It's almost a cliché, really. At least in any culture where Britain has had a hand, the panacea for every ill, every mishap, every disappointment - anything at all - is a 'nice, hot, cup of tea'.

The other day I met with Dilhan Fernando, Director of Marketing, and member of the well-known and respected family dynasty which established the Sri Lankan company Dilmah Tea.

"My Dilmah was born in 1988," begins the man I think of as 'Mr Dilmah', Merrill J Fernando, founder of Dilmah Tea, in The Dilmah Story. "I was then a small tea grower with big dreams."

Those dreams were validated as the company's range of teas went on to become enormously popular with people in over 90 countries.

A moment of disclosure here: I drink Dilmah tea every day, enjoying a cup after I finish my day's work. I make it with leaf tea, in a teapot, and I pour the milk into the cup first, because I have been told that's the best way. I enjoy that cuppa, but even more than this, there is a double comfort in that I know more about it than just its flavour, which alone has won a vast number of fans.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Sri Lanka and the Dilmah factory and see for myself the care and expertise which goes into the making and packaging of the company's wide range of teas. However since then I have heard even more about the humanitarian aspect of the company and it is this which adds to my ultimate enjoyment of each cup I drink.

"My vision," Mr Fernando continues, "was to bring you tea of the highest quality - and at the same time give workers in my country a fairer deal. I pledged to make my business a matter of human service."

He founded the infant business on "quality, authenticity, ethics and integrity" a worthy basis for any company. Long before Fairtrade was a buzzword, he was modelling this with tea in his own country, establishing the Ethical Tea Society (ETS) which is in every way bound to caring for the workers who produce the tea as much as it considers those that buy and drink it.

True to his vision the MJF Charitable Foundation was founded, and is instrumental in a range of 100 different projects which touch the lives of over 100,000 underprivileged Sri Lankans every year. With the cessation of war in Sri Lanka, Dilmah Tea has even more needs to address as disempowered and war-shocked citizens seek help.

The Foundation is involved with a wide range of charitable projects for children and adults which include fostering employment under a Small Entrepreneur Programme, medical help and education.

Interestingly, not just people benefit from this tea. Dilmah Conservation works with IUCN to protect the Asian elephants and also other environmental projects.

Yet tea, itself is still paramount of course and Dilmah, in conjunction with Institut Paul Bocuse has established the first International Tea School. The company works, too, with top chefs from around the world to foster Tea Gastronomy.

Sri Lanka is a wonderful tourist destination with rich culture and diversity. Now finally free of war, its people are able to contemplate the future and grow with it. Unsurprisingly, the Fernando family is right on top of this, and Dilmah's Ceylon Tea Trails resort is their most recent initiative.

Comprising four stately and elegant former colonial tea planters' bungalows, these will appeal to visitors looking for the stylish comfort of an earlier era. Butler service, fine dining and serene views from the cool tea-growing uplands are just some of the inducements. The resort has won several awards and the prestigious company, Relais & Chateaux, has already invited this resort to be listed amongst their other premier properties, making it their first and only Sri Lankan property.

All of this means that each day when I pour my cup of Dilmah tea (incidentally still called 'Ceylon tea' because for so long this is what the world called the high quality tea from this island) I feel I am somehow part of Merrill Fernando's vision.

It's what makes it, what I call, a really good cup of tea!