Podcast appearances and mentions of Merrill J Fernando

Thank you for joining our Special Live Webinar: Celebrating a Handcrafted Journey with the World's Most Experienced Teamaker. Due to bad weather and poor video quality, we have decided that Dilmah Founder – Merrill J. Fernando's wisdom is best shared as clearly as possible.

Not only is Dilhan F. Fernando responsible for the success of the world's most renowned tea company, Dilmah Tea, Dilhan has huge aspirations for himself and the organisation in the sustainability and social license space. Dilhan is the son of Dilmah founder, Merrill J. Fernando, and while he continues his father's work with Dilmah, he also is trustee of the Merrill J Fernando Foundation, Sri Lanka's largest private humanitarian organisation. Dilhan shares with us the importance of legacy, corporate responsibility, ethics and transparency – all significant and relevant to the wider Australian agricultural sector. Scattered with food for thought and uplifting words from Dilhan, this episode aims to evoke sparks of change in how we think about business today.

Not only is Dilhan F. Fernando responsible for the success of the world's most renowned tea company, Dilmah Tea, Dilhan has huge aspirations for himself and the organisation in the sustainability and social license space. Dilhan is the son of Dilmah founder, Merrill J. Fernando, and while he continues his father's work with Dilmah, he also is trustee of the Merrill J Fernando Foundation, Sri Lanka's largest private humanitarian organisation. Dilhan shares with us the importance of legacy, corporate responsibility, ethics and transparency – all significant and relevant to the wider Australian agricultural sector. Scattered with food for thought and uplifting words from Dilhan, this episode aims to evoke sparks of change in how we think about business today.

Quality, freshness and integrity in every single pack; this is a promise only a farmer can make. Teamaker and Farmer, Merrill J. Fernando chats about this with son, Tea Grower and Dilmah CEO, Dilhan C. Fernando on this episode of Over a Cuppa.

In this chat ‘Over a Cuppa', the World's Most Experienced Teamaker, Merrill J. Fernando, shares his thoughts with his son (and Dilmah CEO), Dilhan C. Fernando, about the next 25 years for the world's only producer owned brand - Dilmah. His aim is for Dilmah to be a globally respected brand for its quality and its philosophy of caring for a neighbour and sharing with the poor.

Listen as Merrill J. Fernando talks about how the philosophy of business being a matter of human service came to be. In conversation ‘Over a Cuppa' with his son, Dilhan C. Fernando, Mr. Dilmah answers the question of how he feels to have impacted the lives of thousands of people through his MJF Charitable Foundation's centres and how his business has become meaningful as its success is being shared.

In this Over a Cuppa podcast, father and son sit down to talk about the farmer, the trader, and the inception of Dilmah Tea. Listen as Mr. Dilmah, Merrill J. Fernando, tells the world why he started it all, how he realised his dreams, and how his passion drove him to change the world of tea and uplift the lives of the farmers, in conversation with his son, Dilhan C. Fernando.

In this episode, Ragnar talks with Dilmah Tea founder Merrill J. Fernando on his 90th birthday. MJF has dedicated his life to building a company that would serve more than tea, making business a matter of human service. This commitment has so far generated $40 million of direct humanitarian aid and environmental interventions through the MJF Charitable Foundation and Dilmah Conservation. Hear his philosophy on humanitarian service and building a business at the intersection of passion and purpose. World on a Plate is supported by Nestlé Professional.

t-Radio wishes Mr. Merrill J. Fernando a very happy birthday with God's blessings in abundance! You changed lives by showing the world how to enjoy their blessings by sharing...

Merrill J. Fernando was amongst the first group of Ceylonese to learn the art of tea tasting. Similarly laudable is the philosophy around which he formed his brand – making business a matter of human service. That philosophy is fulfilled in the work of his MJF Charitable Foundation which uses a minimum 10% of the pretax profits of Dilmah and its ancillary businesses, to provide nutrition, education, care and support to differently abled children, youth in marginalized communities, the elderly. Each of over 100 projects is designed around the principle of dignified empowerment, and touches the lives of over 10,000 families each year.  The global tea company began its journey in 1988 right here in Melbourne, when Mr. Fernando convinced Coles to be the first stockist of his single-origin tea. Today, Dilmah turns over more than $US500 million a year and employs over 15,000 workers throughout the world. Merrill discusses the Dilmah story, his final farewell to his involvement in the business and to share more about the philanthropic work Dilmah is doing. Dilhan C. Fernando is the CEO of Dilmah Tea and is the younger son of Dilmah Founder, Merrill J. Fernando. The names of Dilhan and his brother Malik form the 'Dilmah' brand, the first producer owned tea brand.  Mirroring his father's devotion to tea, Dilhan's mission is the fulfilment of the pledges his father made in the 1950s, as a young Tea man with a big dream. His commitment is to resist the commoditization that devastated a tea industry that was previously characterized by small, and passionate family enterprises. He also shares his father's vision to bring quality and authenticity back to tea, and secondly, whilst doing so, to share the success of that business with the underprivileged. In addition to his responsibilities in tea, Dilhan also manages the humanitarian and environmental outcomes of Dilmah.   

In this episode Jp is joined by Merrill J. Fernando, founder Dilmah Tea, and Dilhan C. Fernando, CEO of Dilmah Tea.  Hear how they transformed a category and the inspirational story of how Dilmah Tea 50 years later has become a world known brand. Watch the video podcast at https://youtu.be/7G__q7MfEmIA 

“I would always get homemade pickles from India. Every time I would run out, I would go to the Indian store and get an equivalent. But everything I could get there had an egregious amount of salt, lots of oil, or had preservatives in them. So, I decided to make my own.” @chitra Agrawal, owner of ABCD of Cooking and @BrooklynDelhi They say you are what you eat, and I really believe that. But how much control do we have over what's in what we eat? Food today isn't what it was 50 years ago. It's different chemically, and it's fairly well documented that processed food tricks our brains and stomachs, causing cravings for more processed food. What struck me the first time I went to @Smorgasburg to help my son set up his craft cocktail mix store, was how much of the food on offer was traditional American cuisine such as hot dogs, donuts and mac and cheese. But there was a twist. What those young vendors offered was the real version, from scratch, without preservatives, additives, or anything artificial. A real revolution. Young people taking back control of food. To hear more from Chitra, and fellow Smorgasburg vender Alex Abbott Boyd @cocktailcrate , and to hear expert advice from legendary Sri Lankan tea entrepreneur Merrill J. Fernando, listen to my new podcast. Find out: How to start a food or beverage company What it takes to stay in business The pros and cons of preservatives How entrepreneurs pay it forward How they preserve and update cuisine

Ever wonder where tea comes from? Click on the link to my podcast and come with me on a journey to an enchanted tea estate in Sri Lanka. Hear the voices of Sri Lanka's tea men, and the sounds of Ceylon tea. Meet legendary tea entrepreneur Merrill J. Fernando, Founder and Chairman of the MJF Group of Companies and creator of Dilmah Tea. Join a line of thirsty Aussie office workers waiting for their morning tea. Then follow A Year of Mindful Eating at Soundcloud.com. And when you're done listening, put the kettle on and enjoy a lovely “cuppa” tea. Photo Credit: Antony Stanley from Gloucester, UK (Tea Picking, Nuwara Eliya) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons My trip to Doteloya in the 1990s was sponsored in part by Merrill J. Fernando.