The Dilmah Philosophy

“We are a family business, built on family values. Integrity must therefore be the foundation of our every activity; that means integrity in relation to Quality, Ethics, Tradition and Authenticity, our Customer and Sustainability. These are the Six Pillars of Dilmah.” - Merrill J. Fernando, Founder of Dilmah

Sri Lankan family tea company Dilmah, was established by Merrill J. Fernando to bring the finest quality, Single Origin Ceylon Tea, garden fresh and unblended, to tea drinkers around the world. His Dilmah Tea brand was the first genuinely ethical tea brand, bringing a smile to the faces of the underprivileged in Sri Lanka, while giving consumers quality, authenticity and natural goodness in their cup of tea.

Merrill J. Fernando dedicated his life to tea when in the 1950s, he saw the concentration of ownership in the tea industry in the hands of a few large corporations. This was leading to commoditisation of tea. He decided that in the interest of tea drinkers around the world, and the crop that his country produced with so much care and artistry, he would fight this process of commoditisation.

It took him nearly four decades and in 1988 he launched his own brand - Dilmah. Coined from the names of his two sons Dilhan and Malik, Dilmah was the first producer owned tea brand, and offered tea ‘picked, perfected and packed’ at origin. Unlike the multi-origin blends that monopolised supermarket shelves, Dilmah brought tea that is freshly packed at source and therefore rich in flavour and natural goodness.

The tiny, upstart tea company that Merrill formed in 1988 to change the exploitation of his country’s crop by big traders, has today grown to become one of the top 10 tea brands in the world. However as Merrill says, his Dilmah will always be a small, family brand because it represents integrity, and integrity in tea requires quality, commitment and passion. Those are not qualities that can be extended to the mass market.

Dilmah is unique; a brand that is founded on a passionate commitment to quality and authenticity in tea, it is also a part of a philosophy that goes beyond commerce in seeing “business as a matter of human service”. This is what makes Dilmah the first ethically produced tea. Business ethics and social responsibility guide the family business where profits from the company are shared with those who are less privileged in society.