It was in the optimistic first decade of the 20th century that Tyeabally Shaikh Hebtulabhoy was inspired to set up a separate division dedicated exclusively to tea and spices at M S Hebtulabhoy & Co. In doing so, Tyeabally forged a special connection between the family and Ceylon Tea that was destined to endure.

The vast majority of the tea grown and processed in the island was sent to the British Isles - of the 170 million pounds of Ceylon Tea exported in 1905, 112 million pounds was shipped directly to England - where much of it was blended with less flavourful teas from elsewhere and then re-exported to tea-drinking countries around the world.

Tyeabally could not have been older than twenty at the time but he, like his brothers, must have had a knack for developing business relationships and inspiring confidence in potential trading partners. He did of course have the advantage of being able to tap into the markets and the agencies already established by the firm for cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whenever he travelled on pilgrimage to the holy sites of Islam in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, he took the opportunity to foster the important business connections with partners in Jeddah and Aden; partnerships that had perhaps been first established by his Mandvian ancestors. Tyeabally offered to ship Ceylon Tea directly from Colombo to the Middle East, thus eliminating the expenses incurred by going through the agency houses and tea companies of England.

The firm's first significant shipment of tea was made in 1907, as recorded in D. M. Forrest's book, 'A Hundred Years of Ceylon Tea'

With its tea business looking increasingly promising, M S Hebtulabhoys bought a 200-acre plot of hillside in Rozelle, Hatton and planted it with tea. They named the estate Hydri. As a young boy, Tyeabally's eldest son, Akbarally, accompanied his father to Hydri estate and watched the wilderness being cleared and the first tea bushes being planted here.