Eden Park boss urges Auckland to think bigger

Eden Park boss urges Auckland to think bigger
Tim McCready

Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner has spent years making the case for Auckland to think bigger. Through changing political environments, ongoing debate about the stadium’s role and planning constraints that have shaped what Eden Park can host, he has remained a steady advocate — not just for the stadium, but for the city’s global ambition.

“I would like to see Auckland known internationally as a city where people want to live, work, stay and play,” he says. “Few global cities can offer what Auckland has — a harbour city lifestyle, a strong cultural identity, improving connectivity and a scale that allows us to move quickly when we choose to.”

Though he grew up in Australia, he now considers himself a local, with a strong sense of investment in the city’s future. What he sees is a place with all the fundamentals of global relevance — lifestyle, natural beauty, cultural identity, talent and opportunity — but one that has, at times, been too quick to underplay its strengths and create friction around opportunity.

“I do not want us to try to replicate other cities. We need to be confident in Auckland’s own identity and ambitious in how we bring that to life.”

That confidence, he argues, is closely tied to the role of institutions like Eden Park.

“Destinations like Eden Park help shape a city’s identity and confidence because they provide a place where people come together to enjoy shared experiences,” he says, pointing out that in doing so, they generate real economic value. “I often refer to Eden Park as a destination because it is more than a stadium — it is a globally recognised venue that hosts major moments and draws people into the city.”

The impact extends well beyond the turnstiles. “People may arrive as ticket holders, but many leave as

tourists,” Sautner notes. “Spending time in local bars, restaurants, hotels and retail precincts, and experiencing more of what Auckland has to offer.”

Since 2011, Eden Park has delivered more than $1 billion in economic benefit to the wider region — evidence, he says, that “places like Eden Park matter . . . they do not just shape how a city feels, they shape how it performs.”

Yet for all its advantages, Sautner believes Auckland still has a mindset shift to complete. “The challenge is not whether we have the potential, it is whether we are prepared to back that potential with bold thinking, decisive action and the pace required to move from concept to execution.”

At times, he argues, Auckland has thought too small and moved too cautiously. But that, he suggests, is beginning to change.

“There is growing recognition that Auckland should not just participate in global conversations — it should lead in some of them.”

Looking ahead, Sautner’s ambition is for Eden Park to anchor a broader transformation.

“If Auckland really leaned into being a globally ambitious city, I would like to see Eden Park and the wider precinct become one of the city’s great destination areas,” he says.

With the City Rail Link set to improve connectivity and the inner-city population continuing to grow, he believes the opportunity is clear.

“There is a real opportunity to strengthen Eden Park’s role as a key destination for sport, entertainment, community activity and economic growth. As a city, we need to think and act collectively — aligning infrastructure, transport, planning and investment, and moving with greater pace when opportunities to strengthen places like Eden Park are in front of us.”

The battle to build a better city

The battle to build a better city
Richard Hills explains his vision for a housing density plan to Tim McCready

As chair of Auckland Council’s Policy, Planning and Development Committee, councillor Richard Hills sits at the centre of the debate over how the city will grow.

“I really like the role because it’s complex,” Hills says. “I like details.”

Those details will shape one of the biggest questions facing Auckland: where the next generation of homes will be built.

Earlier this month councillors agreed a set of principles to guide how Auckland reduces its theoretical housing capacity from around two million homes to about 1.6 million, after the Government signalled it would lower the target.

The decision follows five years of national housing reforms requiring councils to enable significantly more housing, including rules permitting up to three homes of three storeys on most residential sites.

In Auckland, that meant the city’s planning rules had to demonstrate enough zoning capacity for roughly two million homes.

The figure was never a construction target. It simply represented the number of homes Auckland’s zoning rules could theoretically allow if every eligible site was developed. But it quickly became a lightning rod in the debate about Auckland’s future.

Under the principles agreed by councillors, any reduction in capacity would likely begin further from the city centre, including areas more than 10km from the CBD, while retaining higher densities around rapid transit, City Rail Link stations, and walkable catchments around bus corridors, town and local centres.

“Density makes sense around stations, centres and places where we’ve invested billions in infrastructure. In any major city you would expect more homes in those areas,” Hills says. “We would look first at removing development capacity on the edges of the city, preventing six-storey buildings far away from jobs or good public transport.”

For Hills, the debate is less about forcing people into a particular type of housing than about giving Aucklanders more choice. “It’s about giving people options,” he says.

The economics of the city, he adds, are already pushing in that direction.

“We expect people to live on the outskirts, commute long distances, and then we’re surprised when the cost of living goes up.”

Petrol prices alone can reshape a household budget overnight.

“You could be hundreds of dollars in the red just by a change of political conflict overseas.”

Protections for historic neighbourhoods also remain. “We are still allowed to use qualifying matters, including special character.”

For Hills, one of the hardest parts of the job is navigating the politics.

“It’s not easy because everyone expects you to help their one issue,” he says. “You’re constantly balancing the area you were elected to represent with the whole city.”

That tension has only been amplified by the stop-start nature of national policy.

“I was looking forward to this year being more proactive: more vision and more focus on what we could be doing from planning development to regeneration,” Hills says.

“But unfortunately, we’ve gone straight back to being reactive.”

He says Auckland needs clarity.

“Other councils in New Zealand have already implemented the National Policy Statement for Urban Development in their plans. Auckland — the biggest city with 40% of New Zealand’s GDP — is the only place that hasn’t rolled this out.”

What the city needs now, he says, is certainty for homeowners, firsthome buyers, developers and investors. “Nothing is ever going to be perfect,” he adds. “But we have to do something.”

The council is now waiting for the Government to finalise the legislation that will determine the next steps.

Hills says the next phase will involve councillors and local boards reviewing options for redrawing the city’s zoning maps.

“We need to protect the integrity of the 10,500 submissions that have already gone in, but also make sure people affected by changes have the ability to have their say.”

After that, the independent hearings panel will examine the detail.

“They’ll be measuring it against access to trains, the city centre, jobs, parks and amenity,” Hills says.

Beyond the policy mechanics, he says the debate ultimately comes down to the kind of city Auckland wants to be.

“My vision is a city centre that is full of people, with higher-density housing near stations where people can walk to work and access public transport easily.”

That includes homes for young people entering the housing market, and downsizing options for older residents who want to stay in their communities.

In some areas, he says, that is already happening — with older residents moving into smaller homes nearby and freeing up family houses for younger buyers.

“If you’re thinking about your parents, or your kids, or your grandkids — where are they going to live?” he says.

“The city centre is safer when it’s full of people walking around. When people pop out of stations and walk into markets, theatres and restaurants.”

Sprawling development makes that harder.

“We have to enable growth where the infrastructure investment is already going,” he says, pointing to projects such as the City Rail Link and the Central Interceptor.

Despite the controversy around intensification, Hills remains optimistic.

“I’m sick of people being negative about Auckland,” he says. “It’s a fantastic city.

“Year after year people come here and want to live here. The natural environment — our beaches and our forests — are second to none.”

Ultimately, he says, the challenge is not just building more homes, but building a better city. “We haven’t done infrastructure well for generations,” he says.

“But we’re getting on top of it. We just need to make sure we bring everyone along with us.”

The right mix for success

Tim McCready

Diversity is a productive asset for a globally competitive city, says growth expert

Anna Kominik wants Auckland to be known as a city that proves you can build a globally-competitive, high-wage city that is also a great place to live in.

She says that too often, the growth conversation gets framed as a contest between business interests and community wellbeing. “And yet, higher wages, better public services, and stronger infrastructure are not casualties of growth. They are its point.”

A director and lead adviser of Growth New Zealand, Kominik believes Auckland’s genuine points of difference are compelling.

“It is one of the most ethnically diverse cities of its size anywhere on Earth. We have a Māori economy growing faster than the broader New Zealand economy, representing a distinctive model of indigenous capitalism that the world is increasingly admiring. And we have a disproportionate track record of producing world-class companies.”

Kominik says that connecting all this is Auckland’s diversity, which she says is a productive asset, not just a social virtue. “Cities that unlock the full creative and economic potential of all their people consistently outperform those that do not.”

Yet when set against globally ambitious peers such as Vancouver or Singapore, Kominik says Auckland is still searching for clarity. “I am not sure Auckland has decided what it wants to be yet. And that indecision has a cost, not just economically but socially.”

Cities with a clear sense of identity, she argues, build civic confidence — a shared story that attracts talent, earns trust, and sustains the longterm commitment that ambitious transformation requires.

“That settled sense of collective purpose is itself a form of capital, and Auckland is still accumulating it,” she says.

The recent economic data reinforces that challenge. Auckland’s GDP per capita declined in the year to March 2024 and likely again in 2025 — the first sustained per capita contraction since the global financial crisis.

“Those numbers are not abstract for the Aucklanders forced to make harder choices about food, housing, transport, and healthcare,” she says.

“Economic stress does not stay contained — it erodes the trust, the reciprocity, and the everyday civic participation that supports communities and prosperity to flourish.”

Infrastructure gaps compound the issue. Kominik points to delays in rapid transit, long-running uncertainty over the port, and a shortage of growth-stage capital that pushes successful companies offshore.

Against that backdrop, she argues Auckland needs to treat growth as a system rather than a set of isolated fixes.

“You cannot fix capital markets without fixing talent. You cannot retain talent without fixing housing. You cannot attract globally ambitious founders without the infrastructure that makes a city worth living in.”

She points to several priorities:

  • Infrastructure: “Productive cities are built around public transport as the physical backbone that makes everything else possible,” she says, urging delivery of the City Rail Link and faster decisions on the next stage of rapid transit.
  • Capital: Auckland firms are hitting a ceiling at Series B capital raising, often forced offshore to scale. Redirecting even a small share of New Zealand’s $110 billion in KiwiSaver into domestic growth companies, she says, “would be transformative”.
  • The Māori economy: “There is a version of Auckland’s growth story where Ma ¯ ori capital and global investment intersect in genuinely distinctive ways,” she says, pointing to iwi as sophisticated long-term investors with growing interest in technology and clean energy.
  • Skills: Kominik believes Auckland should aim to be “the most AI-literate city in the Asia-Pacific within five years” — not as a tech initiative, but as a wages and productivity strategy, with an immediate focus on upskilling the existing workforce.

Underpinning it all is talent.

“First, attract globally: fast visa processing, competitive equity compensation, and a genuine landing pad with real connections and early capital access,” she says.

“Second, stop the outflow by fixing structural settings around tax, housing and services, that deter people from staying; and third, unlock the talent that already exists across our city and in the Auckland diaspora.”

New Zealand’s large offshore population, she says, should be treated as an economic network rather than a loss. “At the end of the day, we want New Zealand to be a place that our children want to stay in.” If those settings shift, the upside is tangible.

Kominik describes a “realistic, not fantasy” Auckland in 10 to 15 years: a city of around 2.2m people, better connected by functioning rapid transit, with a vibrant central city and infrastructure that links the harbour, suburbs and innovation precincts.

It would have a tech and cleantech ecosystem producing a steady cadence of globally-significant companies, backed by deeper domestic capital, alongside a Māori economy exceeding $100b and actively co-investing across infrastructure and industry.

Crucially, she says, growth would be more widely felt. “Nearly one in five Auckland children are growing up in households experiencing material hardship,” she says. “Every Aucklander who does not reach their potential represents lost prosperity — both as an individual and to the community.”

On that trajectory, Auckland’s global reputation would follow.

Kominik says that by around 2040, Auckland could be a city that people across the Asia-Pacific talk about in the same way they talk about Zurich or Amsterdam today. “Smaller than the giants, but sharper, more liveable, and genuinely world-class at the things it has chosen to prioritise — a city where the growth story and the wellbeing story are the same.”

Anna Kominik is an independent director, investor, adviser and innovator who recently made Auckland home. She is part of Growth New Zealand, a non-partisan group of passionate and experienced New Zealanders promoting a future where growth means lasting economic, social and environmental wellbeing, shared across the whole community.

The year ahead: Business news with Tim McCready (Radio New Zealand)

Business commentator Tim McCready joins Summer Times to forecast some big changes for Auckland in 2026 with the opening of the much-awaited City Rail Link and International Convention Centre, some international trade agreements to watch out for, and what’s happening in AI.

