Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando was honoured as one of the three Most Admired Leaders in Sri Lanka.
He was chosen for his passionate commitment to Quality and Integrity, and for the philosophy he established at the heart of his Dilmah Tea business, of making business a matter of human service. Among the three winners were Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Industrialist Sohli Captain.
Merrill J Fernando was the first tea grower in the world to offer his tea, grown, perfected and packed at source, direct to tea drinkers around the world. In doing so he defined genuinely ethical tea, making sure that earnings from the sale of his tea benefited his workers, the wider community, sustainability in tea, whilst also addressing inequality, climate change adaptation among other national issues.