is now run by his sons.

After the war ended, the MJFoundation, which was already working across the country, went to work in the north and the east too. Here, in Batticaloa and with the help of Pastor Ravi, it rehabilitates war widows and people disabled in the war, by giving them occupations and –where needed- tools to start a new life.

Ms Sundarji recounts her meetings with recipients of the Foundation’s assistance;

We soon pull up outside a village, off a dirt track leading to the ocean. I meet Sivasambu Teresia, who lives here with her parents and one daughter. Her face lights up when she sees the jeep and she is warm towards me.

“I lost three brothers in the war- the youngest was eighteen”, says the fifty-two-year-old softly. “He was taken away by commanders”.

I ask whom she means by “commanders”- the army? The police? She shakes her head uncertainly. All she knows is that they wore khaki uniforms.

Teresia was given a brick-making machine by the MJFoundation.

Forty four year old Mahendran Komaleswari is tending to her cow and its newborn calf, when our jeep draws up. The cow was gifted to her by the MJFoundation...” I do not know what I would have done if it were not for Pastor Ravi and this programme. I cook in households and also have an additional income from the milk from the cow.” ( Sri Lanka, the New Country- Padma Rao Sundarji)

Komaleswari is a single mother with two children, eighteen and ten years old, respectively. Her husband disappeared during the war, in 2006, and despite desperate appeals to both the State authorities and former LTTE leaders, she has not been able to find him. Her story mirrors that of thousands of other women, largely in both the North and the East, and to a lesser degree in a few other regions of the country, where the male head of the house has either been

lost in the fighting, or disappeared in a war- related incident, never to be seen again.

These two anecdotes- related by a complete outsider, familiar with the impact of both war and natural calamity on society in other countries as well- portray the influence of simple gifts, low-cost tools, on the lives of marginalised people.

GREENING BATTICALOA

Batticaloa, which features prominently in the narrative of the MJFCF East, is the largest city in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, which is a very dry region. Apart from the battering that its long coast line received from the 2004 tsunami, about 30 years before that, both the cultivated trees and natural

forest of the area were denuded by a hurricane of massive proportions. These natural disasters had a permanent adverse impact on the main livelihoods in the area, which are fishing, farming, coconut cultivation, and cashew cultivation. The civil society in the region was also deeply affected by Sri Lanka’s three-decade civil war and, according to the Sri Lanka Department of Census and Statistics report of 2019, 27% of the households in the province are led by single women.

Batticaloa is also a region without any large industrial complexes and, as a result, blue-collar and technical employment opportunities are limited.

Dilmah Conservation devised a dual purpose strategy, to improve the region’s forest cover and, simultaneously, to provide a community livelihood, through the planting of one million cashew trees across home gardens and small farms, over a 10year period. In keeping with the Foundation’s WDP initiative, most of the beneficiaries were single women.

The project commenced in 2010 and was completed in 2019. All the trees, from an over 70% success rate, are in full bearing, and the highly sought-after fruit has enabled thousands of individual families to earn revenue from the sale of the product.

The second phase of the project has now commenced, with the target of planting cashew on 400 acres, with the participation of 200 farmers. The pilot project, of planting cashew in 20 acres, is already underway.

Safeeka Mohammed , MJFCF Centre Manger, East

Navamany with her cashew harvest

Our team visited 62-year-old Navamany Chelliah of Kalkudah, a beneficiary from the first phase of the programme. She had six large cashew trees growing in her garden – very close to the Centre – all bearing well. She was also very familiar with the postharvest management of the fruit, having worked for 10 years previously in a cashew processing centre in Minuwangoda, a large town about 40 km from Colombo.

She gets between 8-10 kg of fruit per tree, on an average, and if the weather has been kind, the yield can increase up to 20 kg. The raw, unshelled nuts sell for between Rs. 500-800 at the farm gate. Processed and ready for the table, a kilo costs around Rs. 6,000 today.

At the time of our visit most of the fruit had been harvested but there were still a few ripe fruit on the trees, which Navamany plucked for our inspection. According to Nidarshan, Manager of Dilmah Conservation in the East and a cashew expert, consequent to the cashew planting initiative by the Foundation, the region’s annual cashew yield had increased by about 40%. However, more important than the financial impact was the beneficial effect on the environment. Even at noon on a harshly sunny day, Navamany’s garden was an oasis of shade, and definitely a couple of degrees cooler than out in the open.

According to Safeeka, when the Centre’s Cashew Processing Unit recommences operations, Nawamany will be the team leader. Apart from

that, she had a much greater claim to distinction, as Nawamany very proudly told the writer, when the construction of the Centre commenced in 2018, the Founder, Merrill J. Fernando, had selected Navamany, a senior resident of the area, to ceremonially place the foundation stone for the first building. It would be difficult to conceive of a more fitting way of respecting and engaging the community, in an enterprise designed for public benefit.

In his autobiography Merrill speaks of the impact of war on family life.

“The collateral damage of armed conflict is most visible in the resultant disruption to family life. Men go to war, whilst wives, mothers, and sisters stay back to look after the home and the children. In our war, as in such conflicts elsewhere in the world, many of the men did not return, leaving families to be led by single women. This problem seemed to be more acute in the north and the east than elsewhere in our country.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Mid day meal programme at Kahawatte Plantations

THE FOUNDATION IN THE PLANTATIONS

Commencing from 2004, the Foundation has been very active in the plantation sector. Its generosity has been extended to over 45 plantations, across Elpitiya, Talawakelle, and Kahawatte Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs), and Dunkeld Estate, the latter the Fernando family holding. This represents 13% of the total RPC extent in the country, with a total resident population of 138,000, comprising 26,000 families.

Through its intervention with 84 plantation Child Development Centres (CDCs), the Foundation assists nearly 3,000 children under five years of age. The plantation children’s programmes consist of early childhood education, nutritional enhancement, provision of school accessories, scholarships for students for Advanced Level and university education, and infrastructure improvements to the CDCs. A daily mid-day meal programme benefits around 900 children below the age of five. The to-date contribution to the latter, by the MJFCF, is around Rs. 44 mn.

Meanwhile, 68 CDCs have been upgraded since the inception of the programme.

Udeni de Silva, a Sri Lankan student attached to Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, conducted research into the impact of the mid-day meals programme. An extract from the report, published in 2019, states:

“Results show that having access to the MJFCF midday meals programme by living in a plantation that

hosts the programme, has clear positive impacts on the growth of children, indicating the role of the mid-day meals in supporting both long-term and short-term growth.”

Since 2008, close to 10,000 children have benefited from the receipt of school bags and school accessories.

EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TO PLANTATION YOUTH

Educational support in the plantation sector is of special significance to the youth of the plantations who, because of the nature of the plantation society, are unable to get the best benefit from the mainstream education system.

“Most plantation youth, male and female, because of overcrowded housing, a reluctance to engage in the traditional manual work of their parents, the desire for easy money, and the real need for augmenting family income, drop out very early from educational systems and seek employment outside… Without assistance from specially-designed schemes, providing plantation youth access to higher education, the plantation sector will remain, well into the foreseeable future, a source of unskilled, low-paid labour, for the benefit of the more affluent external society.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The MJFCF scholarship grant programme, which was launched in order to address the above issues, commenced in 2004 and extends across Kahawatte, Talawakelle, and Elpitiya Plantation companies, and Dunkeld Estate.

Scholarships are provided to students for Advanced Level and university education. Since its inception, 384 students who came through the scholarship programme have qualified for university education in Management Studies, Architecture, Sociology, Estate Management, Law, and Medicine, while 275 students have been provided with scholarships in the Advanced Level stream, leading up to university qualifying examinations.

Two medical doctors and two lawyers have already qualified and are practicing. In a first achievement of its kind, the current Judge of the Magistrate’s Court of Jaffna – the capital city of the Northern Province – is from a plantation family, who has come

through the MJFCF scholarship programme. Todate, the programme has supported 698 students with scholarships, of whom 384 are in various university faculties, including five in the Medicine study streams. The latter, with its strict limitations on annual intakes and stringent entry requirements, is the most difficult-to-access field of tertiary education in Sri Lanka, especially for youth from less privileged backgrounds.

To-date, the total committed grant for education is Rs. 44 mn.

The plantation infrastructure and common amenities project, funded by the MJFCF, handles the construction of new Child Development Centres (CDCs), health centres, re-roofing of plantation workers’ houses, water supply and sanitation, field and factory restrooms, supply of ergonomic plucking baskets, and new primary schools and information technology centres. About 3,000 children and 800 families have benefited and, as outright donations, the total investment since 2014 has been around Rs. 185 mn.

Apart from infrastructure improvement, medical aid and health programmes for children under five addressed the screening of 1,400 children for developmental disorders and referral for appropriate treatment, as necessary. School-going plantation children have been provided with school bags.

The total disbursement for all of the above, through the MJFCF, is around Rs. 566 mn, to date.

Lawyer U Wasanthamalar of Dessford Estate

CARING – THE QUALITATIVE OUTCOME

In most large enterprises, ‘corporate social responsibility,’ the accountability for society and environment, tends to be represented in balance sheets in terms of annual financial outlay. The difference that Dilmah makes, through the outreach of the MJFCF, is its focus on quality of outcome and not on cosmetic effect or stark numbers; the diminution of dependence and the development of independence in regard to disadvantaged individuals and communities and, in the case of environment, the sustainability of rehabilitation, restoration, and protection. In all these issues, education, sciencebased analysis, specialist participation, information gathering and sharing, and institutional and community engagement, have been key features which, taken together, represent ‘sustainable empowerment’.

The services of the many MJFCF centres spread out across Sri Lanka are provided by trained

personnel with special skills, who demonstrate dedication well above normal job responsibility. The skills of the caregiver, the trainer, the therapist, and the counsellor need to be delivered with love, understanding, and empathy. These people, unfortunately too numerous to be named here – as identifying a few only would be a disservice to the rest – have been inspired by the Founder’s passion and caring.

The success of the many initiatives of the Foundation, which can be interpreted in the smiles and the developing skills of children impaired from birth, in the new-found independence of marginalised individuals and families, in the educational success of children from low-income families, and the regeneration of a denuded forest, are the real indicators of lasting impact. The money spent was just the means.

Children at a Child Development Centres

Children from Somerset Estate with teacher

RECOGNITION

At the Annual Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability (BCCS) Awards, 2023, Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company was placed in the top 10 in the ‘Corporate Citizen’ ranking and, also, received the First Runner-Up award for ‘Planning and Adoption of Resilient Practices’. The MJFCF Rainbow Horizon Project, along with the Endana Bio-Diversity Corridor, were adjudged as being the ‘Best’ in the ‘Project Sustainability’ category.

REACHING OUT ACROSS THE SEA NEW ZEALAND

From the very beginning, New Zealand has been a happy place for Dilmah. For 30 years, the “Dilmah Cuppa” has brightened the lives of native New Zealanders. Their appreciation of Dilmah is not only as a tea brand with authenticity but, also, as an ambassador for goodwill and Human Service.

In 1997, true to the Dilmah philosophy of business being a matter of Human Service, the Foundation partnered with Hospice, New Zealand, an organisation which provides cost-free, palliative care to terminally ill patients, to supply free Dilmah Tea to inmates, care-givers, visitors, staff, and volunteer workers.

Dilmah has also supported the Hospice with an on - pack promotion in 2020, to raise awareness of the services it provides and how to access support.

AUSTRALIA

In a separate initiative, in Australia, Dilmah has joined the battle against childhood cancer. In collaboration with the My Room Children’s Cancer Charity, Australia, the Foundation has been assisting children with cancer and, also, their families. A proportion of the receipts from the sales of Premium Ceylon Tea 50s, sold through select outlets, are diverted to the charity to fund affected families and buy medical equipment, as well as for clinical care and research.

Award winners from Dilmah

Merrill Fernando flanked by representatives from Hospice, NZ

VIETNAM

In Vietnam, Dilmah has partnered with the Hieu Ve Trai Tim (Understanding the Heart) Fund, which supports children of underprivileged families, suffering from heart diseases. Between 2010 and 2015, the organisation has funded surgeries for 1,400 children, sponsored nutrition programmes for 1,700 disadvantaged students in remote areas, and given 105 scholarships.

CHILE – HELP FOR CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME

In 2022, timed for Christmas, Dilmah supported the Chile, ‘Edudown Foundation,’ with 10% of total proceeds of Dilmah sales. The Edudown Foundation supports a virtual platform, facilitating access to knowledge, strategies, and activities which enhance early stimulation in children with Down syndrome, irrespective of location and family finances.

Dilmah Premium Ceylon funding medical care in Australia, centreDilhan at the Vietnam Heart Foundation, bottom- Helping Down Syndrome children in Chile.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Dilmah and Nature

The Sustainability of the Brand

Dilmah owes its success to the quality of Ceylon Tea. Therefore, the business was founded on an enduring connection to the land and the communities in which it operates. Dilmah has pioneered a comprehensive commitment to minimizing its impact on the planet, fostering respect for the environment and ensuring its protection by encouraging a harmonious coexistence of man and nature. Dilmah believes that conservation is ultimately about people and the future of the human race, that efforts in conservation have been associated with human well-being and poverty reduction outcomes. These core values allow Dilmah to meet and exceed customer expectations of sustainability.

Cup of Kindness

Clockwise from top-left: Feeding an abandoned baby, Variety in the plantation - tea, forest and falling water, Butterfly garden and The Dilmah Conservation Sustainable Agriculture Research Center (DCSARC)

Dilmah is a product of the land and the soil of Sri Lanka and that is an enduring link to nature, which Dilmah works ceaselessly to sustain, strengthen, and protect. Ensuring sustainability, by minimising negative impact on society and environment and, where appropriate, implementing remedial strategies, implies a recurrent cost with only a qualitative return. It requires an approach which involves integrating environmental, social, and economic considerations, and bringing ethical business conduct into enterprise strategies and the decision-making process.

A key feature of the Dilmah enterprise ethos is that, despite the pandemic-influenced economic decline and financial insecurity arising from the recent fiscal meltdown in the country itself, there was no cutback on the Dilmah sustainability drive. In fact, that Dilmah was able to emerge largely unscathed by such adverse conditions is due to its focus on sustainable management.

Merrill J. Fernando was inspired to actively assist in the conservation of nature, many years ago, whilst travelling to an overseas destination, after watching an in-flight movie titled ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ produced by Al Gore, former Vice President of the USA.

“The bounty of nature is a gift from God that mankind, for centuries, has taken for granted and quite often abused… having watched the movie, I realised that unless we all wake up and work on remedial

measures, the worst-case scenario of Gore’s prediction would eventually become a reality.”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A primary concern was the plantation environment. As an enterprise which makes a living from a product of the land, Dilmah – and other similar entities – are automatically projected to the frontline of climate action, providing food security, ensuring clean air, protecting watersheds and water quality, forests, the fauna, marine life, and a host of other critically endangered aspects of life on the planet. Making a valid contribution is no longer a choice but a vital necessity for mankind’s survival, especially for a land-and-people linked enterprise.

What Dilmah Conservation is committed to is a reversal, or mitigation, of the damage inflicted on environment by human foolishness, lack of caring, ignorance, and, also, the inadequacy of resources to make a difference.

DILMAH CONSERVATION

Whilst the MJF Charitable Foundation focuses on social justice and related initiatives, Dilmah Conservation, launched as an associated project in 2007, works within the Foundation as its environmental and wildlife conservation arm. Since its inception, Dilmah Conservation has worked towards promoting the sustainable use of the environment, protecting it against specific threats, implementing remediation strategies in damaged areas and, in particular, raising awareness in diverse

sectors of society and industry, regarding the need for collective action. Education, through specific programmes and publication of relevant knowledge in English, Sinhala, and Tamil, the three primary languages of the country, has been a special focus.

In the above context Dilmah Conservation has partnered with many other local and international organisations. They include the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL), the Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS), as well as a a number of professional and academic institutions, and several local universities. The work of Dilmah Conservation may be categorised under four major areas – sustainability, bio-diversity, heritage, and communications.

The Dilmah Conservation practical projects, described in greater detail elsewhere in this writing, have focused on creating eco-friendly tea gardens, facilitating nature studies, gathering scientific information on vital aspects of weather, climate and related elemental issues, empowering communities, establishing bio-diverse enclaves, facilitating new discoveries in fauna and flora, conserving delicate habitats and threatened species, and encouraging sustainable agriculture. However, this is not a comprehensive list.

