Business
Dilmah Tea Invites Industry Collaboration to Strengthen Sustainability & Resilience in Ceylon Tea Industry
With the climate emergency clouding prospects for farmers globally, Dilmah Tea recently invited stakeholders in Ceylon Tea to a collaboration aimed at embedding sustainability and resilience into Sri Lanka’s tea industry, the company said in a news release last week.
“The initiative is linked to wider conservation, restoration and sustainable agriculture efforts by Dilmah Conservation, linked to its Genesis, nature based solutions programme, and its global climate action efforts via the Dilmah Conservation, One Earth Climate Research and Adaptation Centre. The initiative envisages collaboration with Universities and Researchers in strengthening climate resilience on tea plantations through more regenerative forms of agriculture,” it said.
Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando founded Dilmah Tea with emphasis on family values and a commitment to kindness to people and nature. That foundation is reinforced by his lifetime of devotion to Ceylon Tea until he passed away in July last year. In 2012 the family company established Biodiversity Sri Lanka with the intention of escalating its own efforts at Conservation through Biodiversity Sri Lanka into a broader coalition. Recently Merrill J. Fernando’s son Dilhan, now Chairman & CEO of Dilmah Tea, invited stakeholders in the tea industry to a collaboration aimed at driving sustainability in the Ceylon Tea Industry.
The launch event was held on December 1, 2023 at Dilmah’s ‘Founder’s Auditorium’, where 128 Regional Plantation Companies and representatives of tea smallholders convened. The meeting aimed at collectively addressing concerns and actions towards mitigating threats to the shared future of the tea industry. The focus was on the opportunity in greening the plantations, by supporting livelihoods and strengthening sustainability while mitigating the effects of increasing climate extremes. The opportunity for Ceylon Tea lies in building on sustainability to meet growing demand, strengthen livelihoods and consumer appeal while minimizing environmental impact. The theme of the gathering reflected the reality of a shared future, “Stronger Together,” the release said.
In July 2023, a similar initiative was launched to support sustainability among packaging material manufacturers -the Dilmah – MJF Sustainable Supply Chain Road Map focuses on strengthening capacity of small and medium packaging companies in the area of sustainability. While inviting collaboration for positive change, Dilmah offered support to colleagues and competitors in the industry, it added.
“Sustainability is too often viewed as a cost, when it is in reality an opportunity that builds resilience, strengthens consumer engagement and ensures the survival of businesses that take sustainability seriously,” stressed Dilhan C Fernando. He added that while Dilmah Conservation had worked on conservation, restoration, climate action and sustainable agriculture since 2007, the Stronger Together initiative was aimed at extending those benefits across the Sri Lanka Tea Industry.
Key figures in the tea industry and biodiversity, including Niraj De Mel, Chairman of the Tea Board, Vihagun Ariyarathne, CEO of Owita Naturals, Anil Cooke of Asia Siyaka Commodities PLC, Prof Enoka Kudavidanage, Conservation Biologist, addressed the event.
Niraj De Mel, Chairman of the Tea Board has been vocal in the past about the role of smallholder growers in the industry and need to reach production goals, particularly in the areas aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the event, he also emphasized the relationship between the tea industry and sustainability explaining – “we have destroyed that tea bush by going away from the sustainability code and thereby come into the situation where we say we cannot achieve B60 (leaf programme route).Don’t blame it on the weather and the lack of input – we have moved away from basics. If we are to be sustainable, we need to look after the tea bush and that is the only way we can also get into the top end of the tea market.”
Ceylon tea marks 157 years since its inception with a Colombo Tea Convention this year. The uniqueness of the industry has ensured its survival through turbulence, industry change, and transformation while preserving the identity as a universally loved beverage. Dilmah invited the gathered tea plantation community to submit their proposals aligned with carbon emission reduction or higher education opportunities for children in the plantations. After a transparent evaluation, Dilmah’s MJF Foundation will support the most impactful proposals.
In fulfilling Merrill J. Fernando’s pledge to make Dilmah a business that serves humanity, the company continues to use a minimum of 15% of its pre-tax profits for kindness to people and nature, via the MJF Foundation and Dilmah Conservation.
