Author: Admin

It is always an honour for us to welcome aspiring chefs from our Empower Culinary School for a Tea Appreciation. Empower was established as a part of our pledge to make the world a better tea, and we share our earnings from Dilmah Tea and Cinnamon to offer free vocational training to youth who cannot afford culinary training. There is no greater fulfillment of our purpose in life than supporting young people as they bloom socially, economically, academically and personally. Twice, occasionally three times a year, we welcome the current batch of students at Empower West (Moratuwa, on the outskirts of Colombo) and East (Kalkudah, near the Eastern city of Batticaloa) to share our love for tea. At the last session earlier this month, Team Dilmah and I were honoured to have an opportunity to explain the value of ingredients, and the role of great Chefs in understanding the importance of respecting aroma, taste, natural goodness in ingredients like fine Tea and Ceylon Cinnamon. Our students typically start with a desire to cook and an image of great chefs defined by televised cooking shows. We try to unlearn that perception and explain the importance of cuisine beyond taste and commercial success; the knowledge a chef must have about each of the ingredients they use, its cultural significance and wellness, the method of cooking, temperatures that will not diminish either, and the presentation to the guest. All these are vital for the appreciation of fine food and the makings of a great chef. It is an unfortunate reality that in our hurried world, few people know how to brew a perfect cup of tea. So my colleagues and I start with an explanation of how to brew tea to appreciate the flavours and texture in different teas, and their variety. Tea has an extraordinary ability to dignify fine food, and our training includes both tea infused food and the elegant pairing that is possible. We talked about the delicate sophistication of a fine single estate Ceylon Silver Tips and our magical Ceylon Cinnamon. In describing the occasion I am not using the word ‘honour’ lightly, because as we acquire experience and knowledge beyond what books and lecturers can teach, it is a moral and personal imperative to share that knowledge for the benefit of future generations. It is unquestionably an honour to impress upon young and earnest minds the importance of integrity, quality, and respect in the craft that we hope will inspire and one day provide for them and their families.

There’s always a lingering fragrance around the Dilmah complex in Colombo. It is generally woody, sometimes tinged with citrus, occasionally fruity, and always pleasant. That’s the aroma of tea, varying only as the seasons influence the teas. We taste over 10,000 teas each week in selecting only the finest teas for Ceylon’s Finest so that lively aroma has always surrounded us, spurring us on in our mission to make the world a better tea since the time my father first started his journey in tea in the 1950s. There’s been a difference recently, the woody fragrance complemented by subtle sweetness, an added warmth and majestic piquancy. That change marks the first time Dilmah has ventured beyond tea, with the Cinnamon produced on its Kahawatte Plantations now offered in elegant cinnamon coloured packages, emblazoned with a golden logo declaring the contents, ‘Dilmah Finest Ceylon Cinnamon.’ There are natural parallels in the two iconic Sri Lankan products. Ceylon Tea and Ceylon Cinnamon are universally acclaimed the finest tea and cinnamon in the world, accolades that are linked to the richness of the island’s biodiversity, its monsoonal climate, the diverse ecosystems, soils and the sophistication of the island’s tradition of sustainable agriculture. Since 3 BC, Sri Lanka was ruled by Kings who understood and embraced the natural synergy that should define interaction between people and nature. Colonialism interrupted that relationship although respect for nature and sustainability persists amongst many tea and cinnamon growers, adding to the allure of both. Dilmah Tea was born in September 1985 with the assurance that, ‘In Ceylon a country famous for its tea, there is a tea famous for its taste,’ evolving to my father’s invitation in 1994 to tea drinkers to ‘do try it!’. My father, Merrill J. Fernando, passed away in July last year yet the values he espoused through his lifetime of devotion to tea & kindness form the foundation of the legacy he leaves behind. A part of that legacy is a discussion we had on Ceylon Cinnamon and its potential to parallel the story of taste, goodness and ethical purpose in tea that my father devoted his life to. That discussion ended in a momentous decision to offer our Cinnamon, branded ‘Dilmah, Finest Ceylon Cinnamon.’ Next year, Dilmah Tea celebrates 40 years since its debut in 1985. My father devoted his life to tea, and since the early days of Dilmah when he and 18 others laboured to make his dream of the first producer owned tea brand, a reality, our vision and mission have focused on making the world a better tea. Our decision to offer Dilmah Ceylon Cinnamon was not taken lightly therefore; it was rooted in the knowledge that the heritage, flavour, goodness and ethical purpose in genuine Ceylon Cinnamon is one of the world’s greatest untold stories. Ceylon Cinnamon is scientifically proven to be unique. Cinnamomum Zeylanicum grown in other countries is not quite the same, as scientists have confirmed. That truth is indisputable but there is more to Ceylon Cinnamon. In 1000BC King Solomon sent ambassadors to Sri Lanka, visiting the present day city of Galle which he called Tarshish, to purchase Ceylon Cinnamon, amongst other treasures which included precious gemstones. The heritage of Ceylon Cinnamon is perfectly expressed in the value ascribed to the spice by Kings, Queens, Emperors, Physicians and Chefs over millennia. Our reason for embracing Ceylon Cinnamon goes beyond taste and heritage. Dilmah is a family business, formed on a foundation of family values, chief among which is kindness. Sri Lanka’s magnificent Cinnamon has been exploited for centuries with little or no benefit to the community engaged in its production or the future of the ancient Cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka. The existence of a cheaper, inferior counterfeit that unfairly acquired the allure of Cinnamon forced Ceylon Cinnamon into a defensive mindset, compromising the heritage, tradition, taste and goodness in the spice. The reality that cassia, the imitator contains the toxic substance coumarin, adds urgency to our mission. https://www.youtube.com/embed/xN6-I5WQQC0?