Dilhan and Merrill – Planting a tree at the Moratuwa MJFCF Centre, Foraging in the Endane nature Corridor

EXPERT COLLABORATION

Dilmah Conservation has, on its Advisory Council, eminent scientist Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya (PhD, Environmental Science, Rutgers University, USA), who was the World Bank’s Lead Environmental Specialist for South Asia Environment. He has led many bio-diversity and wildlife conservation projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. He has also carried out vital research in Sri Lanka, on the human-elephant conflict.

Emeritus Professor, Sarath Kotagama, internationally renowned ornithologist, is another member of the DC Advisory Council. As a practical conservationist, Professor Kotagama was instrumental in establishing the Coast Conservation Department and the Central Environmental Authority in Sri Lanka. For many years he was Chairperson of the Environmental Council of Sri Lanka and, also, a Director of the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Whilst he is best known for his books, in both English and Sinhala, on birdlife of Sri Lanka, he has also over 100 peer reviewed publications to his name. In addition, he has authored over 25 books on fauna and flora of Sri Lanka. Shiranee Yasaratne, President, Institute of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka (IEPSL), CEO/Managing Director, Sustainability Agenda (Pvt) Ltd., and Advisor, Biodiversity Sri Lanka Secretariat, is also a member of the Dilmah Conservation Advisory Council.

Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya - world renowned environmentalist, Professor, Sarath Kotagama - eminent ornithologist and Shiranee Yasaratne - Passionate conservationist

CARBON NEUTRALITY

Goodness is not taste alone, but working in harmony with nature. Dilmah Tea makes that difference because it has travelled that extra distance, to make it feel better and to be better. What Dilmah offers the world is a zero-carbon cup, the status achieved through multiple conservation projects, such as solar energy implementation, hydro-electricity plants, re-wilding tea gardens, restoring wetlands, and the many other initiatives described here.

In 2018 Dilmah achieved carbon neutrality across its entire range of products and, in 2021, the same standard for all products up to destination ports of all overseas markets.

2017: Peliyagoda factory and head office certified as Carbon Neutral

ISO 14064-1: 2006

2018: Dilmah achieves carbon neutrality for all products and factories

ISO 14064-1: 2006

2019: Dilmah achieves carbon neutrality for the facility and all products up to Australia shelf

ISO 14067: 2018

ISO 14064-1: 2018

2020: Dilmah achieves carbon neutrality for the event School of Tea

In 2021, Dilmah pledged its commitment to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for NetZero. The company is presently in the process of validating emission reduction targets through the SBT Initiative. Upon validation, Dilmah will undertake positive measures to diminish emissions, targeting Net Zero status by 2030. In fact, instead of relying on carbon credits to offset emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in its products and processes, Dilmah plans to implement far-reaching strategies to reach both its short-term and long-term NetZero goals, within specified time frames.

2020: Dilmah achieves carbon neutrality for the facility and all products up to the destination ports of all overseas markets

ISO 14067: 2018

ISO 14064-1: 2018

Dilmah pledges to be Carbon Negative by 2030 (Zero emissions for the entire manufacturing process)

2020: Carbon Footprint Calculation mode was digitised

Dilmah’s Journey to Carbon Neutrality

BIO-DIVERSITY SRI LANKA

Bio-diversity Sri Lanka is a coalition for environmental support among Sri Lankan corporates, initiated jointly by Dilmah Tea, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. It is an organisation which seeks to encourage corporate engagement in bio-diversity conservation and environmental stewardship across Sri Lanka. Dilmah has aligned its initiatives with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in recognition of the importance of forging robust partnerships, and engaging stakeholder commitment with mutually inclusive interests in sustainable development.

Dilmah Conservation has played a pivotal role as a founding member of Bio-Diversity Sri Lanka. Additionally, Dilmah has actively promoted corporate sustainability within the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). Through Dilmah Conservations leadership, the company holds the role of climate leader for the UNGC Network, Sri Lanka. Dilmah also participates in UNGC’s Sustainable Supply Chain and Climate Action Working Groups, driving towards achieving zero emission status in manufacturing by 2030.

DILMAH INVESTS IN BLUE CARBON

Marine eco-systems, such as coral reefs, mangroves, sea grasses, and salt marshes, are vital in the mitigation of climate change, as these systems are

more efficient than forest trees in sequestering and storing carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere. According to environmental scientists, mangroves can absorb up to five times more carbon than forest trees. Similarly, seaweed generates more oxygen than land plants whilst absorbing more carbon as well, hence the importance of water-based and marine eco-systems.

Dilmah Conservation has engaged with several different stakeholders in establishing related projects with firm scientific foundations. It has collaborated with the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) and the National Aquaculture Development Association (NAQDA) and also maintains dialogues with universities and independent organisations, such as Pearl Protectors.

The ‘Defending Mangroves’ project, a baseline survey in collaboration with MEPA, helped identify types of mangroves existing in a particular area, suitable locations for restoration, and the species best suited for the location. Experiential learning sessions with school children in the area have also been instrumental, in generating awareness about the importance of these delicately balanced ecosystems. Mangrove nurseries have been maintained by people of the community, thus vesting with them the responsibility for maintaining the eco-systems in the locality.

KANNELIYA RESTORATION

Kanneliya is a small, tropical rain forest reserve in the South of Sri Lanka, designated as a bio-

sphere reserve by UNESCO in 2004, on account of its highly specialised fauna and flora. It is also the second largest primary forest area in Sri Lanka and is of very high eco-importance on account of its numerous watersheds, natural pools, waterfalls, and waterways. In a ground-breaking Public-Private Partnership, Dilmah implemented the restoration of 10 hectares of degraded fern-forest in part of the reserve.

ANAWILUNDAWA – REHABILITATION

Anawilundawa is a wetland sanctuary in the NorthWest of the island, a little over 1,300 hectares in extent, and home to about 150 species of birds, 20 species of mammals, and about 70 species of butterflies. Many of the species are on the threatened list. Dilmah spearheaded the restoration of several large patches of degraded mangrove in the sanctuary, in collaboration with the B-DSL and the Department of Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka. A mangrove nursery funded by Dilmah Conservation is providing the saplings.

In a seaweed cultivation project in collaboration with NAQDA, Dilmah Conservation is engaged in sustainable cultivation of the flora on a 10-acre area of land in Puttalam, in North-West Sri Lanka.

Top: Mangroves - A delicate eco-system Centre: Conservation team at Kanneliya Bottom: Bio Diversity collaboration for Anawilundawa

Apart from the above, in 2017, Dilmah was associated in the survey and exploration of 18 dark caves in different parts of the country, in order to identify biodiversity within, for protection.

Dilmah was also associated in the publication of a volume, enumerating 17 practical environmental best practices, adopted by individuals in the tourism and hospitality industry, as templates for others to follow.

ENDANA NATURE CORRIDOR –REINTRODUCING ENVIRONMENTAL CONNECTIVITY

Over the decades, the mono-culture of plantation crops and their expansion has resulted in the steady denudation of natural forest in many parts of the island. The planting of tea on a commercial scale in particular has also isolated forest patches, restricting fauna and flora to rapidly shrinking habitats, in the process diminishing species diversity as well. Dilmah Conservation has sought, where possible, to reverse this process.

Endana, the low-country flagship plantation of Kahawatte RPC, is located in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka, close to the Sinharaja forest, the island’s last viable extent of primary rain forest. The tea fields of Endana, planted by British pioneers decades ago, on land cleared of mid-elevation, montane forest cover, had driven a massive wedge of cultivation between two forest covered mountain ranges, known locally as Walankanda and Viharakanda. Before the planting of tea on Endana, both ranges had been contiguous with the Sinharaja

forest. In 2018, Dilmah Conservation commenced a project to bridge these isolated segments of forest, by planting indigenous forest tree species within a 3-kilometre connecting corridor, running across the tea fields of Endana.

A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION

The technical input for the project, based on meticulous scientific research, was provided by a team of academics led by Professor Emeritus, Nimal Gunathilake, Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. The planting of the trees was preceded by the mapping of the floral diversity of the area, whilst the seeds and seedlings were developed in a special nursery, with material obtained from the surrounding forest. So far, more than 4,200 plants have been introduced to the corridor, representing 542 tree species, of which 188 are listed as threatened and 47 as globally endangered.

The primary objectives are, firstly, the propagation of threatened indigenous jungle tree species and, thereafter, the development of a secure jungle corridor, for the migration of fauna and flora between the two segments of previously isolated primary forest. The project was personally inaugurated in 2018, by Merrill J. Fernando himself, who set down the first plant in the corridor.

Generally, the common model of re-forestation is the planting of one or two species of commercial value, in large blocks, designated for felling on reaching maturity. The Endana forest corridor, with its emphasis on diversity and indigenous species,

Cup of Kindness

Clockwise from top-left: Amila Perera of Dilmah Conservation carrying out research work in the corridor, Endane Nature Corridor – Bee Keeping in the corridor, Forest in the tea

reinforces the superiority and the inestimable value of complex eco-systems, over that of commercial forestry with limited species and pre-determined life spans.

An important aspect of the project is the active involvement of the community, which is an assurance of project sustainability. Many of the tree species introduced to the corridor have also been planted in village home gardens in close proximity. Dilmah Conservation intends to position this project as a template, for similar models of harmonious coexistence between commercial cultivation, natural forest and community.

The Endana jungle corridor is unique to commercial plantation enterprise, in that it has created an opportunity for a plantation company to facilitate the conservation of the indigenous fauna and flora of the region, by combining advanced bio-technology with general ecological/environmental evaluation approaches. The involvement of the community in the project has given people an understanding of the dynamics of conservation and livelihood farming in a closed system, and aided in both the detection and prevention of wild-animal poaching.

Tea is a unique permanent mono-crop with comprehensive ground cover and, on its own, limits bio-diversity. Therefore, introducing tree-based agro-forestry to the tea mono-scape restores biodiversity and enriches the organic content of the soil, whilst the wide-spreading and deep tree roots stabilise the soil structure and minimise soil erosion.

The heavy tree canopies provide shade and limit the impact of both direct sunlight and heavy rainfall on the surface soil layers, but enhance water retention capacity. The income from fruits and nuts provides additional revenue streams to the community whilst the varied flora also encourage animal, bird, and insect habitation, restoring the natural balance of the eco-system in its totality.

Bee-keeping is another project which has been given new life by the Endana nature corridor. Initially 10 individuals were trained in bee-keeping. The diverse flowering species planted within the corridor are designed to encourage cross-pollination. The corridor has also been the locus for several industrial training projects, 10 undergraduate projects, and two postgraduate studies.

The crucial importance of replicating, wherever possible, projects such as the Endana re-forestation can be illustrated by a set of grim statistics. At the beginning of the 19th Century, a decade before total colonisation of the country and three decades before the commencement of commercial plantation monoculture, the country’s forest cover was around 75% of its total extent. In 2020 it was around 16% and it is diminishing daily. The forest cover loss, between 1990 and 2005 alone, is estimated at 17% of the total extent.

The green restoration initiatives spearheaded by Dilmah, within its plantations and elsewhere, are aligned with Sri Lanka’s commitment to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of increasing green cover by 32% by 2030. The United Nations urges countries to fulfil their pledge, to restore one billion hectares of degraded land – equivalent to the size of China – over the next decade. Apart from improving bio-diversity, the restoration of degraded eco-systems, resulting in the re-establishing of harmony between man and nature, will result in the promotion of community health and well-being.

NEW FINDS

One of the studies carried out at Endana resulted in the discovery and identification of a hitherto unknown species of leafless ground orchid, largely yellow in colour, now named Gastrodia Pushparaga. This is the third Gastrodia species found in Sri Lanka, 114 years after the discovery of the first, a fact which speaks to the rarity and, hence, the ecological importance of the species. The new find has, symbolically, been named after the precious, world famous, yellow sapphire, commonly referred to as Pushparaga, found only in the gem-laden soils of the Sabaragamuwa Province.

The Endana project was recognised for both its uniqueness and impact, and won the ‘Best Project Sustainability Award’ in 2023, at the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards of that year.

Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, internationally recognised Sri Lankan Bio-Diversity Scientist, in an interview on

Top: Yellow Gastrodia - name inspired by the yellow sapphire found in the region, Centre: Yellow sapphire from Sabaragamuwa, Bottom: Sinharaja Forest bordering Endane Estate

global and local climate and environmental issues, with the ‘Island,’ a leading Sri Lankan newspaper, concluded his discourse as follows:

“…And then there are the ongoing efforts to reconnect fragmented wet-zone forest fragments by means of bio-diversity corridors. Initiatives by NGOs such as the PLANT project of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, the rainforest and mangrove restoration projects of Biodiversity Sri Lanka, and the 2-km forest corridor at Endana near Kahawatte by Dilmah Conservation are leading the way in this regard. I urge your readers to support these pioneering projects. That is how, by everyone doing their bit, Sri Lanka can build resilience to the climate of the future.”

‘ISLAND,’ MAY 30TH, 2024

A similar project was undertaken on an extent of degraded, abandoned tea land, on Hunuwela Estate, a low-country, tea-cum-rubber plantation in Kahawatte RPC. The green recovery strategies will focus on restoring the land to a suitable condition through afforestation and facilitative reforestation, leading eventually to a large carbon sink.

KANDYAN HOME GARDEN

A common feature of rural life in Sri Lanka, especially before rapid urbanisation took over societies, was the home garden, in which families

traditionally grew many of the food crops needed for daily consumption, as well as medicinal plants used in ‘Ayurveda,’ the traditional healing system practiced island-wide for over 20 centuries before the advent of Western medicine.

An aspect of the Endana initiative is a model home garden, a small-scale agro-forestry based landscape, which integrates food crops, medicinal plants, fruit trees, and timber species, in a sustainable microecosystem. The knowledge was shared with the village community, along with seeds and planting material, so that the model could be replicated in individual, privately owned land plots in the village.

CONSERVATION THROUGH DISCOVERY

A distressing aspect of environmental diminution is the disappearance of species before they are even discovered and classified. According to scientists, human impact on environment is accelerating this process. However, countering this by identifying and classifying new species has many advantages. Apart from enhancing awareness and interest in conservation, it enables the identification of biodiversity hot-spots, helps establish eco-system health indicators, and, whilst enhancing scientific knowledge, may also provide economic benefit.

Dilmah Conservation has facilitated the surveying of 20 sites across Sri Lanka, resulting in the identification of 56 new species. The four-year investigation has also produced over 50 relevant publications by experts in the respective areas.

FACTS & FIGURES

Duration: 04 years

Number of Publications: 50

Key Scientists:

Mendis Wickramasinghe

Dr Gothami Weerakoon

Geckos Snakes

Skink Frogs

Lichen

Locations of new species

Heterodermia queensberryi - Lichen discovered by Dr. Gothami Weerakoon on Queensberry estate.

ONE EARTH CENTRE – MORATUWA

The Moratuwa MJFCF centre, in addition to its physical infrastructure for children’s and women’s rehabilitation, also houses a unique entity: Sri Lanka’s only urban arboretum. It is a 2-acre tropical oasis within a stone’s throw of one of the busiest thoroughfares in all of Sri Lanka.

It is one of Dilmah’s Conservation education and outreach centres and, apart from the arboretum, also houses a butterfly garden, heritage corner, medicinal plant garden, traditional yam plot, recycling unit, sustainable agricultural farm, and hydroponic unit. It is home to over 500 species of flora, most of them endemic to Sri Lanka, whilst, of

the 247 species of butterflies in Sri Lanka, 60 have been identified in this garden. Since its establishment in 2017, over 2,000 individuals have been provided training in various aspects of sustainable agriculture and environment conservation.

BEE-KEEPING AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Bees are highly efficient pollinators and help maintain overall bio-diversity in agricultural landscapes. Therefore, bees are essential for sustainable agriculture. Certain bee species prey on insects and caterpillars inimical to crops and, thus, provide a biological pest control, enabling a diminished reliance on inorganic pesticides.

Dilmah introduced community bee-keeping along the Endana nature corridor, ensuring community participation for the success of the restoration initiative, whilst providing participants with an additional source of income.

