Island Tea

Island Tea is a Sri Lankan-origin tea brand and café chain founded in 2017 by Minodh de Silva. The concept combines Ceylon tea with value-added café beverages, including milk teas, cream-cheese drinks, fruit teas, tea shakes, green teas, hot specialty teas, coffee-based blended beverages, and bubble-tea-style products. The brand also sells packaged loose-leaf tea and tea bags under its own and affiliated labels. The business originated in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but its international expansion was organized from the Philippines. Its first overseas branch opened in Metro Cebu in December 2017, and the company expanded its Philippine operations from June 2018. By 2021, the chain reported a presence in cities and commercial centers across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including Manila, Cebu, Baguio, Iloilo, Bacolod, Zamboanga, and General Santos. A first Sri Lankan branch opened in Ella in 2019. The brand subsequently entered Dubai in 2020 and Qatar and Australia in 2021. Island Tea’s international structure is distributed among privately held operating companies. Ceylanka Trading Incorporated, headquartered in the Philippines, owns the chain, while related entities have been identified in Sri Lanka, Qatar, Australia, and Singapore. The brand’s franchise model was introduced with assistance from Francorp Philippines in April 2018, and Island Tea became a member of the Philippine Franchise Association in 2019. This structure allowed the business to combine company-level expansion with franchising and country-specific operating entities. The brand positions itself around Pure Ceylon tea and accessible, highly customized café beverages. Its menu uses familiar tea-shop formats such as pearls, nata de coco, coffee jelly, caramel pudding, and popping boba alongside Sri Lankan tea products. According to the cited reference material, tea products for the chain were manufactured in Sri Lanka by industrial producers including HVA Lanka PLC under ISO 22000 and HACCP food-safety standards. International distribution was described as being supported by UPS. During the COVID-19 period, Island Tea undertook corporate social-responsibility activity in the Philippines by distributing Ceylon milk teas to hospitals and vaccination centers, including facilities serving medical front-line workers. The available reference material reported more than 50 locations across five countries by June 2021 and described further expansion plans in the Middle East, Australia, Singapore, and India. Those plans and the current branch count are not independently established here, so they should not be treated as current operating figures. The available material does not establish a current chief executive, a public listing, a current official website, or financial performance data.

Island Tea was established in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2017 by Minodh de Silva, a Sri Lankan entrepreneur and marketing professional. Rather than remaining solely a domestic tea retailer, the company developed a café format intended to present Ceylon tea in contemporary, highly customizable beverage categories. These included milk teas, tea shakes, fruit teas, green teas, specialty hot teas, coffee-blended drinks, and products with toppings associated with the wider bubble-tea market. The first reported international branch opened in Metro Cebu, Philippines, in December 2017. The Philippines subsequently became the central base for the brand’s international development, with Ceylanka Trading Incorporated headquartered there and identified as the owner of the chain. Island Tea expanded its Philippine operations from June 2018 and built a network across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Reported locations included major urban and tourism centers such as Manila, Batangas, Pampanga, Tagaytay, Baguio, Cebu City, Bohol, Iloilo, Tacloban, Bacolod, Zamboanga, and General Santos. The company adopted a franchise-oriented growth model with support from Francorp Philippines, which introduced the brand’s franchise model in April 2018. Island Tea was also reported to have joined the Philippine Franchise Association in 2019. Its corporate organization was divided among separate privately held entities: Island Tea Co. Holdings Limited in Sri Lanka, Ceylanka Trading Incorporated in the Philippines, Ceylanka Trading WLL in Qatar, Island Tea Co. Australia, and Island Tea Co. Singapore PTE. LTD. The available source material describes these entities as part of the brand’s operating and expansion structure, although it does not provide a complete ownership chart or current corporate filings. Island Tea re-established a physical presence in Sri Lanka with a first branch in Ella in 2019. It entered the Middle East through Dubai in 2020, followed by Qatar, and entered Australia in 2021 with a branch in Perth. By June 2021, reference material described more than 50 branches across five countries: the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Australia. It also mentioned intended expansion into additional Middle Eastern markets, Singapore, India, Canberra, and Darwin. These are historical plans and should not be assumed to have been completed. The product system combines café preparation with packaged tea. In-store drinks may use black pearls, nata de coco, coffee jelly, caramel pudding, and popping boba. Take-home products include loose-leaf tea and tea bags sold under Island Tea and affiliated brands. The cited material states that tea products were manufactured for the company in Sri Lanka by producers including HVA Lanka PLC under ISO 22000 and HACCP standards, and that UPS handled foreign distribution logistics. During the COVID-19 period, Island Tea carried out a Philippines-based corporate-social-responsibility initiative for medical front-line workers. The company distributed hundreds of Ceylon milk teas to hospitals and vaccination centers, particularly in western regions of the Philippines. No scandals, lawsuits, recalls, acquisitions, public-market listing, financial results, or current executive roster are established by the supplied material. The brand is described as operating, but its present branch count and current international footprint require verification.

