Ihithisham Meezan

It is with great pleasure that I, as the Chairperson of the Meezan Group of Companies to send out this message of felicitations and greetings to you. I take great pride in turning back the pages through our organization’s history to see how far we have come since our humble beginning way back in 1974. It has been a journey encountered with many ups and downs but the deciding factor of our eventual success  I would say, has been the fact that we never gave up. Whatever obstacles we had to face, whatever challenges came our way, both my brother Ziaudeen and I always willed ourselves to stand our ground. This “Never say Never” attitude is what has brought us to our present heights, undoubtedly.

Looking back now, I remember as a child, visiting various Tea plantations with my elder siblings and being completely blown away by its sheer size and scale. Even back then I knew without much doubt that this would one day be my calling and I was right. Zia and I decided to try our hand at planting whilst still in our late teens. Our career in planting has not been without its fair share of setbacks and disappointments but by the grace of Allah, we have always managed to pull through both thick and thin. 

When our land was taken over by the Land Reform Commission(LRC) back in the late seventies, we were distraught. We feared it was a loss we would never be able to recover from. But then, having said that, we also knew that we had been wronged and we were not about to give up without a fight. What ensued was a twelve year battle against  the LRC in which both sides pulled out all the stops. We eventually managed to secure the Nagalla plantation in 1986. A few years down the line, in 1990, the Ancoombra plantation was reacquired and then finally in 2002, the Hatale tea plantation too was handed to us as part compensation for what was taken. In addition, the Dartry Tea Factory was secured under our ownership, when we purchased it in 2009. Reflecting now, it all seems well worth the toil.

Today with almost 35 years of experience, a permanent staff of close to 150 and an annual black tea production of nearly two million kilos, we still strive to give our customers and the connoisseurs, the same we did 25 years ago – superior quality teas that is    Garden Fresh, handpicked, perfected and packed unblended. Our long standing desire for perfection has only been matched by the commitment, perseverance and integrity we have invested in all our endeavors. As I always like to tell my staff, “If one tries hard enough, the impossible shall be made possible!”

We at Meezans sincerely hope that the Sri Lankan Tea Industry will continue to thrive and motivate all Tea growers nationwide to produce the best quality possible with an objective to achieve a competitive edge in the Global marketplace.

Our vision is to make ‘Meezan Plantations’ among the best in the region and have taken several steps to raise the yields to the maximum in order to achieve our objectives. Our plantations based in Hatale and Ancoombra,   are at present giving us a yield of 2500 Kilos of per hectare. However our goal in the long run is to increase the yield to the range of 4000 Kilos and beyond. 

I am happy to mention that we have introduced the CTC(Cut, Twist and Curl) along with the fully automated  orthodox process of manufacturing  at our factory in  Ancoombara,.  I am also happy to add that Ancoombara Tea factory is one of the few factories in the region to utilize the aforesaid methods of manufacture under one roof.

Our Tea factories produce the finest blend of “Mid Grown Tea” which is popular locally and overseas and it comes as no surprise to us that our brand of unblended Tea is always sought after by agents and buyers at the Colombo Tea Auction.

Thank you,

Ihithisham Meezan