IMPRA TEA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Production
With a background in engineering, Mr. Gurusinghe rose to the position of Technical Manager at a public sector organisation and subsequently worked overseas at a leading company in the same field. Mr. Gurusinghe joined the Imperial Teas Group as Director of Production in 1994. He holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the University of Moratuwa and a Diploma in Business Management from the National Institute of Business Management of Sri Lanka.
Mr. Jalinda Karunaratne is a past pupil of Ananda College. During his time in school he was appointed as a Senior Prefect and also served as the President of the Ananda College Music Circle in 2008. In addition to possessing musical talents, he also holds a Bachelor of Business and Commerce Degree majoring in Marketing and Management from Monash University, Australia.
He has over 10 years of tea tasting experience, whilst also having successfully completed an Executive Tea Training Programme at The Mel's Tea Academy.
Mr. Jalinda Karunaratne currently serves on the company's main board simultaneously also serving on the boards of Premier Packaging (Pvt) Ltd and Imperial Spices (Pvt) Ltd. He is directly engaged in Tea and Marketing for the company.
He is also a member of National chamber of commerce.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Director
- Founder
- Managing Director
Mr. Karunaratne is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of the Imperial Teas Group. His 40+ years of experience in the tea trade began in 1977 when he served as a Tea Taster at a leading tea export company in Sri Lanka. Extensive travel has given him an in depth knowledge of overseas markets and trading concepts and methodologies. He is the immediate Past Chairman of the Colombo Tea Traders Association and it is during his tenure as Chairman of CTTA that Mr. Karunaratne headed and facilitated the transition from an out cry auction system to an e-Auction due to the severe implications caused on the tea industry from the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is also a Past President of the Tea Exporters' Association. Mr. Karunaratne was appointed as the President of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka on the 14th of March 2023. He was a Board Member of the Sri Lanka Tea Board and a member of the promotion and marketing committee of the SLTB, former President of the Sri Lanka-Russia Business Council (SLRBC). He is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. Mr. Karunaratne also serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Tea, Value Added Tea, Beverages and related industries Sector of the Ministry of Industries.
In September 2007, he led a delegation of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce of the Trade & Investment Promotion Mission to Russia and the Ukraine. He was also a member of the Sri Lanka Team that conducted negotiations with Russia regarding the latter's proposed accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Mr. Jeewaka Karunaratne graduated from Monash University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Business with a major in Accounting and minor in Statistics and Risk Management and has recently completed an executive MSc in Finance.
Mr. Jeewaka Karunaratne commenced his career at Tea Broker Company as a Management Trainee. He then developed his skills further in terms of tea tasting and joined the family business in January 2009. Upon gaining extensive knowledge in all areas of the business he was appointed to lead various projects within the company.
Jeewaka's current role in the company is involved with Strategic Planning. Some projects initiated by him are; introduction of an ERP solution for order processing, launching the company's flagship brand IMPRA in Australia and New Zealand, conducting of internal audits for systems and processes, Iced tea manufacturing and the Implementation of an HR manual.
Starting her career as a management trainee at a leading export company, Mrs. Karunaratne gained wide experience in Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Auditing, Taxation, Budgetary Control and Financial Management. She joined the company as a Director in 1994. In recognition of her contribution towards empowering women in the export sector, she was named Runner Up at the Women Entrepreneurs Awards 2002 organized by the Women's Chamber of Industry and Commerce.