Food and hospitality have always been about more than what’s on the table. They’re about people, stories, and the spark that keeps them going even when the industry tests their limits. Passion is what binds these journeys together, though it manifests in different ways: As resilience, purpose, creativity, or curiosity.
Dilhan C. Fernando, Second Generation Teamaker and Chairman/CEO of Dilmah Tea
For Dilhan C. Fernando, tea is not just a business, but a mission rooted in history, justice, and love. As the second-generation teamaker at the helm of Dilmah Tea, Fernando carries forward the vision of his father, Merrill J. Fernando, who defied colonial-era structures in the 1950s to establish a producer-owned brand of Ceylon tea.
“My father was the original disrupter at a time when disruption was unwelcome,” he recalls. Witnessing his father’s struggle against an exploitative system gave Dilhan and his brother Malik an unshakable commitment to the same mission: to add value at origin and let Sri Lanka chart its own destiny in tea.
Today, that mission is lived out in every cup of Dilmah. Beyond heritage, Fernando is personally captivated by tea’s richness – its purity, health benefits, and “taste adventure.” But what elevates his passion is purpose. At least 20% of Dilmah’s pre-tax profits fund the MJF Charitable Foundation and Dilmah Conservation, initiatives that span education, women’s empowerment, culinary training, biodiversity restoration, and climate resilience. “What appears to be a challenge is in fact our strength and resilience,” he says of the family’s refusal to compromise on quality or ethics.
Yet steering a family-owned tea brand in a competitive global market is no easy feat. Discount culture in retail has eroded quality, commoditised tea, and driven consumers toward other beverages. Fernando sees his role as one of advocacy: Convincing buyers to evolve from a commodity mindset to embrace tea as an affordable luxury with wellness, flavour, and ethical impact at its core. Through masterclasses and global engagement, he champions a renaissance in “real tea” shaped by authenticity and grower perspectives.
(Related: Beyond the Plate – Elevating hospitality through people and possibility)
For Fernando, the inspiration runs deeper than commerce. Scientific research attests to tea’s role in wellness, from stress relief to chronic disease prevention, and he drinks three litres of it daily. But the most rewarding part, he says, is seeing Dilmah’s impact ripple outward – from multi-generational partners who have been with the brand since its founding in 1985, to children, women, and communities transformed by the foundation’s work.
“My aspiration is to advocate for change that will make every cuppa a cup of kindness,” he says. For him, passion is not about profit, but about sustaining livelihoods, protecting nature, and ensuring that each sip of tea connects us to something larger than ourselves.
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