Samaposha wins Gold at National Agribusiness Awards

31 August 2015 02:56 am

The ‘National Agribusiness Awards 2015’ organized by the National Agribusiness Council was ceremoniously held at the BMICH recently.

In recognition of the contribution and excellence shown in the food processing industry by Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd, the manufacturer for Samaposha, received the Gold Award in the Best Agricultural Producer category.

Samaposha contains only locally grown wholesome ingredients and is manufactured by Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL) which is the leading biscuit and confectionery manufacturing company in Sri Lanka.

Over 8000 farmers island-wide benefit through their involvement in supplying the required raw materials for the manufacture of Samaposha and this significantly contributes to uplift the living standards of the nation’s farming community whilst strengthening our agricultural economy.

Plenty Foods (Pvt.) Ltd does not operate solely for profitability but with foremost responsibility towards the well-being of their dedicated farmer community.

Inaugurated by the Organization in 2012, ‘Govi Pawula’ is their main corporate social responsibility initiative working towards enriching the lives of the rural farmers. Four sub projects under the scheme namely; ‘Govi Sathuta’, ‘Govi Sarana’, Govi Denuma’, ‘Govi Arana’ and ‘Govi Suwaya’ work towards providing farmers assistance with the necessities of life and also engages in supporting and strengthening their livelihoods.

Commenting on the strong relationship between the farmer community and the Organization, Shammi Karunaratne, Director/CEO Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd. said, “We aim to represent our farming communities in a fair manner and develop our country’s agriculture and towards this goal follow very specific policies.  According to the agreement between our farmers should the market price increase despite a contracted rate we pay them the higher market price. Similarly should the market price decrease, we pay them the promised rate.”

From the initial planting of seeds to harvest time as part of the ongoing commitment between the farmers, the Organization impresses upon the need to meet high standards, provides quality raw materials continuously educating the farmers.

The quality and goodness of the raw material provided by the farmers is further established as the entire manufacturing process of Samaposha is conducted using modern machinery.

Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd understands the importance of protecting the well-being of the farmers and through their corporate social responsibility programme recently commenced “Govi Suwaya” project to ensure the health of the farmer communities. 

“Most farmers are bound by the need to continuously engage in farming as it is their sole livelihoods and neglect their health as a result. Filling their lives with happiness through our programme ‘Govi Sathuta’, providing assistance in times of need through ‘Govi Sarana’, enhancing their agricultural knowledge through ‘Govi Denuma’, offering assistance for infrastructure facilities and supporting religious needs through ‘Govi Arana’ are all conducted through our unique corporate social responsibility programme, Govi Pawula,” Karunaratne noted.