Deloitte Top 200 2025: Top 30 financial institutions lift profits 10.6% in 2025

The Top 30 Financial Institutions Index for 2025 shows a return to growth across most key indicators, reversing the contraction seen last year.

This year sees one new entrant: Motor Trade Finance, which joins the index at rank 27, with total assets of $1228 million.

The combined asset base of the Top 30 increased by 3.2%, rising from $732,848m in 2024 to $756,000m in 2025. This contrasts favourably with the 0.9% decline recorded last year. Notably, the big four banks all recorded increases in assets in 2025.

ANZ remains firmly in the top position, with total assets of $199,176m, representing 2.5% growth year-on-year. ANZ continues to lead the sector not only in scale but also in profitability and capital strength, recording the highest profit ($2,208m) and highest equity ($18,810m) among the Top 30.

Westpac continues to hold second place, with assets increasing 2.0% to $135,501m and profit of $1253m. Of the big four banks, Westpac is the only one to report a profit after tax increase in 2025, increasing by 5.8% to $1,253m.

ASB has moved up to third place, reporting assets of $135,164m, an increase of 6.4% and profit of $1449m.

BNZ has slipped to fourth place, with a 0.5% increase in assets to reach $130,737m and profit of $1506m.

Among the big four banks, BNZ has the highest return on assets at 1.2%, while ASB leads in return on equity at 12.8%.

Kiwibank remains in fifth position, with assets increasing 10.9% to $40,660m – one of the strongest asset growth rates in the Index. However, its profit fell 5.4% to $191m.

Across the sector, cumulative profits for the Top 30 financial institutions increased by 10.6%, rising from $7886m in 2024 to $8723m in 2025. Cumulative equity across the Top 30 also increased by 5.8%, reaching $75,525m.

The financial institutions in the top eight remain unchanged from last year, reflecting continued stability at the upper end of the index.

Further down the rankings, SBS Bank has moved up to ninth place, rising from 11th in 2024. This shift causes HSBC to move down one position to 10th place, while MUFG drops out of the top 10 to 11th place.

As with previous years, it is noted that certain financial institutions may have released unaudited earnings announcements that are not reflected in the indices or the commentary above.

Deloitte Top 200: Fonterra, Rocket Lab standout performers among top index

The 2025 Deloitte Top 200 Index reflects a year of steady but uneven performance, with modest revenue growth, a rebound in profitability, and continued shifts in sector dynamics as New Zealand’s largest organisations adapt to changing economic conditions.

Total revenues for Top 200 companies increased by 2.1%, rising from $245,905m in 2024 to $251,041m in 2025. This represents a slower pace of growth compared to the 4.1% increase last year and 12.4% increase in 2023.

Underlying earnings (Ebitda) rose by 5.1%, from $30,250m in 2024 to $31,782m in 2025. This contrasts with an 8.1% decrease year-on-year seen in 2024.

Top 200 companies paid more tax this year compared to last, with total tax expense increasing by 4.6%, from $3,216m in 2024 to $3,364m in 2025.

Total profits after tax saw a significant increase of 23.7%, rising from $4,880m in 2024 to $6,037m in 2025. This is a marked change from the 57.2% decrease recorded in 2024.

Total assets grew by 3.9%, from $331,599m in 2024 to $344,420m in 2025. This is similar to last year where total assets grew 3.8%.

The number one spot in the Top 200 Index has been held by Fonterra since the Index’s formation in the early 1990s. This stronghold continues, with the co-operative’s revenue increasing by 5.6% during the year to $24,111m in 2025 from $22,822m in 2024. This compares to a fall in revenue last year of 7.2%. The increase this year has been driven by higher milk prices, increased milk collections, and strong demand for Foodservice and Ingredients. Fonterra’s continued leadership underscores both its scale and the central role it plays within the wider New Zealand export economy.

The 200th-ranked entity in the Top 200 Index in 2025 is personal care and hygiene company Asaleo Care, with revenue of $248m. Last year’s 200th ranked company, Christchurch Airport, had revenue of $233m. This represents a 6.4% increase in revenue between the 200th ranked companies year-on-year, indicating a slightly higher threshold for inclusion in 2025. This rising threshold shows that while overall growth may be modest, competitive pressure for a place in the Index remains strong.

