Island Tea facts for kids
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| Founded | 2017 |
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| Founder | Minodh de Silva |
| Headquarters | Metro Cebu, Philippines |
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Area served
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Middle East, South Asia, Asia Pacific |
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Key people
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| Products | Ceylon Tea, Ceylon milk tea, Fruit-infused tea |
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Number of employees
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400 |
Island Tea is a popular brand of tea from Sri Lanka. It sells its delicious teas all around the world. The company started in 2017, thanks to its founder, Minodh de Silva. Island Tea has grown a lot and now has different companies in places like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Australia, and Singapore.
The main company that owns Island Tea is called Ceylanka Trading Incorporated (CTI). Its main office has been in the Philippines since 2017. Island Tea also lets other people open their own Island Tea shops, which is called franchising. This idea started in April 2018. Since 2019, Island Tea has been part of the Philippine Franchise Association.
The Story of Island Tea
Island Tea began its journey in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2017. It was founded by Minodh de Silva. He is a Sri Lankan businessman and a very successful marketer. Mr. De Silva had worked in marketing for over 19 years before starting Island Tea. He wanted to share the special tea experience with people outside Sri Lanka. So, the very first Island Tea shop opened in December 2017 in Metro Cebu, Philippines.
Growing Around the World
Island Tea started to grow even more in June 2018, expanding beyond the Philippines. Today, Island Tea is the only group of tea cafes that sells "Pure Ceylon" tea in Southeast Asia. This is especially true in the Philippines. By 2021, the company had many shops across the Philippines. These shops were in major cities like Manila, Cebu City, and many others.
The first Island Tea shop in Sri Lanka opened in Ella, Sri Lanka in 2019. Then, in 2020, the first shop in the Middle East opened in Dubai, UAE. More shops followed in Qatar and Australia in 2021. By June 2021, Island Tea had over 50 shops. These were spread across the Philippines, Sri Lanka, UAE, Qatar, and Australia. The company planned to open even more shops in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Island Tea shops keep opening in big malls and busy areas in the countries where they operate.
Island Tea Co. runs its shops through different companies in each country. For example, there's Island Tea Co. Holdings Limited in Sri Lanka. There's also Ceylanka Trading Inc. in the Philippines. By the end of 2021, the company had plans to open more shops in the Middle East. These included Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, and Oman. More shops were also planned for Australia, in cities like Canberra and Darwin. The first Australian shop opened in Perth in 2021. Island Tea also planned to open in Singapore and India by 2021. As of August 2025, the brand has more than 50 locations in 5 countries.
During the time of COVID-19, Island Tea Co. helped out in a big way. They were one of the first companies to do good deeds for the community. They gave hundreds of Ceylon milk teas to doctors, nurses, and other medical workers. They also gave teas to vaccination centers in the western parts of the Philippines. This showed their support for the people working hard to keep everyone safe.
Delicious Tea Products
The menu at Island Tea Co. has a huge variety of drinks. They offer many kinds of milk teas, like cream cheese milk teas and brown sugar milk teas. They also have green tea cream cheese and tea shakes. You can find Oreo cream cheese milk teas and creamy Nutella milk teas too. Besides these, they serve classic black teas, iced chocolate teas, and bubble teas. They also have a special coffee series and many hot and fruit teas.
Their ready-to-drink teas often come with fun toppings. These include black pearls, nata de coco, coffee jelly, caramel pudding, and popping boba. Island Tea also sells tea products you can take home. These include loose leaf tea and tea bags under their own brand. This helps them be known as a special tea shop.
All the teas used by Island Tea Co. are made by top companies in Sri Lanka. These companies follow strict international food safety rules. Island Tea Co. makes sure its teas are shipped safely around the world. They use international shipping services like UPS (United Parcel Services) for all their deliveries to other countries.