• 2021

  Network reported across five countries

  [1]Island Teaen.wikipedia.org

  By June, reference material reported more than 50 locations across five countries and an Australian presence beginning in Perth.

• 2020

  Middle Eastern expansion begins in Dubai

  [1]Island Teaen.wikipedia.org

  Island Tea opened its first reported Middle Eastern location in Dubai.

• 2019

  First branch in Sri Lanka opens in Ella

  [1]Island Teaen.wikipedia.org

  The company opened its first reported Sri Lankan branch after beginning international expansion.

• 2018

  Franchise model introduced

  [1]Island Teaen.wikipedia.org

  Francorp Philippines assisted with the introduction of the brand’s franchise model in April.

• 2017

  Island Tea is founded in Sri Lanka

  [1]Island Teaen.wikipedia.org

  Minodh de Silva founded the Sri Lankan tea and café brand in Colombo.

• 2017

  First Philippine branch opens

  [1]Island Teaen.wikipedia.org

  Island Tea opened its first reported overseas branch in Metro Cebu in December.

An accessible international tea-café concept centered on Sri Lankan Pure Ceylon tea, combining traditional tea products with contemporary milk-tea, bubble-tea, fruit-tea, and dessert-style café formats.

• Tea beverages

  Milk teas

  A core category of the café menu, combining tea with milk and optional toppings. Variants cited in the source material include cream-cheese milk teas, brown-sugar milk teas, Oreo cream-cheese milk teas, and Nutella-based milk teas.

• Tea beverages

  Fruit teas and green teas

  Tea-based cold beverages built around fruit flavors and green-tea variants. The available material identifies these as part of the brand’s regular menu but does not specify individual recipes, seasonal availability, or current product names.

• Blended and topped beverages

  Tea shakes and bubble teas

  Contemporary tea-shop drinks that may be blended or served with toppings. Reported additions include black pearls, nata de coco, coffee jelly, caramel pudding, and popping boba.

• Hot tea

  Specialty hot teas

  Hot tea offerings that extend the brand beyond cold milk-tea and dessert-style beverages. The supplied reference does not provide a complete list of blends or current serving formats.

• Packaged tea

  Packaged loose-leaf tea and tea bags

  Take-home tea products sold under the Island Tea name and affiliated brands. The source describes these as part of the company’s retail offer, with production in Sri Lanka for the chain.

• 2020COVID-19 frontline tea distribution

  Philippines

  During the COVID-19 period, Island Tea distributed Ceylon milk teas to hospitals and vaccination centers in support of medical front-line workers.

  Outcome. The supplied reference describes deliveries of hundreds of drinks, especially to facilities in western Philippine regions.

  Source

• 2020

  Entry into the Middle Eastern marketStrategy

  Background

  After developing a Philippine network and reopening a Sri Lankan presence, Island Tea pursued international market expansion.

  Action taken

  The company opened a reported first Middle Eastern branch in Dubai.

  Aftermath

  The brand later expanded its reported footprint to Qatar, with further Middle Eastern plans mentioned in the source material.

  Source

• 2018

  Adoption of a franchise-led expansion modelStrategy

  Background

  The brand sought to expand beyond its Sri Lankan origins through a broader international retail network.

  Action taken

  Island Tea worked with Francorp Philippines to introduce a franchise model in April 2018.

  Aftermath

  The brand subsequently expanded across Philippine regions and into additional countries, although the supplied material does not quantify the contribution of franchised versus company-operated branches.

  Source

1. 1Island Teaen.wikipedia.org