Business
The Fragrance of Cinnamon at Dilmah Tea
Dilhan C. Fernando
Chairman, Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company PLC
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.
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, 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.
Entitled ‘Finest Ceylon Cinnamon Experience’ the event heralded the first serving of Dilmah Ceylon Cinnamon and the trade launch of our Cinnamon at Gulfood 2024.
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 forced 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/
If the price of oil hits $150 a barrel it will trigger a global recession, the boss of US financial giant BlackRock has told the BBC.
Larry Fink, who leads the world’s largest asset manager, said if Iran “remains a threat” and oil prices stay high it will have “profound implications” for the world economy.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview, he also denied there was an AI bubble, although he said the new technology meant too many people were pursuing university degrees and not enough doing technical training.
BlackRock is a financial colossus, controlling assets worth $14 trillion (£10.5tn), and is one of the biggest investors in many of the world’s largest companies.
Its size and spread gives Fink – who is one of the eight co-founders of the business, which started in 1988 – a unique insight into the health of the global economy.
The conflict in the Middle East has triggered wild moves on financial markets as people try to assess what will happen to energy costs.
For Fink, it is too early to determine the ultimate scale and outcome of the conflict, but he believes it will be one of two extreme scenarios.
In one, if the conflict is settled and Iran becomes a country that can be accepted again by the international community then the price of oil could fall back to below where it stood before the war.
But if not, he says, then there could be “years of above $100, closer to $150 oil, which has profound implications in the economy” and an outcome of “a probably stark and steep recession”.
The surge in energy costs has led to some in the UK to argue that it should be focusing more on producing its own oil and gas.
On Tuesday, industry body Offshore Energies UK said that without more domestic production, the country risks becoming reliant on imports “at a time of rising global instability”.
Fink says countries need to be pragmatic about their energy mix by using all sources available to them, but providing cheap energy is key to driving growth and raising living standards.
“Rising energy prices is a very regressive tax. It affects the poor more than the wealthy.”
While the UK already has some solar and wind power and hydrocarbons, if oil prices were to rise to $150 for three or four years, “you would have so many countries moving so rapidly towards solar and maybe even wind”.
Countries should not depend on just one source, he says.
“Use what you have unquestionably, but also aggressively move towards alternative sources too.”
Some analysts have suggested that there are some echoes of the run-up to the 2007-08 financial crisis in the markets at the moment.
Energy prices are surging and some have flagged signs of cracks in the financial system. BlackRock itself is one of several firms to have limited withdrawals by nervous investors from private credit funds.
But Fink is adamant there is no chance of a repeat of the financial trauma seen in 2007-08, when several banks around the world collapsed or had to be rescued, as he believes financial institutions today are more secure.
“I don’t see any similarities at all,” he says. “Zero.”
The issues affecting some funds account for a small fraction of the overall market and investment from institutions remains strong, he says.
Fink also rejects suggestions that the surge in investment in AI, which has seen billions of dollars invested in the new technology, has been overblown.
“I do not believe we have a bubble at all,” he says.
“Could we have one or two failures in AI? Sure, that I’m fine with.”
Last year, BlackRock was part of a consortium that bought one of the world’s largest data centre providers, Aligned Data Centres, in a $40bn deal.
“I believe there’s a race for technology dominance. I believe that if we do not invest more, China wins. I believe it’s mandatory that we are aggressively building out our AI capabilities.”
The biggest issue he feels that is hindering the expansion of AI in the US and Europe is the cost of energy.
While China is investing hugely in solar and nuclear power, in Europe “I just see a lot of talk and no action”, he says, while in the US “as much as we are energy independent, we better start focusing on solar… because we need to have cheap, inexpensive power to move into AI”.
Earlier this week, in his annual letter to shareholders, Fink said the boom in artificial intelligence risked widening inequality, with only a small number of firms and investors seeing the benefits.
However, speaking to the BBC, he emphasised AI was going to create an “enormous amount of jobs”.
He said that in his letter he had written about how many jobs would be created “related to electricians and welders and plumbers”.
In contrast, there might not be as much demand for some office jobs as AI evolves and this could lead to a rethink about what roles are needed as “society is changing and evolving”.
“We really put judgement on so many jobs and so many people who probably should not have gone into banking or media or law, [who] probably should have been a great worker with their hands, and we need to now rebalance that approach,” he says.
In the US, he says, after World War Two “we built the foundation of education, and we said to all the young people, go to college, go to college, go to college. And we probably overdid it”.
“We need to balance that out, and we need to be proud that… a career can be just as strong in these fields of plumbing and electricians.”