Ebos Group, at number two, maintained its position in the Index. This is despite a drop in revenue of 5.6%, decreasing from $14,254m in 2024 to $13,451m in 2025. The revenue decline was driven by the loss of the Chemist Warehouse Australia wholesale contract at the end of FY24. The revenue gap between the top two companies widened slightly due to Fonterra’s stronger growth.

The top 10 in the Index saw moderate movement in 2025.

Foodstuffs North Island and Woolworths continue to occupy the third and fourth place, respectively. Z Energy moved up from sixth place last year to fifth place, albeit with revenue that declined by 5.6% in 2025.

Fletcher Building dropped from fifth to sixth place after a challenging year in construction saw its revenue reduce by 9.0% in 2025. The shift reflects the series of sector-wide pressures impacting construction activity and input costs.

Mainfreight re-entered the top 10 at tenth (up from 11th in 2024), with revenue growth of 11.0% in 2025.

Top Profits

The top profit after tax for 2025 was $1004m, reported by Fonterra (ranked first in the Top 200 Index), retaining its position in the top profit rankings from last year.

This figure represents a 14% decrease from Fonterra’s profit after tax of $1168m in 2024. Despite the decline, the magnitude of Fonterra’s earnings means it still outperforms all other entities by a considerable margin.

Forestry business Kaingaroa Timberlands (ranked 99th in the Index) recorded the second highest profit after tax of $713m, which was driven by an uplift in the fair value of its forestry assets.

Auckland Airport (ranked 62nd) holds the third highest profit after tax of $421m in 2025. This is up from $6m in 2024, and was largely driven by a deferred tax impact from changes to building structure depreciation legislation in 2024 of $292m.

Lotto NZ (ranked 34th) maintains its fourth place profit after tax ranking, with a result of $405m (2024: $434m).

F&P Healthcare (ranked 24th) has secured fifth place with a profit after tax of $377m, up from $133m in 2024.

Infratil (ranked 18th), Summerset (157th) and Meridian Energy (12th) have moved out of the top five profits for 2025. Last year they were ranked second, third, and fifth, respectively.

Biggest Losses

The biggest loss for 2025 was reported by Meridian Energy (ranked 12th in the Top 200 Index), with a loss of $452m. It was impacted by historically low hydro inflows, and high gas costs.

Ryman Healthcare (ranked 77th) holds the second biggest loss for 2025, with a loss of $437m.

KiwiRail (46th) holds the third biggest loss, with a loss after tax of $422m. KiwiRail has been a regular mention in the biggest losses list over the last few years. Last year it held the second biggest loss, with a loss of $647m and in 2023 it had the largest loss of $771m. KiwiRail also had the third biggest loss in 2022 and second biggest loss in 2020.

Fletcher Building (6th) and Infratil (18th) respectively hold the fourth and fifth biggest losses in 2025.

Most Improved Profit

Kaingaroa Timberlands (ranked 99th in the Top 200 Index) recorded the most improved profit out of all the entities in the Index, with a 78,014% increase. This is as a result of shifting from a $1m loss in 2024 to a $713m profit in 2025.

Kiwifruit post-harvest service provider, EastPack, (167th) achieved the second highest profit growth of 19,810%. This is from a $0.1m loss in 2024 to a $19m profit in 2025.

Auckland Airport (62nd) and Kiwi Property (186th) achieved the third and fourth highest profit growth in 2025.

EastPack, Kura, Rocket Lab, Skyline Enterprises and Pamu are included in both the most improved profit and most improved revenue index in 2025.

Most Improved Revenue

The Top 200 Index features significant movement among the most improved revenue performers, with all of the top five companies entering the Index for the first time.

Higher education provider Up Education (ranked 133rd in the Top 200 Index), was the standout performer, achieving the highest revenue growth. Revenue rose 179.3% to $379m.

Forest products business, Pan Pac Forest Products (114th), achieved the second highest revenue growth, with an increase of 121.8% to $459m. This reflects its recovery following the severe impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.

Rocket Lab (159th) recorded the third highest revenue growth, rising 61.3% to $318m.

Duty Free Stores Wellington (195th) delivered the fourth highest revenue uplift, growing revenue by 50.9% to $254m.