Apart from Endana, the bee-keeping initiative was extended to the Queensberry Estate Climate Change Centre, Upper Kotmale, which serves as the bee-keeping research hub, the Copenhagen Farm, Embilipitiya, the Mangrove Restoration Station, the One Earth Centre, Kalkudah, and the One Earth Centre, Moratuwa.

Through a series of webinar sessions and workshops, between May 2020 and February 2022, over 300 participants were trained, free of charge, in the technical aspects of bee-keeping.

One Earth Centre - Moratuwa

Large bottle for a large baby

SAVING THE ELEPHANT

Elephas maximus maximus, the Ceylon elephant, is native to Sri Lanka and one of the three sub-species of the Asian elephant. In all of Asia, it is probably in Sri Lanka that the human-elephant conflict is the most intense, arising primarily from the widening scope of farming activities leading to de-forestation, human settlement expansion, illicit jungle clearing, and the corresponding diminution of elephant habitats.

In 1800 there may have been around 20,000 animals on the island. Much of the population decline since then is attributable to habitat denudation for largescale commercial agriculture, especially plantation crops, and the indiscriminate, unrestrained, sporthunting practiced by British pioneers, especially in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th. In the time of the Sinhala kings, the elephant was protected by Royal decree and, in any event, the style of agriculture practiced then was generally eco-friendly, with man, agriculture and land usage, and natural fauna and flora, maintaining a sustainable harmony.

In 2020 the estimated wild elephant population was around 7,500. However, an estimated average of 350400 are dying each year, as a result of entrapment, shooting, accidents, electrocution, and other related causes, natural and designed. Similarly, about 100-150 people die each year, as a result of elephant attacks. Briefly, those are the grim and tragic statistics of the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka. On account of the long gestation period of

Young elephants in the wild

elephants (18-22 months, the longest known of any animal), the rate of elephant births are well below the rate of attrition, making species viability a primary concern for conservationists.

The Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, run by the National Zoological Gardens, takes care of about 20 elephants at a time, returning them to the wild when considered suitable. The Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe, in close proximity to the Udawalawe National Park, performs a similar function, indoctrinating captive animals in the ways of the wild before they are released to the jungle.

Dilmah Conservation sponsors the care of several animals at the Udawalawe home, till they are released to the wild. In addition, it has funded the renovation of the Transit Home and the establishing of a dedicated information centre at Udawalawe, in order to raise awareness and to educate visitors.

MAPPING CLIMATE CHANGE –QUEENSBERRY ESTATE CENTRE

Climate change, one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity today, is a steadily evolving disaster which may not be reversible. However, there is much that enterprise can do in mitigation, especially those connected to land, such as Dilmah. A vital aspect of such remedial action is knowledge and data related to climate, weather variations, and their respective impacts. The implications of global climate, weather, and environmental shifts on local eco-systems and communities are also of crucial relevance in mitigating climate change impacts at regional level.

Queensberry estate Climate Research Station – A world first

In 2017, Dilmah Conservation established a Climate Research Station on its Kahawatte-owned Queensberry tea plantation, in the Upper Kotmale region of the Central Province, at an elevation of around 5,000 ft msl. Launched in collaboration with the Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology (FECT), and the University of Peradeniya, it is a pioneering initiative and the first of its kind by a completely private organisation.

The primary function of the Research Centre is the understanding of the impact of climate change through the evaluation of empirical information and visual observation and, thereafter, designing practical strategies for mitigation. In order to ensure successful outcomes from such action-oriented initiatives, the engagement of diverse sectors and stakeholders is of primary importance.

Since its founding, the Climate Centre has connected with six other countries in the pursuit of research and education. Whilst 23 local research projects have been conducted, in-situ, its facilities have been used by seven international research groups. In addition to three global studies, it has also housed one international workshop on climate change. Apart from other services, the infrastructure at the centre also provides residential facilities for large research teams.

Quite often, in the agitation over saving the environment, preserving bio-diversity, and restoring eco-systems, people overlook the importance of research, mapping, and knowledge acquisition and

dissemination. Whilst changes in climate, weather, and damage to eco-systems and bio-diversity are obvious enough, implementation of effective deterrent and remedial action needs informed strategies. That is possible only with accurate measurement and scientific observation. In that context the importance of facilities such as the Queensberry Climate Change Centre cannot be overemphasised.

HUMAN AND ANIMAL CO-EXISTENCE IN THE PLANTATIONS

Despite forest depletion, or perhaps as a result of it, tea plantations and the adjacent jungles have become home to a diversity of animal life.

Kahawatte Plantations, in collaboration with Dilmah Conservation, is carrying out a project to facilitate the harmonious co-existence between people on plantations and the animal life within, and also in natural forests in proximity to the plantations. A pilot initiative has been launched on Queensberry Estate, which shares a boundary with the Rilagala Forest

Sri Lankan leopard in a tea estate

Reserve, a high elevation montane forest segment, which has been completely encircled by commercial plantation cultivation for close upon two centuries. The techniques and approaches employed in the study are similar to those applied at the Endana jungle corridor. The tracking and listening technology involved, which include camera traps, drones, and GPS mapping, are a first of its kind in a privatelyowned plantation company.

This programme is expected to result in a centralised data collection system, documenting, through a bio-diversity assessment, the extent, terrain, and habitat complexity of the plantation land, together with species richness and habitat diversity. In addition, in collaboration with Dilmah Conservation and Kahawatte Plantations, a research team from Tropical Ecosystem Network (TERN – a Sri Lanka Government-registered non-profit organisation), partnered by expert scientists from the Sabaragamuwa University, will run staff training and community awareness programmes for knowledge sharing and replication.

EVALUATION OF NITROGEN POLLUTION FROM AMMONIA

Since 2020, the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund (UKRI GCRF) South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH), in collaboration with Dilmah Tea, Dilmah Conservation, and the University of Peradeniya, has been conducting a study on the impact of ammonia pollution within a tropical forest ecosystem. The experimental site is within the Rilagala Forest Sanctuary. The logistics support to the

SANH team is provided by the Queensberry Climate Change Centre.

The UKRI GCRF-SANH collaborates with 32 leading research organisations across South Asia and the UK. In Sri Lanka the research team is led by Prof. S.P. Nissanka of the University of Peradeniya, in partnership with Hub lead, Prof. Mark Sutton of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh.

Associated with the project is Dr. Gothamie

Weerakoon, internationally renowned lichen expert based at the Natural History Museum, London, who previously collaborated with Dilmah on a book about lichens, and Dr. Ajinkya Deshpande, an environmental ecologist at UKECH.

The above is the first such scientific study in all of Asia, and, according to all three above mentioned scientists, will lead to a new understanding of the pollution of eco-systems through ammonia emission. The knowledge gathered will also be of use in studies of similar issues in other eco-systems as well.

PRESERVING HERITAGE – THE VEDDAH COMMUNITY

The Veddah people are a minority community of Sri Lanka, which, historically, led a hunter-gatherer existence, supported by slash-and-burn farming. They are said to be the descendants of Sri Lanka’s original pre-historic inhabitants, separate from the later migrants from nearby India. Till about the beginning of the 19th century, it was a community with a distinct culture, comprising lifestyle, animistic beliefs, and language, which set it apart from the island’s Sinhala and Tamil communities.

Clockwise from top-left: – Veddah Chieftain, Coastal tribesman at his traditional profession, Merrill with the elders and Elders of the tribe

However, with the gradual depletion of their jungle habitat and the influence of the major communities, most members of the Veddah community have, over the decades, assimilated with the mainstream. Still, they hold fast to certain aspects of their original identity and heritage. Efforts have also been made to preserve some of those features, if only to serve as a remembrance of the diversity of Sri Lanka’s cultural fabric.

An attractive feature of their traditional lifestyle is its empathy with nature and their harnessing of natural forces in every dimension of their lives and livelihoods, aspects which resonate with the Dilmah respect for traditional elements with proven benefits.

Dilmah Conservation was engaged in an initiative to help the community revive certain features of their culture. In the coastal areas of the East, where a subclan of the major Veddah community lives largely by fishing, Dilmah carried out a first-ever survey to identify livelihood needs and also supported the group to hold traditional (‘Sadanghu’) festivities.

followed by a second assembly in 2014. Of the 17 clans said to have existed in Sri Lanka, reportedly only four are left today.

Dilmah has initiated several training programmes within the community, to tutor members in pottery, handloom, and other traditional crafts reflecting their special cultural heritage. Dilmah also published an-easy-to read, illuminating volume, detailing the rich and absorbingly interesting Veddah culture.

AHIKUNTAKA – THE GYPSIES OF LANKA

The Ahikuntakas of Sri Lanka are a very distinctive sub-group, a Romani people, who probably originated in neighbouring India. These people have their own language, laws and customs, habits, and lifestyle. Traditionally, they led a roving existence, moving from location to location, engaging in dance, singing, story-telling, fortune-telling, exhibiting dancing monkeys, and snake charming, which activities also contributed to their livelihoods.

In 2011, Dilmah sponsored the community clan gathering (‘Varigasabha’), a longlost annual tradition, where representatives of all Veddah clans assemble to discuss problems. This was

Their customary nomadic life-style has now been hugely restricted by inflexible land boundaries and similar physical and legal obstacles, whilst economic pressures of a new age are compelling them to engage in regular and more orthodox employment to earn a living. Their age-old skills and occupations are no longer sufficient to sustain them.

Dilmah Conservation conducted a comprehensive survey to obtain an understanding of the community’s history, current status, and the socioeconomic needs and issues confronting them today. The survey also resulted in a publication, ‘Traditional

Clockwise from left: A gypsy dancer, Seniors of the tribe, Young family and Merrill laying the foundation stone for the Gypsy Cultural Centre

Communities of Sri Lanka; the Ahikuntaka,’ richly illustrated and fluently narrated, chronicling the history of the community.

Dilmah also facilitated the first Ahikuntaka clan gathering in 60 years, enabling isolated groups scattered across the island to meet each other.

CONSERVATION THROUGH EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION

One of the biggest impediments to conservation is ignorance. Education helps people understand the importance of bio-diversity, natural systems, the interconnectivity between living organisms, habitats, and the imperative of living in harmony with nature. Education also helps to engage the community actively in conservation.

Most important is educating children, so that they become adults with a genuine sense of responsibility to conservation. Such adults will pass on that passion to the next generation, as sustainable conservation

has to be a continuous process which travels across the decades and the centuries.

Dilmah Conservation has taken a very pro-active stance in this direction, with a series of publications relating to nature and cultural heritage. It has, so far, published 15 books on Sri Lanka’s fauna and flora, many of them providing detailed descriptions in an easy-to-absorb visual style, authored by leading experts in the country in the relevant disciplines. This highly diverse collection ranges from butterflies to bats, snakes to dragonflies, and spiders to lichens. Some of them are available in Sinhala and Tamil translations, the languages habitually spoken, collectively, by 95% of the country’s population.

As part of bio-diversity conservation through education, Dilmah Conservation facilitated the identification and documentation of species of reptiles and lichens in a project spearheaded by Dr. Gothamie Weerakoon, Sri Lankan based lichenologist and environmentalist, and Senior Curator of Lichens and Slime Moulds, Natural History Museum, UK, and Mendis Wickremasinghe, Sri Lankan herpetologist. Over 20 sites across Sri Lanka were surveyed, resulting in the identification of 56 new species, the collection of around 300 species and the publication of 50 scientific papers.

BRIDGING DIVISIONS THROUGH NATURE – THOPPIGALA RESTORATION

“Thoppigala” to the Sinhalese, “Kudumbimalai” to the Tamils, and “Baron’s Cap” to the British – all implying a ‘hat on a rock – is an inselberg, a rough

Little children learning the importance of conservation

Recognising Deadly

from

to Common Spiders

Common Forest Trees of Sri Lanka (Sinhala translation available)

Hela Veda Ath Potha (Handbook of Traditional Home Remedies)

Guide to Dragon ies and Damsel ies of Sri Lanka

Common Butter ies of Sri Lanka

Field Guide to the Bats of Sri Lanka

Hela Batha Asiriya Guide to Eco-Friendly Home Gardening

Venomous Snakes

Harmless Snakes of Sri Lanka

Introduction

of Sri Lanka

Fascinating Lichens of Sri Lanka

Indigenous Communities in Sri Lanka: e Veddahs

Traditional Communities in Sri Lanka: e Ahikuntaka

Green Gold: the Discovery of Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity

Pictorial Guide to Udawalawe National Park

Clockwise from top: Thoppigala, rising from the plain, Opening ceremony - Merrill (second from left) and (second from right) Gotabhaya Rajapakse (then Minister of Defence, Sri Lanka), View from above and Monument to the fallen

rocky sphere crowned by a cylindrical granite knot, heavily forested, rising abruptly to a height of 543 msl from the dry-zone scrub jungle of the Eastern Province plains of Sri Lanka.

Its ancient archaeological significance, with ruins of Buddhist temples and other constructions dating to the 300 BC-1200 AD period, precedes its recent turbulent history by many centuries. From ancient times it was also the abode of successive generations of the Veddah communities – hunter gatherers – of Sri Lanka.

During the Sri Lankan civil war, Thoppigala was a stronghold of the Tamil insurgent forces (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – LTTE), fiercely defended by them on account of its strategic importance. Its recapture by Government forces in 2007, in one of the first decisive actions in the final campaign against the LTTE – which led to a conclusion of hostilities in 2009 – was perhaps the ‘Iwo Jima’ moment of the Sri Lankan civil war.

Soon after the war, in order to erase those violent memories and encourage integration between communities, Dilmah Conservation, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Army, supported the establishment of a ‘Heritage Park’ on this site. Its primary purpose is to educate visitors on the historical, cultural, and environmental significance of the area, but with special emphasis on conservation and reconciliation.

Dilmah Conservation, in collaboration with the Forest Department and support from the Sri Lankan

Army, has planted around 20,000 indigenous trees, including many fruiting varieties, to encourage the return of bird and animal life and, also, as a socioeconomic benefit to the people of the area.

The Heritage Centre also showcases the bio-diversity environment of Sri Lanka in a wide range of educational illustrations, including 3D models, for students and adult visitors both.

A battleground has been converted to a sanctuary for animals, a source of natural nutrition, a centre for education in conservation, and an oasis for harmonious, conflict-free living. In itself, in the most meaningful way, the Thoppigala centre is now a monument to all lives lost, and living testimony to how old wounds can be healed and accord reached, through the understanding of past experiences and the implementation of new learnings.

ECOVATION – ENCOURAGING CONSERVATION THROUGH INNOVATION

Apart from education, communication, remedial action, and sustainability initiatives, ‘ecovation,’ or the implementing of environmentally sustainable, innovative solutions, has become a special tool in the armoury of conservationists. Ecovation is the addressing of environmental challenges whilst fostering economic growth and human well-being.

Ecovation can be implemented across multiple fields, such as architecture, urban planning, office and workplace arrangements, energy, and transportation. Much of the emphasis of ecovation is in the use of clean and renewable energy, reduction

of energy waste, recycling, maximum use of sustainable material and/or recyclable ingredients and substances, and the deployment of biodegradable material where recycling is not feasible.

MERRILL J. FERNANDO

#ECOVATION

creative solutions for people and planet dilmahconservation.org

AWARDS

Dilmah Conservation sponsored the Ecovation Awards 2021, themed ‘Sustainable EnvironmentallyFriendly Packaging and Resource Efficiency,’ focusing on generating solutions for sustainable packaging, with emphasis on resource efficiency and waste management. The first sponsorship was in 2016. The award provides financial support for the development of a concept as a working prototype, and, thereafter, its extension as a commercial product.

This initiative is the perfect opportunity for individuals with a passion for sustainability and efficient resource management to submit proposals for the development of innovative concepts. Dilmah Conservation ensures legal support to the developers for the protection of intellectual property and the opportunity of introducing their inventions to members of Bio-Diversity Sri Lanka, comprising many local blue-chip companies.

In 2021, 64 applicants produced 16 finalists and 10 winners. The primary objective of the Dilmah Ecovation initiative is to nurture and encourage

Top: Dilhan with a young inventor Centre: Sustainable Packaging Bottom: Award winning innovators

eco-innovators and empower them to market their product, whilst safeguarding their intellectual property rights. The awards embraced three themes of crucial importance to sustainability: Waste Management, Resource Efficiency, and Sustainable Packaging.