The environmental and humanitarian efforts of both are documented in ‘Impact,’ an e-publication that can be accessed online [https://issuu.com/dilmah/docs/impact_2022_family_business_serving_humanity]. Stronger Together is a significant component in this effort, combining environmental and humanitarian priorities in a collaboration that will strengthen the foundation of Ceylon Tea for the next century.
Global stocks have sunk, a day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs that are forecast to raise prices and weigh on growth in the US and abroad.
Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell for a second day, hot on the heels of the US S&P 500, which had its worst day since Covid crashed the economy in 2020.
Nike, Apple and Target were among big consumer names worst hit, all of them sinking by more than 9%.
At the White House, Trump told reporters the US economy would “boom” thanks to the minimum 10% tariff he plans to slap on imports in the hope of boosting federal revenues and bringing American manufacturing home.
The Republican president plans to hit products from dozens of other countries with far higher levies, including trade partners such as China and the European Union. China, which is facing an aggregate 54% tariff, and the EU, which faces duties of 20%, both vowed retaliation on Thursday.
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries, and Trump’s plan that he announced on Wednesday would hike such duties to some of the highest levels in more than 100 years.
The World Trade Organization said it was “deeply concerned”, estimating trade volumes could shrink as a result by 1% this year.
Traders expressed concern that the tariffs could stoke inflation and stall growth.
In early trading on Friday, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.8%, the Kospi in South Korea was around 1% lower and Australia’s ASX 200 dipped by 1.4%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 – which tracks 500 of the biggest American firms – plunged 4.8%, shedding roughly $2tn in value.
The Dow Jones closed about 4% lower, while the Nasdaq tumbled roughly 6%. The US shares sell-off has been going on since mid-February amid trade war fears.
Earlier, the UK’s FTSE 100 share index dropped 1.5% and other European markets also fell, echoing declines from Japan to Hong Kong.
On Thursday at the White House, Trump doubled down on a high-stakes gambit aimed at reversing decades of US-led liberalisation that shaped the global trade order.
“I think it’s going very well,” he said. “It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on, and it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is.”
He added: “The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom.”
Trump also said he was open to negotiating with trade partners on the tariffs “if somebody said we’re going to give you something that’s so phenomenal”.
On Thursday, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said that country would retaliate with a 25% levy on vehicles imported from the US.
Trump last month imposed tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, though he did not announce any new duties on Wednesday against the North American trade partners.
Firms now face a choice of swallowing the tariff cost, working with partners to share that burden, or passing it on to consumers – and risking a drop in sales.
That could have a major impact as US consumer spending amounts to about 10% – 15% of the world economy, according to some estimates.
While stocks fell on Thursday, the price of gold, which is seen as a safer asset in times of turbulence, touched a record high of $3,167.57 an ounce at one point on Thursday, before falling back.
The dollar also weakened against many other currencies.
In Europe, the tariffs could drag down growth by nearly a percentage point, with a further hit if the bloc retaliates, according to analysts at Principal Asset Management.
In the US, a recession is likely to materialise without other changes, such as big tax cuts, which Trump has also promised, warned Seema Shah, chief global strategist at the firm.
She said Trump’s goals of boosting manufacturing would be a years-long process “if it happens at all”.
“In the meantime, the steep tariffs on imports are likely to be an immediate drag on the economy, with limited short-term benefit,” she said.
On Thursday, Stellantis, which makes Jeep, Fiat and other brands, said it was temporarily halting production at a factory in Toluca, Mexico and Windsor, Canada.
It said the move, a response to Trump’s 25% tax on car imports, would also lead to temporary layoffs of 900 people at five plants in the US that supply those factories.
On the stock market, Nike, which makes much of its sportswear in Asia, was among the hardest hit on the S&P, with shares down 14%.
Shares in Apple, which relies heavily on China and Taiwan, tumbled 9%.
Other retailers also fell, with Target down roughly 10%.
Motorbike maker Harley-Davidson – which was subject of retaliatory tariffs by the EU during Trump’s first term as president – fell 10%.