(BBC)
Mahindra Ideal Finance Limited (MIFL) has announced the successful conclusion of its debut Rs 1 Billion debenture issue, which was oversubscribed on the first day of opening, marking a significant capital market milestone for one of Sri Lanka’s fastest-growing licensed Non-Banking Financial Institutions.
The Issue comprised up to Ten Million (10,000,000) Tier 2, Listed, Rated, Unsecured, Subordinated, Redeemable Debentures at a par value of LKR 100 per Debenture, raising up to Sri Lanka Rupees One Thousand Million (LKR 1,000,000,000), with a five-year tenure maturing in 2031.
Commenting on the outcome, MIFL Managing Director/CEO, Mufaddal Choonia said the proceeds of the Company’s inaugural debenture issue will be deployed to strengthen lending capacity across its core business segments, including vehicle leasing, gold loans, SME loans, and business loans.
“The success of our first debenture issue is testament of our performance so far and speaks of the confidence that investors have placed in our future growth story. The strong market response is also the best validation we can secure from the investor community on the strong fundamentals that underpin our business. We will honor that trust by deploying these funds to further provide accessible credit to enrich the lives of our customers and for the communities we serve.”
The capital raise also strengthens the Company’s Tier 2 capital base in compliance with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s Capital Adequacy Requirements.
The Debentures were offered in two structures — Type A, at a fixed rate of 12.00% per annum payable annually, and Type B, at a floating rate of the 364-Day Treasury Bill rate plus 3.50% per annum payable semi-annually.
The Issue carried a credit rating of A (lka) from Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited, with MIFL holding an entity rating of AA-(lka) with a Stable Outlook. The Issue was managed by NDB Investment Bank Limited, with Bank of Ceylon serving as Joint Placement Agent. (MIFL)
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) jointly organized an awareness session recently, for auditors of companies which are currently on the CSE Watchlist. The session focused on enhancing awareness of enforcement actions and timelines, reducing prolonged Watchlist durations, and fostering a more coordinated regulatory approach among regulators, auditors, and listed companies.
Addressing the session, the Chairman of the SEC, Senior Prof. D.B.P.H. Dissabandara highlighted the core professional virtues of an auditor drawing from his own career beginnings, “At the heart of every auditor’s role lies three virtues: integrity, objectivity and confidentiality.” He reminded the gathering, that while an auditor may formally be recognized as a supplementary service provider under the SEC Act, their true value runs far deeper. Every time a listed company submits its financial statements, it is the auditor’s opinion that gives investors the confidence to trust those numbers. In that sense, auditors are not just ticking a regulatory box, they are the ones holding the line on transparency.
Senior Prof. D.B.P.H.
Dissabandara
Further, Professor Dissabandara drew attention to the current Watchlist situation, noting that while the inclusion of certain companies on the Watchlist is an appropriate regulatory measure, their prolonged presence on the Watchlist may send adverse signals to investors. He called for a structured connected approach involving auditors and listed company management to ensure incremental progress towards resolving Watchlist triggers, particularly those arising from going concern issues and the non-submission of financial statements.
The Head of Listed Entity Compliance at the CSE, Kassapa Weerasekara delivered a presentation focused on enforcement actions that can lead to securities being transferred to the watchlist. Weerasekara reminded the gathering “If companies take the right steps and obtain independent verification on the resolution of all matters giving rise to Modified Opinion and Emphasis of Matter on Going Concern, their securities can be fully reinstated.” He closed by emphasizing that the process is designed to give companies a fair and structured opportunity to correct course.
Esterhuizen, bowlers lead South Africa to 3-2 series win
IPL captains’ meeting: What’s on the agenda?
Russia launches 948 drones at Ukraine in largest attack over 24-hour period
Oil at $150 will trigger global recession, says boss of financial giant BlackRock
Showers will occur at several places in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts after 2.00 pm
Senior citizens above 70 years to receive March allowances on Thursday (26)
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Features3 days agoTrincomalee oil tank farm: An engineering marvel
-
News7 days agoBailey Bridge inaugurated at Chilaw
-
News6 days agoCIABOC tells court Kapila gave Rs 60 mn to MR and Rs. 20 mn to Priyankara
-
News7 days agoPay hike demand: CEB workers climb down from 40 % to 15–20%
-
Features6 days agoScience and diplomacy in a changing world
-
Features3 days agoThe scientist who was finally heard
-
News5 days agoColombo, Oslo steps up efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in key environmental priority areas
-
News23 hours agoJapanese boost to Sri J’pura Hospital, an outright gift from Tokyo during JRJ rule