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

All consumer products need to be securely and hygienically packed and that implies an outer covering, quite often reinforced by one or more inner linings, all of which need to be disposed of when the product is taken out for consumption. This has led to the massive accumulation of waste, much of it either toxic, imperishable, or both, in our lands, lakes, rivers, and sea. For example, according to an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report of 2022, only 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. The rest will survive in lands, waterways, and seas for centuries, all the while leaching toxins into the environment, with

devastating consequences to man, animal, and planet.

A major issue faced by manufacturers of food products is safe delivery to the consumer or enduser, sometimes across continents, whilst ensuring freshness and shelf-life. In the choice of packaging the environmentally-conscious producer needs to meet a number of conditions, such as sustainability of sourcing, barriers to contamination, food-grade quality of the material used, material durability, strength, its weight per unit of area, minimalisation of material, user-friendliness and bio-degradability or eco-friendliness; add to this list other factors such as appealing design, re-cycling potential, traceability, and compliance with varying entry qualifications to multiple foreign markets, and the socially responsible exporter of food products has several serious hurdles to overcome before the package even leaves the production plant.

In 2000, Dilmah commenced its long journey of sustainable packaging, and over the years has achieved significant milestones. Many of them are trailblazing innovations in the industry. In 2010, the Dilmah commitment to sustainable packaging was reinforced by the ‘Declaration of a Core Commitment to Sustainability’.

At Dilmah, a multi-disciplinary team, which includes members of Marketing, Procurement, Design and Development, Quality Assurance, Food Technology, and Engineering and Production, evaluates packaging options at the initial stages of

Dilmah Silver Jubilee Tea Sachets - 100% biodegradable

Initiated eliminating the plastic of our tea packs by introducing a tear-strip design

Packaging

Breakthrough: Pyramid tea bags changed to PLA, a plant-based material

Packaging that contains 10 tea envelopes (10E) was changed to include a window to reduce material usage

FOIL POUCH RELATED 9 PROJECTS ENVELOPE RELATED 11 PROJECTS

Eliminating the plastic overwrap in 80% of tea packs using tearstrip design

Environmental impact of end product included in the selection criteria when investing in new machinery.

Continuous material reduction measures in tea tags, bags and packs.

All inner cartons were delivered wrapped in kraft paper. It has now been discarded and 75% changed to reusable corrugated inner cartons, with a system in place for return to suppliers.

Eliminated 421,052 kgs of plastic from packaging. Production lines were converted to use 100% PLA based filter paper in year 2020

Switched from tin tea caddies to paper canisters in 3 SKUs of Dilmah Inspirations Range -launched in Australia

Paper enveloped tea bags (switched from foil envelopes) for 8 variants in Café range

Sustainable Premium Ceylon Black Tea 80 Pack (Pilot project): Switched to tag-free sustainable plantbased tea bags. A tree will be planted for every pack sold in the Australian market.

2nd ECOVATION Awards - Merrill J. Fernando Innovation Awards: identifying, empowering and rewarding sustainable inventors with a focus on sustainable packaging, resource efficiency and waste management.

new product development and ensures optimal usage of material whilst complying with all other standard specifications. This rigorous, holistic process, has enabled Dilmah to transition all its product and packaging designs to progressively better environmentally friendly options.

Notable examples of such improvements are the elimination of overwrapping, removal of divider partitions, moving to water-based varnishes, reduction of foil material, and the use of plant-based materials. These key initiatives have helped Dilmah to eliminate the excessive use of materials, increase operational efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and increase the recyclable potential of material used. For example, in 75% of its inner carton wrappings, Dilmah has moved from disposable kraft paper to reusable corrugated outer cartons, establishing a return system with suppliers. A package with tear-strip design

The above measures have been complemented by the introduction of state-of-the-art machinery, the use of knotted bags instead of stapled bags, and the automation and robotisation of packing lines, leading to greater efficiency and reducing human error and waste. Research on the environmental impact of packaging material and studies on the biodegradability of material used have also contributed considerably to the progression of environmentallyfriendly product packaging. Constant regulatory compliance evaluations ensure conformance to standards of food safety and quality.

The Supplier Development Programme and Assessment is another aspect of the Dilmah, sustainability drive. Packaging suppliers are subject to stringent pre-selection audits, training sessions, and quality verifications. Once selected, Dilmah assists suppliers in improving their processes and products with advice and trainings on food safety, sustainability standards, and overall quality. Transparency and traceability along the supply chain are key aspects of Dilmah’s quality assurance and sustainability.

Dilmah’s ‘Stronger Together’ initiative promotes sustainability throughout the supply chain by encouraging collaboration and shared responsibility. A key aspect of this initiative is the launch of a supplier-partner code of conduct to evaluate and support the sustainability of its supplier partners.

Achieving ‘sustainability,’ whether in packaging or in any other sphere of enterprise, is a journey of

continuous improvement and innovation and the engagement of multiple partners, stakeholders, and others, on multiple fronts. Sustainability has always been a key thread of the Dilmah fabric.

SUSTAINABILITY COLLECTIVE – TEA INDUSTRY

“The issue of sustainability is not that it costs, it is a journey. We go out to industry and consumers and we tell them what we do and they are happy and our sales are growing but we don’t want to grow alone. We want to grow as a collective.”

DILHAN C. FERNANDO, CEO, DILMAH TEA

He made this statement in July 2023, during the inaugural address of the Dilmah Sustainable Supply Chain Road Map Initiative for packaging suppliers, stressing the urgent need for sustainability measures to counter the economic challenges faced by the industry in the last two years, and in consideration of the consequential loss of livelihoods, environmental damage, and eco-system degradation.

Over the years Dilmah has continually engaged with its suppliers and other stakeholders by sharing their best practices. In Dilhan’s view, true sustainability can be achieved only through collective action by the Industry as a whole.

Dilhan invited key figures in the industry and in bio-diversity, to lend their support to this initiative, and to submit their proposals for positive action, aligned with strategies for reducing carbon emission

and providing higher education opportunities for children in the plantation sector.

On December 1st, 2023, Dilmah Tea launched an event, chaired by Dilhan, held at the Dilmah headquarters, Peliyagoda, in the ‘Founder’s Auditorium,’ seeking ‘Industry Collaboration to Strengthen Sustainability and Resilience in the Ceylon Tea Industry’. The gathering featured representatives from all the Regional Plantation Companies and the tea small-holder sector, as well as other industry stakeholders.

The main purpose was to collectively address major issues faced by the industry, and to find solutions to common problems and to mitigate threats to the shared future of the tea industry. Issues discussed were the greening of plantations, supporting livelihoods, and mitigating the effects of increasing climate extremes and consequent impact on environment, whilst building on the opportunities for

Dilhan – at Sustainability Summit, 2023

Ceylon Tea to meet growing demand and consumer appeal. ‘Stronger Together’ was the rallying point for the industry as a whole. Whilst inviting collaboration for positive change, Dilhan, on behalf of Dilmah, offered support to both colleagues and competitors.

“Sustainability is too often viewed as a cost, when it is really an opportunity that builds resilience, strengthens consumer engagement, and ensures the survival of the businesses that take sustainability seriously,” said Dilhan, during his address.

He pointed out that while Dilmah Conservation has been working on conservation, restoration, climate action, and sustainable agriculture since 2007, the ‘Stronger Together’ initiative was aimed at extending those benefits across Sri Lanka’s tea industry. His views were supported in separate addresses, by key figures in the tea industry and in bio-diversity, such as Niraj de Mel, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board; Anil Cooke, Managing Director of Asia

Siyaka Commodities Plc; Vihagun Ariyaratne, CEO of Owita Naturals; and Professor Enoka Kudavidanage, Conservation Biologist.

SRI LANKA CLIMATE SUMMIT

The Sri Lanka Climate Summit Convocation 2024, with its inaugural meeting themed ‘Code Red; Climate Risks and Opportunities for Sri Lankan Businesses,’ was held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, from May 7th to 9th, under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. It was presided over by Dilhan C. Fernando, Co-Chair of the Climate Action Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of

Commerce – which organised the event – and Sheran Fernando, the other Co-Chair. US Ambassador, Julie Chung, also addressed the meeting.

“The link between climate action and business is in the reality that green growth offers vastly greater business opportunity than traditional unsustainable businesses.”

DILHAN C. FERNANDO

Institute Professor at Indian Institute of Technology , Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka, Duminda Hulangamuwa, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Dr Arunabha Ghosh founder CEO, of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Azusa Kubota, Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka

Dilhan expressed the view that the demand for sustainable goods and services, especially by the younger generation of consumers who are beginning to dominate markets globally, underlines the importance of adopting circular economy principles for the credibility and appeal of every business. He pointed out that science-led climate action would deliver jobs, restore ecosystem services, strengthen food security, address unsustainable urban

Climate Summit Convocation , 2024, From left to right, Dilhan C. Fernando Co Chair, Climate Summit Convocation, Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, Bio-Diversity scientist. Ashok Jhunjhunwala,

migration, and fuel growth without depleting the natural resources that were requirements for the existence of present and future generations.

“There are sceptics who do not accept the connection between human activity and the climate crisis, although the recent heatwave, floods, and a multitude of extreme, climatic phenomena confirm the scientific truth. That crisis will affect every business and the time to realign and access new and emerging green economic opportunities is now. There is unprecedented innovation and opportunity in the space, delivering sales and growth. The exponential growth in demand for clean energy, electric vehicles, and compostable packaging materials are examples of that opportunity.”

DILHAN C. FERNANDO

The scientific consensus – a categorical ‘Code Red’ declaration – warns of accelerating climate change with potentially devastating consequences to human civilisation, planetary biosphere, and global economy. Those most at risk, and the first to feel the adverse impacts, will be agri-based economies, such as Sri Lanka.

BIOCHAR – AN ECO-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE TO INORGANIC FERTILISER

Bio-char is a charcoal-like product that contains no petroleum. It is a non-toxic, light-weight residue

made of carbon and ashes, produced during the pyrolysis of bio-mass. Therefore, it is completely organic and environmentally friendly. Bio-char has the potential to offset a significant percentage of green-house gas emissions, whilst enhancing the water-retention and nutrient absorption properties of the soil, improving its microbial activity, lowering acidity, and inhibiting toxin uptake. Dilmah Conservation has generated biochar from both tea-waste and peeled cinnamon sticks (from its cinnamon factory in Kahawatte Plantations). Experiments carried out in the tea fields of selected tea estates in the Kahawatte, lowcountry region, have established the effectiveness of bio-char in improving water retention in tea fields and enhancing microbial activity in the soil, whilst enabling reductions in the application of inorganic fertiliser.

Whilst Dilmah may well be the pioneer in the use of bio-char in tea plantations in Sri Lanka, it is not

Bio-Char - miracle soil supplement

entirely a new discovery. As with many such ‘new discoveries,’ there appear to be ancient parallels, in eras pre-dating the use of chemical additives in agriculture, when old civilisations relied on natural and more environment-friendly methods of increasing and maintaining field productivity. There is fairly compelling evidence of pre-Columbian Amazonians using substances very similar to biochar, produced by smouldering agricultural waste, in order to enhance soil fertility.

Kahawatte Plantations, in collaboration with Dilmah Conservation, is exploring innovative technologies to re-commence large scale bio-char production at Kahawatte, with the long-term goal of minimising and phasing out inorganic fertiliser.

GENESIS – THE DILMAH VISION FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Genesis, a novel agri-based concept, addresses the promotion of agri-entrepreneurship, emphasising nature-based solutions and restorative agriculture. Such processes will meet social and economic needs in ways which minimise impact on environment and eco-systems. Here again, the focus is on sustainability and a harmonious connection between the enterprise and the environment.

Symbolically, the nerve centre of the project will be at the Dilmah Maligawatte complex, from where Merrill J. Fernando launched his brand revolution, with Dilmah, in 1985. Equally symbolic was that he officially inaugurated the project on May 6th, 2022, his 92nd birthday.

Merril, on his 92nd birthday, at the opening of the Genesis Lab, Peliyagoda, flanked by son Dilhan and grandson, Amrit. Extreme right- Himendra Ranaweera ( Deputy Chairman- MJF Group)

Genesis will connect with local and international experts in the field of agriculture, food innovation, gastronomy, marketing, product development, and technology. Solutions devised by the project will empower Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the food and agri-business to become climateresilient, mitigating social and economic impacts of climate change on society. A key area will be engaging with smallholder farmers.

LOST INGREDIENTS LAB

The significance of the Genesis project is that it is designed, primarily, to serve as an incubator for aspiring entrepreneurs to promote naturebased solutions to agricultural problems. The Lost

Ingredients Lab, an important aspect of the project, has helped innovate value-additions for three high-potential, yet underutilised local ingredients: jackfruit, a naturally growing super-food, fruit variety with multiple potential; seaweed, so commonly available along the shores of our island nation; and gotukola (Centella asiatica – Asian pennywort) a fastgrowing plant with a wide range of proven medicinal and curative benefits. The project, in collaboration with the GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation) and the European Union, has assisted entrepreneurs to add value to these varieties, making them suitable for the global market. Genesis has, so far, assisted and empowered about 25 local entrepreneurs.

The design of the physical space of the operational centre reflects its concern with establishing harmony with nature. Dilmah, itself very much a product of nature with a powerful and empathetic connection with people and planet, continuously seeks a proper balance with the environment.

The project will work in collaboration with the Climate Change Secretariat, the Bio-Diversity Secretariat, Chamber of Commerce, Bio-diversity Sri Lanka, the Central Environmental Authority, and other related entities to establish a symbiosis and a synergy, between business, environment, and society.

SCALE-UP SHOP

Another aspect of the Genesis project, the Scaleup Shop works to encourage innovation in the Sri Lankan manufacturing and export sector, by connecting local innovators with manufacturers seeking to expand their product portfolios and enter international markets. It is part of the ‘Support to Small and Medium Enterprises in the Organic Agricultural Sector’ programme, jointly financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), in collaboration with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Dilmah Tea, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), the National Innovation Agency (NIA), and the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission (SLIC).

RECOGNITION BY ACADEMIA

In May 2024, Dilhan C. Fernando was appointed Adjunct Professor of Sustainability at Edith Cowan University (ECU) Perth, Australia, signifying recognition of his expertise and contribution to sustainability. Whilst Dilhan’s hands-on experience and knowledge can help shape and enhance the

Products of the lost ingredients lab

teaching of sustainability practices within the academic community, the appointment also highlights the commitment of the academic community to fostering partnerships with industry leaders, with the right attitudes to sustainable development and innovation.

Dilhan’s appointment is also a move which augurs well for the Dilmah sustainability drive in Sri Lanka, which, as described earlier in this chapter, with the leadership provided by Dilhan himself, has engaged many other stakeholders in industry. The appointment was also a fitting recognition of the unwavering commitment of Dilhan – and by extension that of Dilmah – to sustainable enterprise development.

In addition to guest lectures, Dilhan will assist with a case study led by ECU academics, examining how Dilmah integrates kindness and sustainability in its operations and its achievement in aligning enterprise success with social responsibility.

“We are deeply honoured to welcome Dilhan C. Fernando to our school. His profound commitment to ethical business practices and sustainability is truly inspiring. Having Dilhan share his expertise and philosophy with our students will not only enrich their educational experience but also prepare them to become leaders who prioritise integrity and social responsibility in their careers.”

PROFESSOR MARYAM OMARI, ECU EXECUTIVE DEAN FOR THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LAW

Dilhan expressed his satisfaction and pleasure at the appointment, especially because of the special relationship Dilmah enjoys with Australia, going back to his father’s early days in the tea export business:

“My family and Australia have an enduring connection as Dilmah was birthed in Australia when – in 1985 – Australians accepted my father’s invitation to ‘do try it’. My honorary role at the ECU School of Business and Law allows me to share our very practical perspective and actions connected with the obligation of kindness in business.”

DILHAN C. FERNANDO

Dilhan (centre) – at his investiture as Adjunct Professor of Sustainability

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ceylon Tea – the Cleanest and the Most Diverse

Caring for the Bush

The cultivation and processing of Ceylon tea is a fascinating combination of exact science, art and age-old practice. It is only in the last century that science has interpreted the ancient farmers’ wisdom and invested it with technical authenticity.

As for diversity, no other tea growing country provides the intriguing range that Ceylon does.

