Dilmah Tea (Sri Lanka): Building a Global Brand

Merrill J. Fernando, the founder of Dilmah Tea, was an icon in the global tea industry. He was a man who revolutionized the industry which was dominated by multinationals, by bringing quality and integrity into tea. An ordinary man of humble beginnings, his passion and vision for tea remain unchanged to date in the company. Dilmah is a company founded by Merrill J. Fernando in 1988 and named after his two sons, Dilhan and Malik. Fernando focused on quality, authenticity, and ethics which were missing in the tea industry in those days. Tea is nature’s gift to mankind. A beverage that heals, refreshes, and protects; it is also infinite in variety, changing subtly with the natural alchemy of sunshine, soils, wind, sand, and temperature. Over the past 30 years, Dilmah was able to create a segment of the tea market that was driven by high quality of global standard. Today Dilmah is accessible in more than 100 nations and considered as one of the best tea brands on the planet. It is considered as Sri Lanka’s main producer and exporter of tea bags. Dilmah is also the world’s first producer-owned tea brand. This case study examines the journey of building such a world-class tea brand.