About Dilmah

Dilmah is a very special tea. A family business that is equally a philosophy and a business, the idea of Dilmah was conceived by its founder, Merrill J Fernando, in the 1950’s. As a young Trainee in the tea center of the world, London, he experienced the commoditisation that gross commercialisation of his country’s wonderful crop had induced. He determined that one day he would change that and offer the first producer owned, real tea brand in the world. He planned to do this with integrity and a commitment to quality and to the consumer. It took Merrill 38 years and eventually his Dilmah brand was launched in 1988. Dilmah had to compete against giants, a small brand committed to quality in a multinational dominated, globalised world. Lacking the resources to compete, Dilmah very nearly did not survive although consumers, recognising its quality and ethics, helped keep Merrill’s dream alive.

Today, Dilmah represents everything that Merrill pledged when he first conceived his family, ethical tea brand. Dilmah is founded on integrity, offering quality, authenticity and freshness to consumers whilst maintaining the family values of ethics through a commitment to social justice and environmental sustainability that is at the core of the Dilmah tea business. Dilmah Exceptional is the product of a desire to share with a new generation, the wonderful delights in tea as well as its healing and protective benefits. We aim to do this by offering in Dilmah Exceptional teas and infusions of quality, that present enjoyment in an indulgent and deliciously different collection of teas and infusions.

Read the story behind your cup of Dilmah Tea  >>