Merrill J honoured with top UK award
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Merrill J. Fernando (centre) with other dignitaries on stage showing the award.
The man known as the teamaker – Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando – was honoured in the UK with the FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism 2016 at a ceremony on November 30 at the Royal Automobile Club, London.
The award recognises business ethics, emphasising his unique philosophy that making business is a matter of human service, Dilmah said in a media announcement.
At the presentation of the award by Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the Royal Automobile Club in London, Mr. Fernando explained, “When I look back on my life, for many years, I believed I was very lucky. Ten years ago, I realised it was divine guidance. I owe everything to Almighty God. The Holy Bible states that what we spend on charity is lending to God and God repays us in abundance. I am a beneficiary of that abundance, which I share generously.”  In selecting the recipient of the award, the judges were looking for a business leader who has demonstrated social responsibility as an integral part of commercial success; someone who has run a company in a clearly responsible way. The Dilmah Founder received the main award whilst two special awards were also presented. Commended recipients were judged on their concern for the environment and the local communities in which their companies and organisations are active.
Born into a middle class Sri Lankan family in rural Ceylon, Mr. Fernando was fortunate to be offered a place amongst the first group of Ceylonese to be recruited to learn the art of tea tasting. The years he spent learning tea changed his life; seeing the exploitation of his country’s crop through blending and offshore value addition, the young teaman, whilst yet in his twenties, resolved that he would change the tea industry. He devoted his life to tea and, after nearly four decades of struggle against vested interests, he launched his own tea brand.
Dilmah – named after his sons Dilhan and Malik – was the world’s first producer owned brand in tea, coffee or cocoa, symbolising hope for producers. Grown, handpicked and ethically made at source, Dilmah has grown from its humble origins into a global brand that is unique in its promise of unmatched freshness, provenance, flavour and integrity, the statement said.
Mr. Fernando is the only Sri Lankan to have received this award. The previous award winners include Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi the respected CEO of PepsiCo, HRH the Prince of Wales and Prof. John Kay of the London School of Economics to name a few.