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparentPresenting Ceylon’s Finest Cinnamon, with respect to people and nature. Our Ceylon Cinnamon was first presented to guests at an evening of gastronomy inspired by the fragrance and flavour of Ceylon Cinnamon in Dubai on 17th February, 2023. At the event guests were presented with an exceptional and different experience of the Spice of Kings. In combination, our passion for Ceylon’s Cinnamon, its unique taste, our life enhancing purpose in Cinnamon and the culinary art of Pullman Dubai Chefs Roziro Mathias and Dammika Herath, delivered insight into the taste, goodness and purpose of Dilmah Finest Ceylon Cinnamon. An amuse bouche of Langouste tortellini with vegetable consomme infused with Ceylon Cinnamon and white truffle preceded an hors d’oeuvre of pan seared foie gras, with toasted brioche, fig chutney and caramelised pears paired with Ceylon Cinnamon Infused Dilmah prince of Kandy Tea. Our entrée was Risotto Alberto with Ceylon Cinnamon infused Wild Asparagus veloute, brie cheese curd and a garnish of gold leaf. Thereafter butter-poached Ceylon Cinnamon dusted wild cod, royal Beluga caviar, caramelised endive, edemame puree and a blood orange glaze. Following a palate cleanser of Ceylon Cinnamon essence in spring water combined with Granny Smith Granita, came a slow roasted veal loin with Ceylon Cinnamon infused herb jus, chive polenta stuffed morel. Finally a trio of dessert, with Ceylon Cinnamon infused chocolate ganache, Ceylon Cinnamon Jelly dome, Warm Lemon cake with vanilla cream, mango mousse and hazelnuts caramelised in Ceylon Cinnamon and Ceylon Cinnamon infused chai. Too many great agricultural industries are built on a foundation of poverty. The transition from colonial to free market economy failed – in most cases – to free growers of coffee, cocoa, tea and many other crops. The extractive and exploitative colonial economic system is too often superseded by traders whose insistence on price, driven by a ruthless discount culture, drive down the incomes of growers, crushing innovation, education and motivation, eventually destroying livelihoods and industries. For genuinely fair trade, fair by customers and fair by producers, quality, integrity, sustainability, innovation and a genuine commitment to ethics are all important.  In the case of Cinnamon, an entire industry was compromised by a misconception perpetrated by traders of cassia, who also label their products incorrectly forcing artisanal Cinnamon growers to compete with the much cheaper and inferior spice. That has compromised the benefit that the goodness in Ceylon Cinnamon offers a world suffering from the chronic diseases that it has potent therapeutic effects against. That unfair competition has also marginalized generations of Cinnamon growers and peelers who have not benefited from the true value of their produce. As a family with a commitment to the finest Ceylon Tea and the finest Ceylon Cinnamon, we will continue therefore to fulfill my father’s vision, to serve humanity through our business. We will do that through our mission to offering great Taste, natural Goodness and ethical Purpose in our teas and cinnamon. Follow us on Instagram for more updates https://www.instagram.com/dilmahceyloncinnamon?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Together with the Board and Team at Global Compact Network Sri Lanka it was an honour to present plans for more sustainable business at Network Sri Lanka’s ‘Compass 2024’ last week. Amidst unprecedented social, economic, health and environmental crises, further complicated by geopolitical tension and conflict, growing inequality and financial stress, there has never been greater urgency to sincerely embrace responsibility in business. Initiator of Global Compact, the late Kofi Annan advocated greater humanity, “We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face. Between a world which condemns a quarter of the human race to starvation and squalor, and one which offers everyone at least a chance of prosperity, in a healthy environment. Between a selfish free-for-all in which we ignore the fate of the losers, and a future in which the strong and successful accept their responsibilities, showing global vision and leadership.” Politicians globally have failed to rise to the challenge. Climate change costs the world US$16 million per hour; governments agreed at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow 3 years ago to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies to fight global warming. Yet the IMF reports that global fossil fuel subsidies have since risen $2 trillion to $7 trillion. The Ten Principles governing Global Compact, define a principles based approach to doing business; human rights, labour, anti-corruption and environment. These and Sustainable Development Goals they connect with, are the human face of business that late Kofi Annan proposed in 1999; they define more humane business; doing the right thing, because it is the right thing to do. Yet only 15% of the SDGs were on track in 2023 with more than half regressing, stagnating or only partially on track. The first of several key message in the 2023 SDG progress update states, “The SDGs are in peril. The world has entered an age of polycrisis and hard-earned SDG progress is threatened by the climate crisis, conflict, gloomy global economic outlook and lingering COVID-19 effects.” With the prospect for a better world so clearly and practically set out in the SDGs, the universal lack of progress is impossible to comprehend, prompting current UN Secretary General to observe, “Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been.” The Global Compact is a blueprint for the collaborative, science based, measurable and impactful actions and outcomes we need to integrate into business. Businesses were desensitized to humanity by flawed economic theory in the 1970s. Yet the truth is that operating without considering social and environmental responsibility implies an abhorrent and extractive form of capitalism that is outdated and parasitic. Sri Lanka has inspiring examples of responsible corporate initiatives for the benefit of people and planet. That is laudable but together we can do more, especially within the framework for collective and informed actions that the Global Compact embodies. I am not advocating anything other than genuine capitalism that requires the creation of social and natural value alongside conventional economic value. Anything less would be profiting at the expense of people and nature, effectively theft, from less fortunate people in our community, from Nature and from unborn generations. My appreciation and respect for the Compass 2024 event and connected plans, to the Global Compact Network Team, led by Executive Director Rathika de Silva, and Network manager Janani Wijetunge, and Global Compact partners UNDP, represented by Resident Representative Azusa Kubota, and Marc-André Franche, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka.