Merrill J. Fernando

In the last days of July 2022, a superlative fine Ceylon pekoe tea was crafted in very limited quantity of less than 1 kg., on Craighead Estate. It was intended…

There is no greater fulfillment than seeing potential achieved, and last Thursday we celebrated extraordinary achievement at the Merrill J. Fernando Innovation Awards. 10 young women, men or teams, were…

A new generation is driving change in a tea category where for decades price has meant more than taste or goodness. The trend they are forcing is about taste and wellness but so much more. As younger customers turn to tea, they are demanding a more sincere appreciation of ethics and sustainability. This offers a glimmer of hope for passionate tea growers who make tea for the love of the leaf.

The achievement of business men and women is universally measured in profit. My brother and I are singularly fortunate that the family business we joined three decades ago, was fundamentally…

Since the beginning of separatist conflict in the North and East of Sri Lanka in 1983, there have not been many good days in eastern Sri Lanka. Until hostilities in…

Next month, the beautiful South American nation of Colombia has the prospect of peace for the first time in over half a century. Why this topic appears here on a…

Last night the MJF Centre in Moratuwa, on the outskirts of Colombo, was aglow. It was after dusk but it was not the setting sun that caused the brilliant light…

After every session of the Dilmah School of Tea, we come to the realisation that it is always the simplest things that can go wrong when making tea. It is…

View Full Album There is a powerful emotion that the act of pouring a cup of tea evokes. Visually, the cues include the appearance of the amber liquid pouring into…

For centuries, problems of mankind have been solved over a cup of tea. Whether they were problems between nations, between businesses, even in families between husbands & wives, tea has…