CARING FOR THE BUSH

In its natural form, tea is not a bush but a tree. A tea plant allowed to grow for a few years without designed bush management, will eventually grow to be a large tree, as much as 40 ft tall. The legendary first bowl of tea, drunk by Chinese Emperor Shennong almost 5,000 years ago, was supposedly from leaves which accidently fell from an overhanging tree into a pot of boiling water. That lends credibility to an ancient tale.

In a few tea-growing countries, including Sri Lanka, there are small groves of such trees, now mere exhibition pieces and no longer of practical value. However, before the introduction of high-yielding clonal cultivars, such trees served as sources for tea seed, for the propagation of seedling plants. The tea extent in Sri Lanka yet carries a large proportion of such seedling tea, still being harvested regularly, perhaps 50% to 40% of the total extent under cultivation.

Seedling tea is more durable and robust in all respects than its more recent, far more productive cousin, Vegetatively Propagated (VP) tea, which has been developed from cuttings and not seed. The seedling tea, due to the variety of features within the single species itself, confers those characteristics to the Black Tea and, thence, to the brew, thus enhancing the features of attractiveness, such as nuances of colour, strength, and taste, of the tea liquor. This factor, too, helps to set Ceylon Tea apart from the tea produced by many other countries,

Top: Tea seed bearer Bottom: Old seedling tea

where the limited number of cultivars under cultivation contribute to a degree of sameness.

PLANTING OF TEA

Tea plants, propagated from cuttings and raised in large nurseries, are planted along the contour, in pre-prepared fields, either in large holes or shallow trenches. Depending on the spacing of plants, each hectare may carry between 12,000 and 13,000 plants. Plantings designated for machine plucking only will carry more plants to the hectare, generally as much as 30,000 plants.

When the uprooting of old, seedling tea precedes the planting of new tea, the field designated for planting with new tea is rehabilitated for about 18-24 months, giving the soil a respite from repetitive cultural practices and time to re-build, first by the cultivation of Guatemala grass (Tripsacum laxum) or Mana grass (Cymbopogon confertiflorus). At the time the new tea plants are introduced, the grass is uprooted and used as a mulch, thus improving the carbon content of the soil.

Once planted in the field, a tea plant, depending on the elevation at the location, will take between 24 months to 48 months to reach full maturity and regular harvesting of green leaf. Growth is quicker at lower elevations and becomes progressively slower with increases in elevation. Due to the labourintensive practices and the long gestation period, return on investment in tea plantations is slow.

Top: Laying cuttings in the tea nursery Centre: Rehabilitating an uprooted tea field Bottom: VP Clearing

PRUNING OF TEA

The conventional tea bush is maintained at waist height, with a flat, table-like surface, by regular plucking and periodic pruning, the latter at intervals ranging from 2 years to 4-5 years, depending on the elevation. At lower elevations, with higher temperatures, growth is faster whilst at higher elevations, where temperatures are lower, growth is slower. Pruning is dictated, as the bush becomes taller and harvesting more difficult, accompanied by a gradual decline in green leaf outputs, despite the provision of fertiliser and other nutrient inputs.

In Sri Lanka, until a couple of decades ago, pruning was almost entirely manual, with skilled pruners wielding a large, razor-sharp knife with a curved blade over each bush. However, with the increasing shortage of workers and the escalation of costs, more and more plantations are resorting to machine pruning.

Top: Tea nursery Centre: Newly planted tea field Bottom: VP Field with Shade Trees

Pruned tea field

FIELD PRACTICES

In view of the daily care needed to maintain tea fields in optimum condition, tea plantations are labour intensive, requiring an ideal ratio of about two workers per hectare of cultivated land.

In a tropical country such as Sri Lanka, growth is relatively quick, even at higher elevations. Weeds tend to grow as quickly, or even quicker, than the tea and regular weeding rounds are an imperative. In view of worker shortages and the need for prevention of soil erosion, what is in place is a system of integrated weed management, with a judicious mix of manual and chemical weeding. Chemical applications are maintained within safe limits, as prescribed by the Tea Research Institute, whose directives are followed rigidly by all plantations. The beneficial result is that Ceylon Tea is considered the cleanest in the world, meeting the Minimum Residue Level protocols of the world’s most demanding markets.

Regular fertiliser applications, generally broadcast manually, are reinforced by periodic delivery of micro-nutrients and trace elements, which are sprayed on the tea field surface. Such applications are infrequent and undertaken only if symptoms of a deficiency are visually detected and statistically ascertained, and its specific nature determined after laboratory analysis of the leaf, generally the first component of the bush to manifest any nutrient inadequacy.

There are other equally important field and landmanagement practices, such as keeping field drains

clean, in order to facilitate rain-water run-off, and the forking of the soil itself, the latter at 2-4 year intervals. Efficient and environmentally sound land and soil management and soil enrichment are crucially important aspects of field management on a tea plantation.

Mulch and carbon content of the soil, an important ingredient in maintaining soil health, is delivered in the form of leaf-fall from shade trees and from the tea bush itself. Once every 2-4 years, immediately after pruning of the tea, the brush-wood removed from the tea bush is buried in trenches, in between tea bush rows.

Maintaining shade trees is an important aspect of field and land management, and on a well maintained plantation, it is a feature which immediately hits the eye. At higher elevations shade is provided with a judicious mix of Grevillea robusta, and one of two or three species of Acacia. At lower elevations Albizzia chinensis is the commonest highshade tree, whilst Gliricidia sepium is generally used for low shade.

HARVESTING THE LEAF

Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, is one of the major teagrowing countries in the world, where the green tea leaves are still harvested largely by hand. Mechanical harvesting is a rare exception and accounts for a very small proportion of the average annual national output of around 300 mn kg.

One of the commonest scenes as one drives through the tea growing areas of the country, especially the

high-grown regions, is the sight of large groups of women with baskets strapped to their backs, moving through the tea in long rows, busy hands flickering dexterously over the even tea field surface, and every now and then throwing the picked leaf over their shoulders into the basket. It is such an iconic sight that it has even come to identify Sri Lanka culturally – the tea picker with hands full of emerald green tea shoots, beaming into the camera.

The green leaf is harvested once every 7-10 days, the frequency being subject to the elevation, weather, temperature, humidity, sunshine hours, and rate of growth. In tea these factors are interdependent, influencing each other in a natural harmony. Apart from these, today, labour availability is also a crucial factor in the frequency of green leaf harvesting.

The higher the elevation and the lower the ambient temperature, the slower the growth. Conversely, in the warmer, more humid low-country regions, the rate of growth is proportionately quicker and the intervals between plucking of a field, shorter. In the ‘orthodox’ system of manufacture, practiced very widely in Sri Lanka, all the above factors eventually contribute to the nature of the brew.

The ideal type of green leaf, for the best tea, is ‘two leaves and a bud’: two tender leaves on either side of the juicy stalk with the half-opened bud at the apex.

The harvesting commences early in the morning, the pickers taking up position in groups, or ‘plucking gangs,’ supervised by a senior worker, generally a male, known in the industry as “kangani”.

Top: Harvesting the leaf Centre: Two leaves and bud – the select best leaf Bottom: Weighing and sorting the harvest, before dispatch to the factory

The women will move rapidly along the rows of tea, working quickly, eyes fixed on the bush surface but often talking softly with fellow pickers plucking the parallel rows on either side. Generally, most pickers will use a long slender stick, laid on the bush surface, to ensure that the shoots removed are of equal length, thus avoiding the removal of undeveloped shoots, fibrous stalk or mature, coarse leaf.

Around mid-morning the pickers will assemble with full baskets at a central point, where the leaf is weighed, packed into bags, and dispatched by lorry to the factory. This process is repeated at least twice more during the day, once at mid-day and finally in the evening, at close of work. This is a century-anda-half-old process which, apart from few details, has not changed since the days of James Taylor.

Colonial era- Sorting the green leaf at the factory, before sending in to processing

MAKING BLACK TEA WITHERING

The green leaf is sent down to the factory, which, generally, would be on the plantation itself. Once delivered at the factory, green leaf is spread evenly, in long, rectangular, metal troughs located in the upper floors of the factory. This is the first step in the conversion of green leaf to Black Tea, the removal of moisture from the leaf, technically identified as ‘withering’.

From the time of removal from the parent bush, certain chemical processes commence in the leaf; large molecules, such as proteins and carbohydrates will breakdown into smaller units. These changes contribute to the quality of the end product. In the withering process 45-50% of the moisture content of the green leaf is removed, aided by large fans at one end of the trough which blow warm air through the leaf-packed trough. The withering process will also accelerate certain enzymatic activities in the leaf, which again contribute to the taste and quality profile of the end product.

ROLLING

Once the leaf is withered to a desirable degree – a process which may take 10-14 hours, depending on ambient conditions – the leaf is sent down to another section of the factory, known as the ‘Rolling Room’.

The ‘Orthodox Tea Roller,’ of which there will be several in an assembly line, depending on factory capacity, consists of a fixed, circular table, 36-48” inches in diameter, located below a rotary, cylindrical metal jacket. On top of the cylinder is an adjustable lid, known as a pressure cap, equipped with the gear for raising or lowering by an operator. The withered leaf is fed into these rollers and subjected to a controlled twisting process over a period of about 20 mts. Leaf may be subject to several passes in the rollers, until the leaf particles are reduced to a desirable size.

Many factories, even in Sri Lanka, use machines known as rotor vanes – a cylindrical contraption, horizontally installed, with sharp vanes fixed to the

managing humidity / temperature in the withering process.

Orthodox Tea Roller

inner wall – in the rolling process, in combination with the orthodox roller. Whilst the orthodox method is a batch process, the rotor vane method is continuous. Its much harsher version, the CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) process, is very popular in India and Kenya, but is very sparingly used in Sri Lanka. It is a rigid, assembly line method which produces tea with very minimal variety, either in appearance or character of brew.

The orthodox process, very popular in Sri Lanka, is very flexible whilst reactions take place at a slow, controllable rate, enabling human interventions as desired, thus allowing the competent teamaker to ‘tailor the tea’ to predetermined requirements. The result is the production of a very wide range of tea types, with equally wide variations in appearance, liquoring properties, quality, and aroma, whilst retaining the inherent, natural goodness of tea. It is this process which distinguishes Ceylon Tea from the tea produced in most other countries.

FERMENTATION

During the above stage, which is a period of oxidisation, the rolled leaf (known as ‘dhool’ in the industry) is spread, in layers of 1-2 inches thick, on hygienically clean rectangular tables and left for around 60 to 90 minutes. This is a critical phase in the production process, during which the tea enzymes undergo a series of chemical changes, through reaction with oxygen in the ambient air. These reactions contribute significantly to the taste, quality, and colour profile of the final brew.

DRYING

At the end of the fermentation process, the dhool, now greenish brown in colour, is fed into large drying machines, and, in a process lasting around 20 minutes, is subject to a continuous stream of hot air. The objective is to reduce the moisture content of the tea particles to around 2%-3%. The drying machines vary widely in configuration, moisture-removal methodology, and efficiency, but all aim at a common outcome.

Tea Dhools on Fermenting Table

Feeding Dhools in to the Drying Machine

GRADING

The tea, soon after drying, once the tea particles have cooled, is graded by being passed, according to a pre-arranged sequence, through a series of sieved machines. The mesh sizes vary and will determine the size and shape of the tea particles, with the latter factor determining the separation of the sieved tea into a variety of grades. This differentiation between grades will also determine the wide spectrum of colour, strength, and quality of the brew, another attractive feature of orthodox tea, missing from tea produced through rigid, continuous processes such as the CTC method.

TEA – READY FOR THE MARKET

The graded tea, separated into distinct varieties, is mechanically packed into heavily lined paper sacks. The outer cover of each pack is labelled, identifying the type of tea, weight of tea within, the producing estate, and other relevant details. A single lot of tea of pre-determined package quantity is given an ‘invoice number,’ a sequential identification specific to the producing estate. The maximum number of packages per invoice, generally ranging from 10 to 40, in multiples of ten, is determined by strict trade protocols. The weight of tea in a package belonging to a particular invoice, and of the same grade, will vary only minimally but between invoices of different grades there will be considerable variation in package weights. The minimum-maximum volume of tea, per package, will also be determined by trade protocols.

Top: Gunasiri Fernando of Dilmah, inspecting a grade in the factory Bottom: Grades ready for tasting at the factory

Ceylon Tea

Cleanest

packed

The estate name, stencilled in bold letters across one side of each package is referred to as the ‘Selling Mark’ and, infrequently, may be different from the name of the plantation. For example, the tea from Park Estate, Nuwara Eliya, sells under the mark ‘Tommagong,’ whilst Alagolla Estate, Udapussellawa sells under ‘Highfields’. Both estate names and selling marks have remained constant, since auctions began over 150 years ago.

SELLING THE TEA

As will be very clear to the reader, from the inception till well into the 20th century, Ceylon Tea was owned by the British. In the early days of the industry, almost the entire production of tea from Ceylon was auctioned and bought in London, in the auction houses of Mincing Lane, a short, one-way street close to the East London docks, from where tea shipments from producing countries were discharged. The systems, protocols, and codes of conduct born in these auction rooms were later transposed to other auction centres, Colombo – Sri Lanka, Nairobi and Mombasa – Africa, Kolkata – India, and elsewhere. The nature of selling and the traditions followed in the outcry system have changed very little from the early days at Mincing Lane and are still very similar across all those separate locations.

The actual selling is handled by “broking companies”, each one acting on behalf of several producer companies and a wide spectrum of plantations. Most of the major broking companies have been in operation for well over a century.

Sri Lanka produces about 300 mn kilograms ( 661 mn lbs) of black tea annually, of which about 95% is exported, in both bulk and value added form. Sri Lanka accounts for 12% of the annual world tea exports. The Colombo tea auction, the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka, disposes of between 7 mn – 3 mn kilograms each week, the volume being subject to regional production outputs. The first tea auction, covering a total of 3006 kgs ( 6629 lbs) was conducted by William Somerville- a well known broker and tea taster of his time- in 1883, in his office premises in the Fort, Colombo. The company which bears his name, Somerville and Co Ltd., is still active as a produce broker.

The small holder segment accounts for about 72% of the total national production, with the balance coming from the privately owned regional plantation companies.

THE WIDE WORLD OF CEYLON TEA

In terms of grade variety, quality, and spectrum of features of attractiveness, Ceylon Tea has no peer. Its wide range, from the heavy, robust liquors of the lower elevations, to the more refined, lighter liquors of the central highlands, offers more in terms of choice to the tea enthusiast than tea from any other country. In between these elevational variations, the types of tea produced in Sri Lanka present a bewildering variety.

The variety of Ceylon Tea has to be viewed in the context of the geographic location of the island, the variations and disparities in its topography, and

the climatic and weather differentiation within the island’s tea-growing regions.

In an island of only 65,000 sq kilometres, the tea growing regions of the country can be divided into 26 sub-districts. Each region has its own weather and climatic variations and elevation differences. A large proportion of the tea cultivation in Sri Lanka still consists of the original seedling tea, of varying types, planted as much as a century or more ago by the British plantation pioneers. This variety is reinforced by the more recently introduced, high-yielding cultivars, known as Vegetatively Propagated (VP) tea, developed within the country itself, from select varieties of the original seedling tea. All these factors combine to invest Ceylon Tea with its dazzling array of tea types and the subtle nuances within each type. The influence of variety in Ceylon Tea is such that an equivalent grade produced in two separate factories in close proximity could demonstrate two completely contrasting taste and quality profiles.

Another factor is that most other tea-growing countries have introduced process developments and innovations designed to meet mass-marketing requirements and cost reductions in production. These innovations have also resulted in the suppression of variety, leading to a sameness of product across regions. The Sri Lankan-Ceylon Tea processes, though, still remain largely traditional and more labour intensive, with a much lower level of mechanisation and automation than the other major growing countries.