EastPack (167th) rounded out the top five most improved revenue performers, achieving revenue growth of 47.8% to $293m.

Top Return on Assets

Return on assets (ROA) is a key indicator of how efficiently an organisation uses its asset base to generate earnings. By comparing profit with total reported assets, ROA highlights those companies that are achieving strong returns relative to the scale of their operations. This year’s results again show significant variation across sectors, with aviation operators continuing to dominate the top of the Index.

Emirates Airlines NZ (ranked 96th in the Top 200 Index) has once again taken the top position for ROA, achieving 713.8% in 2025. This is an increase from 595.4% last year and 325.1% in 2023 and reflects another strong year relative to its asset base.

Singapore Airlines (125th) has also maintained its position in second place, reporting a ROA of 190.9% in 2025. While lower than last year’s result (312.9%), the airline remains a standout performer in these rankings.

Lotto NZ (34th) also retains its place in the top three, holding third position with a ROA of 127.4% in 2025. This is slightly down on 2024 where ROA was 146.5%.

Rocket Lab is a notable new entrant in the Top 200 Index, achieving a ROA of 53.4% in 2025.

Top Return on Equity

Return on equity (ROE) measures how effectively a company generates profit from the capital shareholders have invested.

It is a particularly useful metric for investors comparing performance across firms in the same sector, as it highlights how efficiently a business converts equity into earnings. The measure is calculated by assessing revenue earned against the average equity held over the past two years, helping to smooth out any distortions from recent changes in shareholder contributions.

This year’s ROE rankings continue to be dominated by aviation operators, with both Singapore Airlines and Emirates Airlines NZ again securing the top two positions.

Singapore Airlines (125th) achieved the highest ROE for the second consecutive year, reporting an ROE of 1139.2% in 2025.

Emirates Airlines NZ (96th) delivered an ROE of 922.7%.

Bunnings NZ (31st) achieved a return on equity of 771.6% in 2025, moving it up to third place, up from fourth in 2024.

Lotto NZ (34th) ranks fourth in 2025, reporting a ROE of 543.2%. This sees it move down from third ranking last year.

The Newcomers

This year, 18 companies were added to the Deloitte Top 200 Index, reflecting both returning businesses that have rebuilt scale and newly qualifying firms that have grown revenue sufficiently to enter the rankings. This compares with 21 new entrants last year.

Kmart NZ made the highest re-entry in 2025, joining the Index at rank 53 with revenue of $994m.

Jewellery retailer Michael Hill entered the Index at rank 79, reporting revenue of $705m.

Forestry and construction conglomerate Oregon Group re-entered the Index at rank 86 with revenue of $606m.

Other notable entrants include Weta FX at rank 111 with revenue of $478m, and Pan Pac Forest, which re-entered the Index at rank 114 with revenue of $459m.

Just Missed the Cut

Several organisations came close to breaking into the Deloitte Top 200 Index this year, missing out by only a small margin. Their proximity to the threshold highlights the competitive nature of the Index in 2025, with the gap between ranked and non-ranked companies remaining extremely tight.

Christchurch Airport was the closest to being included, reporting revenue of $245m, just $3m shy of the 200th-ranked company, Asaleo Care.

Mainland Poultry and Arvida Group also narrowly missed the cut, both recording revenue around the $244m mark.

Dynamic Business: Dilhan Fernando on how Dilmah stays true to values in a profit‑first world

For a company headquartered 11,000 kilometres away in South Asia, Dilmah is unusually entrenched in New Zealand’s cultural memory. Much of that comes down to one man – Merrill Fernando – and the iconic line he delivered in TV advertisements some 30 years ago: “Do try it.”

As part of an Asia New Zealand Foundation delegation to Sri Lanka, I joined a two-hour masterclass with CEO Dilhan Fernando – Merrill’s son – in Colombo for a strategic conversation about the future of agriculture, AI, climate resilience, and responsible capitalism.

It was a session that revealed not just how Dilmah survived global pressures, but how it continues to define a model of principled growth that feels increasingly rare. It also provided lessons for New Zealand on how a small, values-driven producer can build a global, value-added brand without compromise.

The cost of doing the right thing

For more than a century, Ceylon tea was sold at significant margins by foreign traders.

