Story of
Black Tea Exports
'Daring to do the things he loves doing' is the perfect way to describe the spirit of Dinesh Deheragoda. Dinesh has two passions in life; one is rallying at high speeds through the forest stages and the other is Ceylon Tea, both daring challenges filled with passion, excitement and intense competition. Keeping in-line with the ever changing demand of Ceylon tea is a similar challenge to the completion on high speed rally stages.
Being an enterprising and pioneering personality with a vision to be the best has made him a natural winner in both his chosen fields of activity. Dinesh strongly believes that smart working, innovative thinking and a desire for excellence are vital elements for victory!
Experience and Recognition as a premier Tea manufacturer and exporter in Sri Lanka
Knowing very well that finding one's passion is one thing and actually putting it to work is another, Dinesh Deheragoda set about realizing his dream of being part of the Ceylon Tea industry with his entry as a professional tea taster way back in 1986.
After having gathered valuable experience working as a tea export Manager, in 1993 Dinesh initiated his own Ceylon Tea manufacturing and Ceylon Tea export company, Black Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd. which exports the popular HILLTOP Tea brand of Pure Ceylon Tea.
Dinesh comes from an agriculture related family background; his father having worked in the Department of Agriculture, being in charge of the seed Potato importation in 1949 and later contributed as the Director of the Nuwara Eliya District under the Department of Agriculture, until his retirement in 1983.
This inherited passion for nature and the love for the good earth has been Dinesh's advantage in his involvement with Ceylon tea. His commitment and passion to Ceylon Tea is so great, he personally takes time to understand the subtlety of tea cultivation, the impact of the soil and climatic conditions on the quality of the tea, the importance of retaining the freshness and purity, ensuring that high quality standards are maintained in the entire tea manufacturing process, making certain the blends are perfected, tasting the teas himself and finally stamping the HILLTOP signature as a guarantee of excellence, a promise of an authentic cup of Pure Ceylon Tea... fresh from the garden to the cup.
Today Black Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd is recognized as one of Sri Lanka's leading Tea manufacturers and Tea exporters of pure Ceylon Tea with an annual turnover that reached US$ 19.2M in 1997, just four years after its inception and is the proud recipient of ISO certification.
Dinesh Deheragoda is a master at Ceylon Teas; his dream is to drive HILLTOP to the peak of excellence! Dinesh is confident that the soothing goodness of Pure Ceylon Tea can act as a soothing balm in today's complex human race; touching hearts and minds and bringing people together. With HILLTOP he believes he can do it!
Knowing very well that finding one's passion is one thing and actually putting it to work is another, Dinesh Deheragoda set about realizing his dream of being part of the Ceylon Tea industry with his entry as a professional tea taster way back in 1986.
After having gathered valuable experience working as a tea export Manager, in 1993 Dinesh initiated his own Ceylon Tea manufacturing and Ceylon Tea export company, Black Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd. which exports the popular HILLTOP Tea brand of Pure Ceylon Tea.
Dinesh comes from an agriculture related family background; his father having worked in the Department of Agriculture, being in charge of the seed Potato importation in 1949 and later contributed as the Director of the Nuwara Eliya District under the Department of Agriculture, until his retirement in 1983.
This inherited passion for nature and the love for the good earth has been Dinesh's advantage in his involvement with Ceylon tea. His commitment and passion to Ceylon Tea is so great, he personally takes time to understand the subtlety of tea cultivation, the impact of the soil and climatic conditions on the quality of the tea, the importance of retaining the freshness and purity, ensuring that high quality standards are maintained in the entire tea manufacturing process, making certain the blends are perfected, tasting the teas himself and finally stamping the HILLTOP signature as a guarantee of excellence, a promise of an authentic cup of Pure Ceylon Tea... fresh from the garden to the cup.
Today Black Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd is recognized as one of Sri Lanka's leading Tea manufacturers and Tea exporters of pure Ceylon Tea with an annual turnover that reached US$ 19.2M in 1997, just four years after its inception and is the proud recipient of ISO certification.
Dinesh Deheragoda is a master at Ceylon Teas; his dream is to drive HILLTOP to the peak of excellence! Dinesh is confident that the soothing goodness of Pure Ceylon Tea can act as a soothing balm in today's complex human race; touching hearts and minds and bringing people together. With HILLTOP he believes he can do it!
1993
Incorporation of the company with a staff of 4 people
1994
First pack of HILLTOP tea sold in the Russian Federation
1996
HILLTOP teas being sold in 8 countries
1998
Annual turn over exceeds US$ 10 Million
2001
Moved administration and production in to single location
2007
HILLTOP teas sold in 14 countries
2012
Receives ISO 22000:2005 certification
2014
Receives HACCP & GMP certification
2018
HILLTOP teas sold in 19 countries
2020