Cargills Quality Dairies (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Cargills Group, has invested Rs. 500 million to increase their factory capacity and install new machinery in Gampaha. This is in addition to the Rs. 6 billion the company invested over the last few years to turn around this defunct ice cream factory run by a multinational.
Cargills Quality Dairies producers several dairy products including Cargills Magic Ice Cream and several other dairy products under Kotmale brand for both local and international market.
Cargills Dairies also introduced two new products, Kotmale Butter and Cheddar Cheese to the market on Wednesday. Director Sales, Cargills Quality Dairies, FMCG Sector, Buddhisha Herath speaking to Daily News Business said that the Rs 500 million investment was to install a new production line to produce these two products.
He said this investment affirms their commitment to the Sri Lankan dairy industry by continuously investing in the most advanced dairy facilities in the country. “Through such investments, we contribute to the objective of making Sri Lanka self-sufficient in dairy sector.”
He said that the annual dairy import bill to Sri Lanka is nearly US$ 280 million and Cargills Dairies by purchasing Milk from farmers and producing more local products have helped to reduce this bill by US$ 25 million last year.
“Operating out of world class production facilities, our dairy manufacturing plant boasts state of the art technology, robust environmental management processes, and ISO certification for quality and food safety.”
COO Cargills Dairies, Chanaka Wijesundara said that they are one of the largest buyers of fresh milk from Dairy farmers and pays the highest price for them. Asked if the management is keen to invest on their own diary he answered in the negative and said that they would keep on buying from the farmers since they have a forward buyig agreement with them.
“Cargills has, for instance, assured its farmers of a steady income through the purchase of fresh milk, and supported the education of their children through Cargills’ Sarubima program”.
“When farmers outside the Cargills network in Ridiyagama in the Southern Province were unable to sell their milk, for instance, Cargills stepped up to purchase large amounts of the surplus, towards cushioning negative fall-back on the industry,” said Manager, Cargills Quality Dairies Sector, Nimal Gunaratne.
0 comments: