Category Business and Trade

Over many cups of tea, MJF built an empire that spans 101 countries

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Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge in Sydney: Merrill Joseph Fernando, Chef Peter Kuruvita of Flying Fish restaurant in Sydney, Dilhan C Fernando and Bernd Uber, Black Hat Chef and Culinary Judge. Photo Credit: Supplied

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.09.2011 (The Business Times, Singapore): From a microcosm tea business, founder and patriarch Merrill Joseph Fernando has catapulted Dilmah tea to amongst the top eight brands in the world with his catchphrase `Single origin, 100 per cent pure Ceylon tea’, winning loyal consumers in 101 countries.

Come October and Dilmah will be capitalising on its `integrity, freshness and quality’ of tea to lure Singaporeans, aiming to exceed its sales by US$ 1.3 million by December-end and US$ 5 million in the next three to five years, capturing 15 per cent of the top-end tea market in the republic.

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How a $720-a-night hotel shot to glory

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 13.06.2011 (The Sydney Morning Herald): Reinventing the service culture to encourage staff to bond with guests helped a Hunter Valley lodge join the ranks of the world’s most prestigious group of hotels and restaurants, Relais & Chateaux.

Tower Lodge, in New South Wales, became part of the association in November 2009, and last year gained further kudos when it was crowned the Best Global Luxury Lodge at the 2010 World Luxury Hotel Awards.

Simple strategies such as playing different music and rearranging the furniture have paid off too.

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Australia an ideal home for leading U.S. ICT companies

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 01.06.2011 (AMCHAM Australia): With growth in Internet and Globalisation, American Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies have been quick to clinch business, trade and investment opportunities that Australia offers.

A significant research infrastructure, highly skilled and experienced workforce, technology-hungry and solutions-driven customer base, strategic geographical position offering proximity to Asia-Pacific, and an English-language base with multi-lingual capability make Australia an attractive destination for U.S. ICT companies.

Major Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, Dell, AT&T and Google, amongst others, have set up offices and built research and product development facilities in Australia.

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