CEYLON TEA – REGIONAL DIVERSITY

Nuwara Eliya

Uda Pussellawa

Dimbula

Uva

Kandy

Sabaragamuwa

Ruhuna

NUWARA ELIYA

Nuwara Eliya, the summer resort of the British Government servants in colonial Ceylon, is a plateau bounded on the East by the highest mountain range in the island. Some of the tea plantations in the region grow tea close to 6,500 ft above msl. The town of Nuwara Eliya, a popular holiday resort, is located at 6,199 ft (1,889 m) msl. Within a short hiking distance of the town centre is Pidurutalagala Mountain, at 8,281 ft (2,524 m), the highest peak in Sri Lanka. Whilst mean annual temperatures vary between 14 to 16 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperatures are recorded between late December and end February, during which period the region’s factories produce tea, highly prized for their refined quality and golden hued light-liquors. “Delicately fragrant” is how the seasonal Nuwara Eliya brew is described.

Nuwara Eliya

Left: Picturesque Nuwara Eliya town, surrounded by mountains and bordered by water. Right: Tea Estate in Nuwara Eliya

DIMBULLA

Located on the Western slope of the central highlands, between Nuwara Eliya and the Horton Plains plateau, the elevations of the region’s plantations vary between 3,500 and 5,500 ft (1,100-1,676 m) above msl. Rainfall is higher than in the Nuwara Eliya region, as the Western slopes are squarely within the SouthWest monsoonal belt, supplemented by occasional inter-monsoonal-rains. The mean temperatures are slightly higher than in Nuwara Eliya.

The cool, dry winds of the January to March period, which assist the Nuwara Eliya tea quality, also benefit Dimbula. Its seasonal best brew is characterised by fine, golden-orange liquors, refreshingly mellow and less astringent than the Nuwara Eliya liquors, but equally sought after. The much greater variations in the topography within the region produces a wider spectrum of desirable tea than the smaller Nuwara Eliya region.

The main branch of the Ceylon Tea Research Institute, inaugurated in 1925, is located in the region.

Dimbula

Left: Reservoir in the hills Right: tea estate in Dimbula

The Uva region, larger than the previous two, is a sprawling extent of land, with a much wider cultivation spectrum in addition to tea. It is a massive bowl, located on the eastern slopes of the central highlands, encircled by four distinct mountain ranges in an almost unbroken ring. The plantations are located at elevations ranging from 5,700-3,000 ft above msl (950-1,600 m).

The greater proportion of the annual rainfall of this region is from the NorthEast monsoon, which is active for about eight weeks in the last quarter of the year. For the rest of the year, rainfall is scattered and generally sparse and, as a result, Uva is much drier than either Nuwara Eliya or Dimbula.

Winds in this region, especially in the rainless months (June-September), can be harsh, dry, and strong. It is during this windy, dry period that Uva produces its famous quality seasonal tea; light golden/straw coloured, spicy liquors of exquisite aroma, piquant flavour, and quality. As much as the quality seasonal Nuwara Eliya tea, the Uva seasonal teas are also a connoisseur’s delight.

UVA

Uva

Left: Iconic Nine Arches Bridge, Ella, Uva Province Right: Tea estate in Uva

UDA PUSSELLAWA

It is a relatively small region, wedged between Nuwara Eliya on the West and Uva on the East. Elevations range from 3,000-5,000 ft (950-1,600 m) msl.

The climatic conditions are similar to those of Uva, with rainfall and weather following much the same pattern, but a trifle wetter. The quality season is from January to March and again from July to September.

The seasonal Udapussellawa tea is described as “exquisitely tangy,” with pinkishgold liquors, slightly darker in the cup than those of Nuwara Eliya, but closer to the Uva seasonal product. Colder conditions at the end of the year add floral notes to its brews, with the liquors being described occasionally as “rosy” in character.

Uda Pussellawa

Tea-scape in Udapussellawa , bungalow nestling in a plantation

KANDY-MATALE (MID-COUNTRY)

This is the Central Province of Sri Lanka and significantly lower than the other hill regions, with elevations ranging from 2,000-4,000 ft (650-1,300 m) msl. Hence the plantations in this entire region are classified as Mid-Country. The rainy months are in mid-year, during the South-West monsoon. The teas produced in the region are darker and stronger in the cup, and more fullbodied, than the high-grown products.

Kandy

City of Kandy – seat of ancient Sinhala kings, Mid-country Tea Estate, Kandy District

RUHUNA

The Ruhuna tea plantations lie in the Southern part of Sri Lanka, and the terrain encompasses part of the coastal lowlands and the low-lying hills of the interior of the Southern plains. Much of the region is part of the geographical wet-zone of the island, receiving its moisture mainly from the South-West monsoon but also benefiting from the North-East monsoon.

The highest elevation for tea does not exceed 2,000 ft (600 m) msl, ranging from the coast, and inland to the edge of the Sinharaja rain forest. The soil is naturally rich and the higher temperatures and high rainfall induce quick growth. The tea leaf is larger and more succulent than its high-grown cousin and, as a result, the tea from this region produces dark, heavy, reddish-brown, full-flavoured liquors, highly prized in the Middle Eastern and Russian markets.

Ruhuna

Left: Historic Light House, Galle Right: a southern tea estate, not far way from the Indian ocean

SABARAGAMUWA

Sabaragamuwa, a province located in the South-West of the island, is famous for its precious stones, found in large deposits in its rich, alluvial soil. The elevations, with low plains and rolling hills, range from 400-2,500 ft (120-760 mt).

This region is Sri Lanka’s largest plantation district, with large extents of both tea and rubber. It is located between the Sinharaja rain forest in the south and the Adam’s Peak wilderness in the north. With its rich soil, heavy rainfall and high humidity, plant growth is quick and the region’s plantations produce tea bushes with a large, succulent leaf, similar to Ruhuna. The tea liquors of this region are heavy, coppery in the cup, full-bodied, highly aromatic, and of a general caramel character.

Ceylon Tea –

Cleanest

Sabaragamuwa

Left: Adams Peak, majestic and sacred Right: The lush tea of Sabaragamuwa

THE ART OF CEYLON TEA

The orthodox manufacturing process enables a wide variety of tea, in an equally wide range of shapes and sizes. This is another factor which

contributes to the appeal of tea, its visual complexity which is not present in any other popular beverage. Grades with similar nomenclature, or identification commonality, will vary in appearance and liquoring properties, from elevation to elevation, region to region and, not infrequently, between factories in close proximity, especially in Sri Lanka. A Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) from two factories within the same area may differ significantly in appearance. This differentiation in appearance will also result in subtle differences in colour, strength, and quality of the brew.

Given below are brief descriptions and images of a few representative Ceylon tea types:

Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP)

Leaf particles are large. A grade with broken particles, one of the first to come out of the grading process. Particle size can vary with elevational differentiation. Produces a liquor with strength, quality, and colour, all factors varying with elevation in particular.

Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (BOPF)

Particles more even and smaller in size than BOP and produces a stronger brew, with more colour and strength.

Orange Pekoe A

Leaf particles are larger, more open and rounded than in the preceding grades. It is a very good quality tea producing a light, quality liquor, fragrant and mellow.

Flowery Fannings 1

Leaf generally hard and choppy, containing a fair amount of white tips.

The flowery grades, of which there are several, are characterized by the presence of white or golden yellow particles, known as “tip”, mixed with the black tea.

Pekoe

Particles are more rounded and tightly curled than the BOP or BOPF, often with a shotty, pellet-like character. Produces a liquor with colour and some strength, but seldom as strong as a BOP or a BOPF.

Dust

Small, grainy and very even particles producing a strong, coloury brew; ideal for tea bags.

Orange Pekoe (OP)

Long, thin, wiry particles and produces a light coloured, flavoury brew.

Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe

Long, thin, wiry particles, well twisted, black mixed with golden-white tip, producing a very flavoury brew, light in colour, highly prized for its nuanced liquor.

Fannings

Leaf somewhat flakier than the other grades and more of a secondary product but with a pleasant, light flavoured liquor, not as strong as a Dust grade.

EXOTIC GRADES

There are a few other grades, which are produced in minute quantities, for which the raw green leaf, consisting of the immature, unopened bud at the apex of the shoot, is obtained through a highly selective manual process. Generally, these buds are separated from the shoot with the use of small clippers, so as to minimise damage caused by handling. Producers of these grades use different methods in the preparation of the tea. Overall, there is minimal mechanical intervention and the withering and drying takes place under natural sunlight. The end product, classified as “Silver Tips”, or “Golden Tips”, depending on the colour of the leaf, are highly prized by tea conoisseurs. The tea liquors are highly aromatic, colour as in pale straw and delicately flowery in mouth-feel.

The above is a representative selection from a range, comprising about 40 different varieties.

Ceylon Tea

Ceylon Silver Tips

BREWING THE PERFECT CUP OF CEYLON BLACK TEA

The method of brewing is crucial to obtaining the best benefit from the tea, in terms of both taste and wellness properties. Incorrect brewing technique inhibits the maximum extraction of the beneficial components of tea, despite the use of good quality tea. The latter is a science-based statement. The quality profile of the tea and the quality of the water used are also equally relevant. The tea itself may be selected to suit individual preferences.

STORAGE

Tea is very hygroscopic and absorbs moisture easily, as well as other odours and fragrances. Therefore, once tea is released from its original packing, or once a sealed tea package is opened, it must be stored in a tightly sealed container, in a cool, dry place, away from other substances, especially spices and similar material with strong smells.

WATER QUALITY

The water used should not contain any foreign matter, either in solution or suspension, as that will affect the colour, taste, and wellness of the brew. The water should be colourless, odourless, and hygienic. In actual practice, water which has been treated with chemical to render it potable may not be the best for brewing, despite it being hygienic, as such chemicals tend to leave an after-taste, especially after being boiled. This is particularly true of chlorinated water.

WATER PH

The pH value of water indicates its acidity or alkalinity. Ideally, water for tea should be as close as possible to neutral (pH-7). Since perfection may not be possible, a pH value of 6-8 would be suitable. Higher or lower values would impact adversely on colour and quality of the brew.

WATER HARDNESS

Water with a high proportion of dissolved calcium or magnesium will affect the brew, readily recognised by the layer of scum that will be deposited on the surface of the bowl. Any water containing more than 120 mg/lt of dissolved calcium and magnesium is unsuitable for brewing tea. Ideally, the content of such chemicals should be in the range of 0-60 mg/ litre. Over-boiled water is also unsuitable and, for that reason, re-boiling water which has cooled once is not advisable.

BREWING THE TEA

The average cup (200-225 ml) would require approximately two-and-a-half grammes (2.5 gms) of tea. The tea pot should be pre-heated, by swirling some warm water inside the pot, the Black Tea placed in the pot, and boiling water poured in immediately. The water temperature should be as close to boiling as possible, although the actual boiling point may vary with elevation. The lid of the pot should be closed immediately, to ensure that aromatic vapours are trapped inside, and the mix allowed to steep for

3-5 minutes, depending on the particle size of the tea. Large particles will need around five minutes for proper brewing.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Health and Wellness of Tea

The Goodness in the Brew

Tea is one of nature’s finest gifts to mankind, and from the time of its fabled discovery, has been treasured for its medicinal and therapeutic value. There is no other commonly used herb in the world, which combines such a wide range of health benefits. Western science has only recently confirmed, what was known to Eastern wisdom 30 centuries ago.

The first bowl moistens my lips and throat

The second bowl banishes my loneliness and melancholy

The third bowl searches my withered entrails,

Finding nothing except a literary core of a thousand scrolls.

The fourth bowl raises a light perspiration,

Casting life’s inequities out through my pores

At the fifth I am purified

The sixth bowl makes me one with the immortals

The seventh bowl – ah, but I could not take no more

Feeling only a pure wind rushing beneath my wings.

Song of Tea- Lu Tung Pin (8th century AD)

TRUE TEA

The term ‘tea’ is loosely applied across the world to many types of beverages, derived from a variety of plants and even flowers, none of them being the Black Tea, or the Green Tea, from Emperor Shennong’s fabled tea tree.

The International Standards Organization (ISO) defines ‘true tea’ as follows;

“Tea derived, solely and exclusively, and produced by acceptable processes, notably withering, leaf maceration, aeration, and drying, from the tender shoots of varieties of the species, Camellia sinensis, known to be suitable for consumption as a beverage.”

Tea is one of nature’s finest gifts to mankind. From the time of its fabled discovery, drinking tea has been known to be beneficial to human health in a variety of ways, an advantage especially relevant to modern lifestyles. Centuries before it became an indulgence or a convenience beverage, tea was treasured by the ancients for its therapeutic value.

Objectively speaking, tea has no parallels in the flora of the world. Its infinite variety of tastes, shapes, textures, colours, and aromas are the results of natural influences, such as temperature, elevation, wind, sunshine, rain, and soil, further conditioned by cultural practices in the field and varying processing methods in the factory. As has been mentioned in different places in this narrative, the only other beverage with parallel complexities is wine. However,

irrespective of all other factors, wine is an alcohol and, as such, unlike tea, carries with it relevant wellness-negative features.

The naturally occurring advantageous features of tea, preserved by the traditional, artisanal style of manufacture, such as that which is commonly practiced in Ceylon/Sri Lanka, will indulge every sensory preference and mood, whilst delivering compelling health benefits.

The health benefits of tea, passed on over the centuries as folk-lore and acquired wisdom, have now been conclusively established by scientific research and scholarly observation.

NATURAL PRODUCT

‘True tea’ is a natural product, produced from the tender shoots of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), generally plucked by hand – especially in Sri Lanka – and converted to Black or Green Tea. Despite the long and often complex processing methodology of ‘true tea,’ it remains genuinely natural, as its colour, strength, quality, and taste profile are entirely the result of the expression and interaction of the compounds found in the tea leaf itself. Chemicals are not used in the processing of tea; nor are preservatives or colouring compounds added to the final product.

In our modern world, notwithstanding amazing advances in medical technology, especially in the last century, unhealthy lifestyles are resulting in the increased incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), although, globally, average human lifespans

have increased. As a result, ‘true tea’ is enjoying a fresh renaissance, as a new generation searches for tasteful, enjoyable beverages with proven health benefits, or a pleasant drink which is also an antidote to unhealthy indulgences.

Scientific research has established that ‘true tea’ contains high amounts of flavonoids, which could reduce the risk of NCDs. Flavonoids are phytochemical compounds which possess a number of medicinal and health benefits, including anticancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties.

LOW CALORIES

The calorific value of tea is very low, as it contains very small amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, the major nutrients in most foods, making tea an ideal beverage for the calorie-conscious, whilst its very low sodium content makes it ideally suitable for those with a risk of high blood pressure. The significance of any beverage is that, on an average, around 20% of an individual’s daily calorie intake is from drinks. The calorific value of unsweetened tea is almost zero. All types of tea, whether Green or Black, provide similar health benefits and, thus, the choice of the beverage could be purely on individual taste preference.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS IN TEA

Whilst the fresh green leaf contains vitamin C and E, the major proportion of these components are lost in the brewing process. However, certain components of vitamin B could enter the brew. Tea is also a rich source of manganese.

ANTI-OXIDANT PROPERTIES

With the development of heightened awareness of food health across most societies in the world, people have become interested in anti-oxidants in food, as these compounds have the capacity to limit the damage caused within the human body by certain molecules, either produced internally or entering from outside.

Prolonged oxidative stress, caused by the action of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Free Radicals (FR) in the human body, is considered one of the main causes in the development of NCDs, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative ailments.

The anti-oxidant properties of tea, derived from its constituent polyphenols, help reduce oxidative stress in the human body, lowering the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The caffeine and amino acids in tea can have beneficial impacts on brain function, enhancing alertness, focus, and cognitive ability, along with reducing stress and anxiety.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENT

The immune system of the human body, through a process known as the ‘immune response,’ attacks toxic substances that enter the body and cause disease. In the process there is often inflammation which, whilst being an indicator of the body’s effective response to disease or injury, could, if prolonged, result in NCDs such as heart disease, stroke, or diabetes. Therefore, inflammation needs

to be controlled or arrested at some point. Scientific research has established that tea polyphenols possess anti-inflammatory properties, which could mitigate the adverse effects of inflammation.

GLUCOSE INHIBITOR

Studies carried out to identify the mechanisms involved in the reduction of blood glucose levels and diabetic risk by tea consumption have revealed a positive connection between tea drinking and the management of blood glucose levels, through a series of digestive processes.

HEART HEALTH

Detailed research on both tea consumption and the risk factors for heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death in the world, have revealed that the flavonoids in tea have the capacity to reduce the relevant risk factors, such as high blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and oxidative stress. A systematic review of extensive research carried out on tea consumption and blood cholesterol levels has indicated that regular Black and Green Tea consumption could reduce LDL, or ‘bad cholesterol,’ levels.

