‘Kindness is what defines us as humans.’ – Dilhan Fernando, Dilmah Tea.
Few things are loved by Sri Lankans more than a steaming hot cuppa to start our day, to end it, and at various intervals in between. Only a few companies have done more to propagate the appeal of tea, to enhance its reputation as a panacea for most ills, and to popularise its versatility as a beverage incomparable for flavour, goodness, and healing properties, than the Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company. This made it a particular privilege to meet up with the CEO of Dilmah, Dilhan Fernando, in the midst of his hosting duties at a delectable degustation that took place in the cozy environs of the Dilmah t-lounge on Willeston Street.
Q: Dilmah is a household name among us Sri Lankans. It has received 9 nominations as the most trusted tea brand in New Zealand. Could you narrate its origin story?
It’s a simple although unlikely origin story. My father came from a tiny hamlet called Pallansena in Negombo. He was from a very ordinary, middle-class family, but had an extraordinary vision based on his understanding of the effort that goes into tea making, and the terrible dysfunction in the fact that our tea, made with so much love and care and expertise in Sri Lanka, was then taken off to other countries where value was added by people who were simply trading. My father never went to university – he only completed the SSC at the time. This was an asset – he never encountered that business school methodology that the purpose of business is to make profit. He understood that kindness is what defines us as humans, and he integrated that into his business. Dilmah is aligned with the philosophy of serving humanity. This is a joy and a strength. A business exists because of a community, so the business must serve that community – otherwise, it becomes a parasite. Today, we have the MJF Foundation. We have 300 people in the field. We run 85 free schools. We have free culinary schools, we have free schools for people with cerebral palsy, ADHD, and other disabilities.
Q: What are your feelings about your father’s legacy?
When my son graduated from Exeter Uni and when I graduated, years ago, from LSE, we got many offers from people trying to recruit us. To me, there was no question – I was coming back to my family business. In the late ‘80s and ‘90s people were migrating out of Sri Lanka, so to most people, my choice to return was incomprehensible. When my son took that same decision to return at a time when Sri Lanka was in crisis, I understood his rationale. I told him, ‘If you’re coming back, come back for the right reason”, and he did. That’s why I respect that legacy. Anyone can make money, but the fulfillment of being able to express your success in the lives of others cannot be compared with having a few extra zeros in the bank. We have children of plantation workers who are magistrates, doctors, lawyers, and chefs. My father had an invincible faith and relentless determination. This made him believe that success was a very temporary phenomenon. But significance is a greater concept – based on what you do for others. My father’s legacy is so important for Sri Lanka in its current state, despite him being such a humble man. So it needs to be replicated. Our job is to create social and natural value and embrace the concept of serving humanity.
Q: The NZ landscape is dominated by coffee. How do you envision widening the popularity of tea?
Sri Lankan tea has yielded a position to coffee, through a failure to communicate. Tea has not been marketed. Sri Lanka has the finest cinnamon in the world – combating and protecting from cancers and dementia. Tea is no different – natural, plant-based, artisanal, uniquely rich in antioxidants; it supports cognitive health and enhances mood. What we have failed to do is communicate this, and that is my father’s strength. He fought the economic colonisation of Sri Lanka and the multinational corporations that profited from our tea and our cinnamon. The focus now is on selling cheap. There are few brands that offer an experience. You can’t sell a cuppa or a spice – you have to sell an experience. Here, at Dilmah, we do. Sri Lanka has the best tea, the best cashews, the best cardamoms, cloves, and the list goes on. We should not go for the mass. Mass is cheap. We should always aim for the best. My father always told us ‘Never try to be the biggest. Try to be the best.” So On April 28, 2024, we launched Dilmah Cinnamon, and we aim to sell enough to enable us to share our profits, to help those in need, to build regenerative agricultural practices. We sponsored a Climate Summit in Sri Lanka in May. If Sri Lankan companies don’t understand the threat of climate change, it will end in disaster. Here in New Zealand, you have a very vibrant coffee sector, but if you present tea in the proper context, with the proper storyline, coffee is no competitor.
Q: How adaptable is your company’s business and work ethic in terms of dealing with successive generations and age groups?
I have a simple principle. We had the work from home model during Covid. Many of our employees still wanted to come into the office; and what we found was that the disconnected work from home model does not work. The reason is the lack of human interaction. But as far as the business model is concerned, we welcome anyone with a good idea – whether this is a worker, an executive, or an intern. We have DIP – the Dilmah Internship Programme. I meet the interns every month, and I encourage criticism. Their insights are incredible. Technology will unlock efficiency in processes, and we are absolutely open. We are a family business, we are open to criticism and suggestions.
Q: How much emphasis has Dilmah given to the science and research dimension of tea cultivation?
This is critical for us, because in a family business, your perspective is of generations. I need to make sure that my son and succeeding generations can farm the same land. We have the Agricultural Regenerative Nucleus, which focuses on using new technologies and methods – agro-forestry and rain-water harvesting, for instance – to mitigate adverse effects in the future. We have set up Biodiversity Sri Lanka, which is concerned with building a broad coalition for environmental good. So this is critical for us. Together we can do more.
Q: Given the social marginalization and oftentimes dire poverty faced by Sri Lankan tea plantation workers, what are Dilmah’s plans to give back to this community?
Unfortunately, the system in Sri Lanka is very dysfunctional. Typically, a tea plantation worker only has 4 hours of work. Of the resident workers in our tea gardens, only 17% work for us – the rest go out to work at other jobs. But we care for them and support them. It’s not their fault, but you need structural change to address this. We are told that educating our workers’ children will lead to them going out to other jobs. Politicians try to rouse people for the wrong reasons, not understanding that in the process they could be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. This colonial situation needs to be resolved. The workers are stuck in a colonial mode of production. The government still has the golden shareholding, so it needs to take a stand, with the understanding that business units exist as does a community, and an interaction between the two needs to be built and fortified. We are only tenants – we hand the land back after a period of time. So holding us responsible for something that we cannot control is fundamentally unfair. We need to fix wages and living conditions, but we need the participation of unions and the government.
Q: How is Dilmah coping with the current economic downturn the world is facing?
In any crisis situation, one has to be aggressive and innovative. For us, we are approaching this situation with a mindset of victory. We are innovating and diversifying our base to strengthen the foundation. This will give us resilience in difficult times. But even in difficult times, tea is an affordable luxury.
Q: What other projects and ventures are Dilmah involved in?
Our businesses have tea at their heart. Cinnamon was born out of our investment in Kahawatta Plantations in 2000. We also grow rubber and a few other food crops. Hospitality was born in 2005 out of Ceylon Tea Trails – a luxurious experience of a tea planter’s life in the 1800s. For my father, it was always tea, and we never forget that our core focus is tea.
Q: What message do you have to communicate as the CEO of a brand that has elevated Sri Lanka’s prestige on the world stage?
Never forget that my father came here with the humble message ‘Do try it.” New Zealanders accepted this, and since then we have grown on that base of quality, integrity, and kindness. So my message is – thank you for supporting us, and secondly, we will never compromise on the promise my father extended. The assurance of it is that I’m here with my son, and he will carry this on into succeeding generations. I ask all Sri Lankans here to help give Sri Lanka what it needs to circumvent these challenging times.
Interviewed and Written by: Sudeshna Senadeera, Wellington
Questions composed by: Thulitha Abayawardana, Auckland