That simple act was radical at the time and remains central to Dilmah’s identity. It’s a mindset he says New Zealanders instinctively understand.

“New Zealanders understand the connection between nature and taste,” said Fernando. “While the importance of ingredients is shared by your wine and dairy industries, around the world I see that respect for artisanship and for ingredients disappearing, sacrificed to discounts and so on.”

Many organisations have been softening or retreating from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments recently, driven by regulatory uncertainty, political pushback, and rising scepticism about real-world impact and costs. Yet Dilmah has held firm – even when it costs.

“Oddly in the global market, we can be terribly penalised for doing the right thing,” Fernando said, recalling an Australian retailer who demanded an increased margin to stay on the shelf, and suggested Dilmah cut its charitable spend to make up the difference.

“Of course, we took the logical step and walked away”.

The decision significantly dropped Dilmah’s market share overnight, but for Fernando, the company’s purpose was non-negotiable.

“Most CEOs have a three-month timeframe. But we think in generations. We are responsible for an ecosystem that includes people and nature.”

Last year was Dilmah’s worst on record for profit – yet it was its greatest for impact.

More than one billion Sri Lankan rupees were invested through its foundation in education, healthcare, disability services, climate science, food programmes, and Sri Lanka’s post-conflict rehabilitation.

“Success is important,” said Fernando. “But significance is success expressed in the lives of others.”

The commitment extends beyond Sri Lanka. “We work in New Zealand with hospice, with the homeless through different organisations,” he said. “In Australia as well, through the Salvation Army, with people struggling with substance abuse and with the homeless.”

Dilmah is also recognised for its strong environmental credentials: from renewable energy and reforestation to waste reduction, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. It achieved carbon neutrality in 2017 and aims to be carbon negative by 2030.

Together, these efforts shape a view of business that goes beyond profit. “You realise the purpose of business,” Fernando said. “And you understand what really motivates a business to do more.”

But he was also frank about the pressure ethical businesses face. “The challenge businesses have in doing the right thing today is something exceptional.”

He outlined the realities of sustainable farming: “Looking after the soil, using biochar, biological control for pest management, agroforestry methods. Unfortunately, when you do the right thing, you generally pay a high price for it.”

And yet, that struggle is central to Dilmah’s identity. “It motivates us,” he said simply. “It makes us leaner, fitter.”

Dilmah’s approach to product development also reflects a refusal to compromise.

Retailers asked the company to enter the booming matcha market – a powdered green tea that originated from Japan – but Sri Lanka doesn’t produce it. For Fernando, that was reason enough to decline.

“We would be irresponsible if we went to market with it,” he said. “It’s not ours.”

Instead, Dilmah has focused on what it can grow beyond tea – such as Ceylon cinnamon – and kept its product lines focused on provenance, not opportunism.

AI that strengthens tradition

Like many companies, Dilmah is investing in AI – but primarily as a tool to augment, not replace, human capability.

On its plantations, AI is used for precision agriculture. “We send out a drone, we analyse the pictures,” Fernando explained. Using near-field and multispectral analysis, the system identifies where nitrogen efficiency is low, where water stress appears, and which fields require attention. “It optimises efficiency,” he said – helping achieve more targeted, less wasteful intervention across the estates.

In logistics, AI models predict demand patterns, helping consolidate orders and reduce unnecessary shipments. It’s a data-driven way to reduce both economic and environmental waste.

Even in tea tasting – a tradition Dilmah treats with deep respect – AI is beginning to play a supporting role. Dilmah’s team tastes around 12,000 teas each week, selecting only the best for its range.

“We use AI to augment that,” Fernando said. Liquor from each batch is run through hyperspectral analysis, creating detailed flavour profiles. The goal is to “create a flavour map” of the many terroirs across the island. “It’s not a replacement for tasters, but another element to support them in their evaluation.”

In a global market where it’s becoming easier to dilute principles than hold them, Dilmah has built a business by refusing to compromise.

Thirty years after Merrill Fernando first invited New Zealanders to “Do try it”, the line still resonates – not only as a tagline for tea, but as a challenge to the business world.

Tim McCready joined the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s delegation to Sri Lanka.

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