ORAL HEALTH

The human digestive tract is host to a multitude of micro-organisms, both beneficial and harmful to human health. Also present are a set of microorganisms, known as ‘commensal micro-organisms,’ with neutral properties. Studies carried out on the impact of regular tea drinking on the microorganisms in the human digestive tract indicate that

the harmful micro-organism populations decline, whilst the beneficial micro-organism populations increase. The result is the lowering of the risk of tooth decay and similar dental problems, as well as peptic ulcers and gastric complications, which are caused by harmful micro-organisms in the human gut.

TEA AND CANCER

Scientific research has shown that tea polyphenols could directly react and neutralise chemical carcinogens and reduce the risk of cancer.

In recent times many systematic reviews have been carried out, using human clinical trials and population studies, to find the effects of tea consumption on cancer. The data pooled from multiple studies indicates that drinking tea has a preventive effect on gastric cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, biliary tract cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Clearly, the wide-ranging benefits of ‘true tea’ range from the physical to the mental and cannot be dealt with in a brief description. However, the intuitive wisdom of ancient China, which promoted tea as an elixir more than 30 centuries ago, has been amply confirmed by scientific research, in the 20th century West.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Cinnamon

The new Fragrance of Dilmah

Ceylon Cinnamon, the The Queen of Spices, as old as Tea, has launched voyages of exploration and wars of conquest. In Dilmah, which took Pure Ceylon Tea across the globe, true cinnamon of Ceylon has found a new and powerful champion, in the battle to re-establish its rightful position in the world marketplace.

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,

Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine

With a cargo of ivory, apes and peacocks

Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine

Dipping through the Tropics by the palmgreen shores

With a cargo of diamonds, Emeralds, amethysts, Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores…..

CARGOES – BY JOHN MASEFIELD, BRITISH POET; 1878-1967

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Cinnamon is ancient, perhaps even older than tea, being mentioned in Chinese texts as far back as 2800 BC. It is known as one of the first traded and most popular spices in the ancient world, prized by Greek, Roman, and Persian cultures. Cinnamon from Ceylon/Sri Lanka and cassia from China travelled along the Silk Route, as far West as the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian plateau, as early as 2000 BC.

Nero (37-68 AD), the eccentric Roman Emperor, apparently burned a year’s supply of cinnamon on the funeral pyre of one of his many wives. Arab

The Cinnamon Route The Silk Route The Spice Route

seafarers came to ancient Sri Lanka/Serendib millennia ago, looking for the spice. The legendary sea-port of Tarshish, from which King Solomon is said to have shipped apes, ivory, peacocks, cinnamon, and other exotic goods, is identified by many modern historians as present-day Galle, in Southern Sri Lanka.

Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices

BIBLE – THE SONG OF SOLOMON – 4:14

The ancient Egyptians used cinnamon in their food, and also as a preservative in embalming the dead, as far back as 4,000 years ago. Heavy amounts of cinnamon have been detected in ‘mummies’ disinterred from funerary chambers below some of Egypt’s oldest pyramids. Cinnamon was also used as a perfume and, because of the sensuous nature of its fragrance, from ancient times has been associated with romance and seduction. It was also used in magical rituals invoking spirits and deities, both beneficial and malefic.

The search for true cinnamon motivated historical voyages of discovery by Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese mariners, who opened new sea-trade routes hitherto unknown to the West. The history of cinnamon is as rich and aromatic as the spice itself. It was both food and medicine. Cinnamon was so highly prized that it was also used as an offering to grand monarchs and heads of ancient empires.

THE TRUTH ABOUT CINNAMON

Cinnamon is a plant which belongs to the family Lauraceae, which has about 250 species and sub-species. It is now accepted worldwide that, scientifically, the only ‘true cinnamon’ and therefore the best cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, comes from Sri Lanka. Scientists have confirmed that equivalent species found in other countries do not have the same wide chemical profile of Ceylon Cinnamon. Ceylon Cinnamon contains more than 80 chemical components, of which cinamaldehyde is the essential component of the bark, and eugenol, the main component in cinnamon leaf oil.

In recognition of its uniqueness, Ceylon Cinnamon received the country’s first-ever Geographical Indication (GI certification) and status from the European Union (EU) Commission, on February 2nd, 2022.

Quills, ready for bundling

Left The Cinnamon tree – sacred to the harvester Right Preparing the Quills

DILMAH, A NEW CHAMPION FOR AN ANCIENT SPICE

Mixed with the often woody and fruity aroma of tea at Dilmah is now the subtle sweetness and heady pungency of cinnamon. Driven by the search for excellence, which resulted in the delivery of the best Ceylon Tea to the world, Dilmah has added to its product portfolio the best cinnamon in the world. Staying true to the single origin concept which underscores the authenticity of Dilmah Tea, and the philosophy of the farmer taking his produce direct to the market, Dilmah Cinnamon comes from its own farms, within the low-country tea and rubber plantations of Kahawatte Plantations Plc.

Presently, Kahawatte Plc has 336 ha of land (830 acres) under cinnamon, spread across eight of its low-country estates, which makes it the biggest single cinnamon plantation owner in the country.

Annually, Kahawatte produces about 65,000 kg of processed cinnamon. The peeling, an ancient art with an exacting skill-demand, which has remained unchanged for centuries, is carried out under strict supervision in a company managed facility, daily employing about 100 peelers, located on Hunuwela Estate, another Kahawatte plantation-owned property. The peeled cinnamon sticks are used as bio-mass in the production of bio-char.

Kahawatte has already exported large consignments of prime cinnamon grades to Mexico.

As much as Ceylon Tea was the private preserve of British entrepreneurs for over a century, so was Ceylon Cinnamon, first exploited by the Portuguese and then the Dutch. The latter were more methodical than the Portuguese and whilst the model was both exploitative and extractive, Cinnamon cultivation in the island expanded during the Dutch period. However, the British who succeeded the Dutch as our masters were more interested in coffee and tea and, as a result, the cinnamon industry was somewhat stagnant during that period.

Notwithstanding the demand for and allure of cinnamon, the farmers and the peelers, at the bottom end of a highly exploitative colonial system, remained poor. Despite its age-old desirability, cinnamon cultivation in Sri Lanka has always been a small man’s cottage industry, with individual plantations being of limited extents.

One of the uglier aspects of the trade of agricultural products from colonised countries is the failure

Young Cinnamon Plantation

of that trade to deliver an equitable benefit to the grower and the farm worker, despite the transition from an extractive colonial model, to that of free market trade. Perfect examples of this unattractive reality are tea, cocoa, coffee and, now, cinnamon.

Those factors apart, the ‘true cinnamon’ industry was totally compromised and its value perception diluted by unscrupulous traders of cassia, who compelled growers of the genuine spice to compete on unequal terms, with an inferior relative with a toxic chemical compound profile. For obvious reasons the counterfeit cousin, with no therapeutic value unlike the genuine Sri Lankan spice, comes at a lower price. As in tea, the discount culture, reinforced by the lowering of quality and the muffling of adverse consequences, rears its ugly head in cinnamon as well.

It is into this highly volatile situation that Dilmah, led by Dilhan C. Fernando, has stepped in, as much as his father, Merrill J. Fernando, did with his personal brand of tea four decades ago. The purpose behind Dilmah’s entry in the cinnamon theatre is underscored by the same philosophy and passion which drives its tea business; to remedy a historical injustice which has plagued the cinnamon cultivator in Sri Lanka.

As Dilhan, CEO of Dilmah, has said: “Our reason for embracing Ceylon Cinnamon goes beyond taste and heritage. Dilmah is a family business, formed on a foundation of family values, chief among which is kindness. Sri Lanka’s magnificent cinnamon has

been exploited for centuries with little or no benefit to the community engaged in its production or the future of the ancient cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka. The existence of a cheaper, inferior counterfeit that unfairly acquired the allure of cinnamon forced Ceylon Cinnamon into a defensive mindset, compromising the heritage, tradition, taste, and goodness in the spice.

The reality that cassia, the imitator contains the toxic substance, coumarin, adds urgency to our mission.”

DILMAH, CEYLON CINNAMON –INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

The Dilmah, Ceylon Cinnamon, had its first international exposure in Dubai, on February 17th, 2024, when guests were feted at an epicurean evening, inspired by the flavour and fragrance of Ceylon Cinnamon. Dilmah’s Finest Ceylon Cinnamon, which garnished almost every item of food and every course served, provided the diners with a completely different experience of the taste, goodness and the potential of the ‘King of Spices’. On display were also the culinary skills of Dubai Pullman Chefs Roziro Mathias and Dhammika Herath, with their immaculately presented, delicately balanced, gourmet combinations. Ceylon Cinnamon was the thread that held the evening together.

International Launch of Dilmah Ceylon CinnamonDubai

DILMAH CEYLON CINNAMON –OFFICIAL LAUNCH

On April 28th, 2024, Dilhan C. Fernando presided over the launching of Dilmah Cinnamon, in a formal ceremony held at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. The Chief Guest, President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, alongside Master Chef Thomas Gugler, President of the World’s Association of Chefs’ Societies, symbolically unveiled the range of Dilmah Cinnamon products.

Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe, the First Lady, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health and Industries, and Sagala Ratnayake, President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff, along with high commissioners and ambassadors, were members of the distinguished gathering gracing the event.

In a forthright keynote address, eloquent in its framing of the historical significance of Ceylon Cinnamon in the ancient spice trade, and uncompromising in its exposure of the ugly realities of the current trade, Dilhan C. Fernando said:

“Much has changed since then, not in the qualities of Ceylon Cinnamon, but in the manner in which cinnamon is traded. Cinnamon has become a victim of its own success, diminished in the hands of global spice traders and brands motivated solely by profit and the pursuit of market dominance, but diminished also by the compliance of

the cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka.”

Dilhan also pointed out how the true value of Ceylon Cinnamon had been trivialised in the international marketplace, by constantly being placed alongside its inferior cousin, cassia, without any explanation of the respective individual characteristics, which would enable the consumer to distinguish between the two, and make an informed purchase decision.

“…Ceylon Cinnamon is a valuable spice, and for that value to translate into purpose –touching the lives of the community and the environment that makes it possible – its story must be told, supporting the justifiably premium quality and price positioning. Yet, on grocery shelves, Ceylon Cinnamon stands alongside cassia, most often with no explanation, destined to erode the unmatched heritage while only delivering short-term profit to traders.”

In an equally illuminating address which placed the significance of Ceylon Cinnamon in its historical context, President Wickremesinghe said:

“…what you don’t realise is that cinnamon is part of our history. When the Polonnaruwa Kingdom collapsed and we moved into the South-West wet zone, the only thing that kept the economy going was cinnamon. If we had no cinnamon, we could not have had the Kingdoms of Dambadeniya or Yapahuwa

Opposite: Launch of Dilmah Ceylon Cinnamon, Colombo Sri Lanka April 2024.

Centre left: left to right Master Chef Thomas Gugler, Dilhan & President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe Bottom right: Amrit M. J. Fernando

or Gampola or Raigama or Kotte. That is how closely tied cinnamon is to our history.”

The President also went on to say:

“…but now we see that Sri Lankan Cinnamon is the best in the world. And thank you Dilmah, for resurrecting the name ‘Ceylon Tea,’ just as you have resurrected the name ‘Ceylon Cinnamon.’”

As with the unveiling of Ceylon Cinnamon in Dubai, the many-course gastronomy of the latest event was all about cinnamon, in a delectable array curated by Chef Ruki of the Galle Face Hotel and Australian Master Chef Dulan. As a gentle but sophisticated accompaniment to an event which highlighted traditional values, the music was provided by maestro Ravi Bandu and his orchestra.

As it is with Pure Ceylon Tea, the Dilmah purpose behind its Ceylon Cinnamon drive is to ensure that Ceylon Cinnamon is acknowledged, worldwide, for its true value – which has no relevance to price –and that the cinnamon grower and worker is made part of that value chain. What Dilmah seeks is to unshackle cinnamon from that extractive colonial model which enslaved the Ceylon Tea industry and similar agricultural industries in other parts of the world for centuries. It also seeks to set Ceylon Cinnamon apart from toxic imitators, in the eyes of the world. In Dilmah, Ceylon Cinnamon now has a champion, which will drive the message of the genuine product across the globe, on its merits of authenticity, tradition, quality, and therapeutic value.

Cinnamon field in Kahawatte Plantations

CHAPTER TWENTY

The Dilmah History of Ceylon Tea Website

A legacy for future generations

The history of Tea in Ceylon is a story of success, failure, tragedy and joy. It is also a story of individual enterprise and collective effort. The website is a tribute from the Fernando family, in recognition of a debt that modern society owes, to all those individuals from Western countries who pioneered the industry, and the others who followed them and established Ceylon Tea as the finest in the world.

The Website (www.historyofceylontea.com)

TheDilmah History of Ceylon Tea website is a tribute from the Fernando family, to both the brew that made its name an international brand and the great industry which fosters it. It is also an evolving story of the many people who contributed to its development from the beginning. By telling and recording those stories, there is an acknowledgement of individual contributions, which otherwise would be forgotten. It is a recognition of a debt that the present generations owe, to the bounty and benefits of a great industry, and to the pioneering men and women who made it all possible.

Conceived by Merrill J. Fernando and his two sons, Malik and Dilhan, the website is also a reflection of the family passion for Ceylon Tea and all that it

represents. It is the same passion that nurtures the Dilmah Single Origin, Pure Ceylon Tea brand.

The website, launched in 2002, with David ColinThomé, former tea buyer for Dilmah as its curator, started small, with the scanning of a selection of Ferguson’s Directories and Annual Reports of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA). Since then, under David’s dedicated supervision, it has developed in to a massive collation of historical facts, personal and industrial information, scientific dissertations, field diaries, reminiscences, and biographical sketches and amusing anecdotes, all of it rivetingly interesting - much of it accompanied by historic images- and delivered in easy to read style.

It now serves as a digital archive, safeguarding the history of Ceylon tea for future generations. The documentation of the evolution of the industry, preserves its cultural and economic significance and ensures that the legacy is not lost. It is also the largest, single-industry-related archive of its kind, in the world. It may also be the only one of its kind.

The industry itself is a colonial legacy, and, as such industries are the world over, it is not without its undesirable, inherited features. Some of these, especially in relation to worker welfare and related aspects, are being addressed systematically. Much has been done to improve their lot but, admittedly, much remains to be done.

The tea seedlings that the Scotsman, James Taylor, planted on a bare hillside in a plantation in the central hills of Ceylon, also sowed the seeds of an economic and social revolution, that shaped the future of the remote island he had made his home. It was an inconspicuous beginning, but the great industry which grew from it, built on the wreckage of the coffee cultivations, sculpted the contours of this country and, today, identifies it globally.

The revenue from the plantations and the taxes and duties levied on the industry enriched the Colonial Government and enabled it to deploy surpluses to development in other areas of the country.

The wealth the industry produced, whilst enriching the colonial investor, also cascaded to different levels of the local society. Within that, there arose a new class of the affluent, whilst creating opportunities for craftsmen, clerical workers, merchants, technicians, and manual workers. Remote villages became connected by motorable roads and morphed into towns. The support services to the plantations, such as banking, produce transport, produce broking, material supply, packaging, and engineering, evolved into separate industries, with their own dynamic.

Ceylon Tea, the product of the industry, identifies Sri Lanka globally, as much as fine wine distinguishes France, or premium Scotch whisky defines Scotland. For over a century Ceylon Tea was the country’s main foreign exchange earner, till being recently superseded by the garment trade. But it still remains the biggest single employer, both directly and indirectly.

David Colin-Thomé, eminent Tea historian

Clock-wise from top left: Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, Darawala Cricket Grounds, Radella Cricket Ground, The Hill Club, Nuwara Eliya

Coffee came first, but the tea that followed was the catalyst for the modernisation of Ceylon. In the coffee era itself, the inadequacies of the Galle harbour became apparent, and led to the commencement of improvements to the Colombo harbour. Railroads were laid to connect the plantations with Colombo, for the delivery of coffee and tea, whilst village paths and cart roads were gradually made motorable.