In Europe, shares in sportswear firm Adidas fell more than 10%, while stocks in rival Puma tumbled more than 9%.
Among luxury goods firms, jewellery maker Pandora fell more than 10%, and LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) dropped more than 3% after tariffs were imposed on the European Union and Switzerland.
“You’re seeing retailers get destroyed right now because tariffs extended to countries we did not expect,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategy at Freedom Capital Markets, adding that he expected more turbulence ahead.
[BBC]
The long-anticipated Sampur solar energy project is finally set to break ground, marking a significant leap in Sri Lanka’s renewable energy ambitions. After years of delays and negotiations, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Surya Danavi 120 MW Solar Farm in Santhosapuram, Trincomalee District, was officially signed on April 1st between the National Thermal Power Corporation of India (NTPC) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
This initiative, spearheaded by Trincomalee Power Company Limited (TPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between NTPC and CEB, is expected to be a game-changer in the country’s energy landscape.
The project will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1 involves the installation of a 50 MW solar plant along with the construction of 37 km of 220 kV transmission lines connecting Sampur to Kappalthurai. In Phase 2, an additional 70 MW capacity will be added, complemented by 77 km of transmission lines extending from Kappalthurai to New Habarana.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake played a crucial role in renegotiating the unit tariff to 5.97 US Cents, which includes a battery storage system to mitigate fluctuations in solar power generation.
According to Ministry of Energy Director General Eng. Pubudu Niroshan Hedigallage, this project is a testament to Sri Lanka’s commitment to renewable energy and energy security.
“For years, Sampur has been at the center of numerous energy debates. This project not only signifies the shift from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives but also strengthens our grid resilience. The inclusion of battery storage makes this project particularly promising, said Hedigallage.
He further emphasized the importance of strategic partnerships in achieving energy sustainability. “Collaborations like the one between NTPC and CEB show the potential of cross-border energy projects. With India’s vast experience in solar energy, Sri Lanka can benefit immensely in terms of both technology transfer and cost efficiency.”
The Sampur region has long been embroiled in energy-related controversies. Previously earmarked for a coal power plant, the area saw fierce opposition from environmental activists and policy shifts that led to its cancellation. The transition from coal to solar in Sampur is seen as a redemption of sorts, aligning with global climate goals and Sri Lanka’s own commitment to increasing renewable energy in its power mix.
by Ifham Nizam
SriLankan Airlines is amplifying its commitment to nurturing Sri Lanka’s performing arts scene, leveraging classical Western music and homegrown talent to position the island as a hub for culturally discerning travelers.
The national carrier partnered with the Gustav Mahler Society of Colombo (GMSC) to support the 2025 Spring Concert at Colombo’s Lionel Wendt Theatre on March 29.
The event showcased Sri Lankan classical guitarist Jude Peiris alongside Japanese artists Hiroshi Kogure (violin) and Miyuki Funatsu (soprano), blending local and global artistry. This marks the airline’s sixth collaboration with GMSC, reinforcing its three-year role as the society’s Official Airline Partner.
Dimuthu Tennakoon, Head of Commercial at SriLankan Airlines, emphasised the strategic value of performing arts saying: “World-class cultural productions can transform Sri Lanka into a magnet for travelers seeking immersive experiences. By honing local talent, we unlock immense potential in the growing cultural tourism sector.”
Deepal Perera, Manager of Corporate Communications, highlighted the airline’s dual role: “We’re not just bridging geographies—we’re fostering global exchanges of music and tradition. Sri Lankan artists deserve platforms to shine internationally, and partnerships like this propel them forward.”
GMSC’s Music Director, Srimal Weerasinghe, praised the airline’s impact: “SriLankan Airlines has been instrumental in developing Western classical music here, sponsoring visiting professionals and helping build Sri Lanka’s first professional orchestra. Their support has elevated our global reputation.”
Beyond GMSC, SriLankan Airlines continues to partner with local arts groups and diplomatic missions, cementing its role as a cultural ambassador.
By Sanath Nanayakkare
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