The men who made it possible, those who opened the first coffee plantations and the others who followed, came mostly from distant villages in Scotland, Ireland, and England. They were adventurous, colourful individuals, many of them leaving home, some never to return, with absolutely no idea of the hardships they were going to face in the colony. Of many, there are no stories to tell. Their presence in the country is represented only by headstones with brief inscriptions, in various graveyards across the country, especially in the plantation areas. Many died early, of disease and accidents, thousands of miles away from the country of birth, before fulfilling potential, before achieving anything of note.

A few have left accounts of their lives in the plantations. But more than any written word, the lush, manicured fields of tea which cover the countryside and the factories and beautiful plantation bungalows, invariably located in commanding situations, are testimony to their presence and doings in the country. They have been enlarged, improved by the successors of the pioneers, and all of these have been captured, digitally, in the website.

There are also the planting clubs, dotted across all the plantation regions, with interesting individual histories. The collections of old photographs from these clubs, that carry stories of their own, are reproduced in the website.

All of these clubs started as hunting or fishing lodges, to occasionally provide a little sport for rugged, hardworking men, or as venues equipped with a rough table, on which to rest a bottle of harsh liquor, and a couple of chairs around it. They provided infrequent diversions for lonely men, from the physical and mental drudgery of agriculture in, tough, unfriendly terrain, in a disease-ridden tropical country, totally foreign in every aspect from their more temperate home lands.

Eventually, these modest gathering places, sometimes no larger than a thatched hut with mud walls, grew into the grand plantation clubs of today, with facilities for squash, tennis, cricket, rugby football, badminton, golf, and billiards, not unlike the English country clubs. The reality though, is that the men who built these beautiful clubs in Ceylon, are unlikely, on account of generally low economic and social standing in their home country, to have been able to gain admission to those English clubs.

In these plantation clubs, and the beautiful plantation bungalows with their commanding settings, landscaped gardens, elaborate building configurations, and the amenities that they offer, there is a hidden irony. The first British pioneers who opened coffee and tea plantations in then

Ceylon, were essentially simple men from simple backgrounds, with minimal education, many of them from small farms and some of them farm hands themselves; there were also many de-mobbed military men, who had been unable to find useful work in the home country. Some were younger sons of large families, with little education and even smaller prospects of family inheritance. But what these men lacked in material substance, they more than compensated for in grit and determination.

Living under harsh, often physically dangerous conditions, they created a vast, economically viable industry and, gradually, built for themselves an environment of gracious and comfortable living, with standards that they could never have aspired to in the country of their birth.

The website records many of the personal stories associated with individual contributions to the industry, with the reproduction of personal letters, diaries and reports, much of them handwritten.

The British men who birthed launched and managed the industry in the initial decades were great recordists. Every little fact, every little number, merited documentation. As a result, over the years, the industry has birthed a massive volume of information. The website has reconstituted, by scanning, a digital library of more than 300,000 pages of such publications. The Fergusons Directories covering the period 1871 to 1931 – the almanacs of the industry – are also part of the website information store. Since its launching in 2003, the website has

digitalised over half a million separate records. Thus, the site has become an invaluable educational resource for historians, scholars and tea enthusiasts, who seek to understand the historical context of Ceylon tea.

The website also projects the history of Ceylon tea to a global audience, and, unarguably, helps enhance the global reputation of Ceylon tea. It reinforces the image of Ceylon tea as a high quality product with a storied past, which can only strengthen brand loyalty and attract new consumers. By highlighting its historical context, Ceylon tea is positioned as a symbol of tradition and quality.

Along with a searchable data base of over 4,000 individual plantations, the site also houses the profiles of over 10,000 plantation managers engaged in the industry since its infancy in the coffee era. The vast archive of images offer a pictorial representation of the industry, people, places, and events, going back to its earliest years.

Large industries tend to be eventually reduced to statistics; production volumes, costs, profits, losses, and related data overwhelm the senses and bury the individual stories. The History site captures those memories, some amusing, interesting, romantic and, often, tragic.

What the History website has done is also stimulate the interest of the many who access it. As a result, on a daily basis, new contributions arrive, in the form of hitherto unknown aspects of stories already told, new stories, images, old correspondence, newspaper

cuttings, and recollections. Many are contributions from descendants of the industry pioneers, now living in other lands thousands of miles away from the stamping grounds of their pioneering ancestors. As a result, the History keeps growing every day, and will always be an unfinished project, which is another feature of its charm.

More than 90% of the tea produced in this country is consumed outside its shores and about 12% of the Black Tea consumed, worldwide, comes from this country. The story of that cup must be made available to all those who drink it. Its pedigree and history is a legacy for every consumer, irrespective of the country, and for future generations, especially in this country.

PRIZED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF FORMER PLANTERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS

VJ Thanksgiving service to mark the end of WWII, at Christ Church Warleigh, Dickoya in August, 1945.

Sent in by Simon Kennedy, whose mother, Francis Clara Bourchier, was present at the ceremony. Visit by

HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip to the Radella Club, Nuwara Eliya as a part of their tour of Ceylon in 1954.

Sent in by Tom Jackson, whose mother Lorna Jackson, was in charge of decorating the clubhouse.

Submitted by Christine Miller, whose husband’s aunt, Annie Hanaford, seated in the rear, was the nurse to Arthur Dawson’s son—seen here driving with his wife in the front.

Conclusion

A Lifetime on Canvas

Awonderfully

expressive painting crafted by

New Zealand artists, Stephen and Diane Fuller, unveiled on 6th June 2024, at the Dilmah t-Lounge, Wellington, New Zealand, captures, with inspired and evocative brushwork, the essence of the life and times of Merrill J. Fernando; caring parent, successful entrepreneur, passionate environmentalist and committed philanthropist. That one canvas encapsulates the story you have just finished reading.

People are passionate about many things but the difference between Merrill J. Fernando and many other passionate people, is that he transformed his passions in to actions with quantifiable, socially and environmentally beneficial outcomes.The painting describes that inspirational journey. It was a passion which enriched a national industry, helped reinforce the image of Pure Ceylon Tea globally, brought light to darkened lives and repaired damaged eco-systems.

Fittingly, the painting was unveiled by younger son Dilhan, grandson Amrit, and Daron Curtiss, the latter a friend, business associate, and the man behind the now enduring expression, “Do Try It”, which, accompanied by Merrill J. Fernando’s charming smile, took the Dilmah brand across the globe.

“Do Try It”, the words which have accompanied Dilmah across the world, were born in New Zealand, when Daron Curtiss, Head of Waves Communications, convinced me, despite my reservations, that the most effective way to convey my passion for tea was to tell the world personally”

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Merrill J. Fernando was a great traveller. He loved new places and new faces and with his natural charm and inherent sincerity, made friends wherever he went. He covered the globe many times over, in pursuit of his dream of delivering quality Pure Ceylon Tea, at a reasonable price, to the tea-drinking people of the world. But, as he says in his autobiography, it was in New Zealand that he felt most welcome.

I have great memories of all the countries I have visited, the places I have seen, and the people I have befriended. However, nowhere else have I been so welcomed, or made to feel so much at home, as in New Zealand. I know that it is in New Zealnd that I am best known and loved

MJF AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Unveiling the painting - Dilhan, Dianne Fuller & Amrit

Therefore, it was most proper, that the artistic tribute to the life and times of this exceptional man was first made public, in the country which, next to his homeland of Ceylon, was probably the closest to his heart.

The event itself, a moveable feast if you will, was graced by many old friends from Merrill’s times in New Zealand. It was evident from the warm greetings between the participants, before the event got underway, that it was a gathering of old friends, linked by the commonality of Dilmah. Following the welcome address by Dilhan, Nigel Scott, Dilmah associate in New Zealand for the last 32 years, invited the guests to enjoy this festival of food and tea; naturally, a tea-inspired fusion made so popular all over the world by the Dilmah School of Tea.

Matt Whittaker of Whittaker Chocolate, a small but successful family firm like Dilmah, expressed his appreciation of the opportunity for acknowledging the life and work of Merrill J. Fernando. Laurent Loudeac, famous French-born chef domiciled in New Zealand, and Dilmah Global High Tea Winner in 2015, paid a personal tribute to the founder of Dilmah, whom he called a, “lovely, lovely man”.

Sir Anand Satyanand, former Governor General of New Zealand and an old friend, made a brief but warm speech, highlighting Merrill’s ability to make long-lasting friendships wherever he went. Diane Fuller, describing the work that went in to the painting, said how difficult it had been to capture Merrill’s multifaceted personality with a brush,

although she had known him for many years. Biddy Harford, CEO, Te Omanga Hospice, New Zealand, expressed her gratitude to Merrill, for partnering with them in their mission of care for the aged and the the infirm. Grandson Amrit explained what his grandfather’s mission in life was all about and what it meant to him, and to those of his own generation of the Fernando family.

As Dilhan said at the conclusion of the event, the evening was exactly what his father would have wanted; a group of friends and like-minded people, brought together by a commonality of interests, enjoying each other’s company and celebrating friendships, over good tea and good food.

Every writing must have a fitting end and hence the title of the final chapter of this book. However, the saga of Dilmah and the Cup of Kindness it has brewed, will live long in to the future, carried forward by the inheritors of the legacy bestowed by Ceylon’s foremost teamaker and the creator of Dilmah, Merrill J. Fernando. There will, surely, be many more books written about it, as future generations, especially from marginalized communities, continue to prosper through the generosity, the kindness and caring for people and nature, that is the creed of Dilmah. That is a narrative with no foreseeable end.

Acknowledgments

Firstly, I wish to thank Dilhan for having invited me to write this book. Apart from the opportunity of exploring the fascinating history of tea on a global scale, and tracing its journey across other countries, this writing has enabled me to speak about the story of tea in Sri Lanka, and explain why tea, especially Pure Ceylon Tea, is such a healthy and enjoyable drink.

More importantly, it has given me the opportunity of presenting, to a new readership, the remarkable work being carried out by the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation. I have shared a few stories, inspirational as well as moving, of the actual transformational impact that the Foundation’s initiatives have had, on individuals and communities. Due to space constraints I have included only a meagre handful of such examples, out of the many thousands that are out there in societies all over this country, in which the Foundation has been active.

Perhaps the above stories will encourage readers to switch to Dilmah Tea as, apart from being a quality tea, every cup of Dilmah Tea contributes to a purpose which transcends pure profit. As a man with an involvement with tea and plantations in Sri Lanka which exceeds half a century, I can say with total confidence that no other tea, and perhaps no other beverage in the world, can make that claim.

As was the case when I collaborated with the late Mr. Merrill J. Fernando in the narration of his

autobiography – ‘The Story of Ceylon Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, Disruptor, Teamaker, Servant’ –my good friend Spencer Manuelpillai, Senior Brand Manager of Dilmah, was my controller and handler in this project as well. I am very grateful to him for his prompt attention to my requests for arranging meetings, establishing useful connections, providing material, and helping in the conception of the book, and, also, for staying calm in the face of my often irate outbursts.

I thank Ms Rehana Wettasinghe for her assistance in facilitating interviews and photography at the Moratuwa Centre of the Foundation, and Ms Safeeka Mohammed for providing the same services at the Kalkudah Centre. Despite the short notice and the complex nature of the circumstances, the arrangements at both locations were meticulous. I am also very grateful to both for their prompt and courteous responses to my frequent requests for information and clarifications.

Ms Vajira Karunathilake, Head of Dilmah Quality Assurance, was as helpful as all the others mentioned above. Dr. Anudini Liyanage, scientist in charge of Dilmah Food Technology, too, was equally supportive. Binesh Pananwela, CEO of Kahawatte Plantations

Plc, and Andrew Samuel of the same company, were prompt and professional in dealing with my requests for information. The contributions from Himendra Ranaweera and Roshan Tisssaratchy, Deputy

Chairman and Director, Sales, respectively, of the MJF Group, are also acknowledged with gratitude. My thanks to K.Ravindran ( Printcare) Yshan Fernando and Shardha Soza (Forbes & Walker) W.G. Upali (Rtd. – Dilmah) and Gunasiri Fernando (Dilmah – Tea Dpt.) for their valuable time and insights.

I also thank the many other people in the Dilmah operation I interviewed in the course of my information gathering, and apologise for not being able to mention them individually.

Perusing this recital, I hope it strikes the reader that some of the most important segments of the Dilmah management structure are led by women. They reinforce clear competence in their respective fields with a rare dedication and passion for what they do.

David Colin-Thomé, tea historian and curator of the Dilmah, History of Tea website, provided invaluable help in sourcing images and also as a sounding board. Milinda Verage, with his customary quiet efficiency, made light work of the difficult task of image selection and layout arrangement.

Featured in the book are images from Izabela Urbaniak, Bree Hutchinson, Malaka Premasiri & Rasika Surasena, along with those from many other photographers, too numerous to mention. They are all remembered with gratitude.

Lastly, my personal thanks to Sarath Perera, photographer par excellence and delightful raconteur, for his contribution and for his company.

Anura Gunasekera

Author 12th January 2025

Anura Gunasekera, the author, was educated at S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia (1955-1966), a leading boys’ school in Sri Lanka. Entering the plantation industry in 1968, he served in various tea estates in the George Steuart Agency, then the premier estate agency house in the country. After the nationalisation of plantations in 1976, he was attached to the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB), a State-owned plantation management organisation. Leaving active planting in 1980, he continued his association with the plantation industry, firstly with George Steuart & Co., and, thereafter, with Dipped Products (Hayleys Group) Plantations. Retiring from DPL Plantations as a Director, he joined the MJF Group in 2011 and retired in 2020 as Chief Executive, Kahawatte Plantations RPC.

Anura is the narrator in the autobiography of the Dilmah Founder, Merrill J. Fernando, ‘The Story of Ceylon Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, Teamaker, Disruptor, Servant’. He is also a regular contributor to the ‘Dilmah, History of Ceylon Tea’ website. Many of his articles – on political issues, sports, book and film reviews, conservation, and other matters of public interest – have been featured regularly over the years in several leading newspapers in Sri Lanka.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘Tea and Empire – James Taylor in Victorian Ceylon’

– Angela McCarthy & T.M. Devine

‘Green Gold – The Empire of Tea’ – Alan Macfarlane and Iris Macfarlane

‘A History of Ceylon’ – K.M. de Silva

‘Ceylon’ – Sir James Emerson Tennent

‘Bonded Labour’ – Odvar Hollup

‘A Hundred Years of Ceylon Tea’ – D.M. Forrest

‘For All the Tea in China’ – Sarah Rose

‘The Silk Roads, A New History of the World’ – Peter Frankopan

‘A Brief History of Tea’ – Roy Moxham

‘The Hills of Paradise’ – S.N. Breckenridge

‘Sixty-Four Years in Ceylon’ – Frederick Lewis

‘The Story of Ceylon Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, Disruptor, Teamaker, Servant’ – Merrill J. Fernando and Anura Gunasekera

Dilmah History of Ceylon Tea Websitewww.historyofceylontea.com/

‘A Cup of Kindness’ – Jane Pettigrew (2011 – Dilmah Publication)

‘Tea and Health’ – W.W.D. Modder and A.M.T. Amarakoon (Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute Publication)

‘Tea and Your Health’ – Prof. Tissa Amarakoon (Dilmah Publication)

‘Handbook on Tea’ – Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka

‘Traditional Communities in Sri Lanka – The Ahikuntaka’ (Dilmah Conservation Publication)

‘Indigenous Communities in Sri Lanka – The Veddahs’ (Dilmah Conservation Publication)

Readers who wish to comment on the book may contact the following;

founder@dilmahtea.com

“Our mission is clear. Every business has an irrevocable link to community and environment, and in order not to be a parasite, every business must benefit people and nature. The success of our business is expressed in the lives of less fortunate people, and as we give selflessly, we receive in ways we never imagined”

Dilhan C. Fernando

More than anything at Dilmah, we believe in being kind.

Kindness is at the heart of everything we do. We spread kindness by doing everything with care and respect. This means respecting nature –sustainably growing only the finest ingredients and protecting the environment.

Respecting our workers – providing them with good working conditions and being kind to their families.

Respecting our customers – we do not mix our teas.

We uphold the highest standards and do not compromise quality to enhance profit.

We make the best tea in the world and use our earnings to support those that need that little bit of kindness the most.

dilmahfamily.dilmahtea.com