Cargills Ceylon PLC opened one of Sri Lanka’s largest multi-product dairy processing facilities, the Kotmale Dairy Plant in Banduragoda off Minuwangoda last week.
Over the past two years, Cargills has invested Rs. 3,300 million on a dairy expansion project that has resulted in the development of a full range of dairy products.
This is said to be the largest single investment in the integrated development of the local dairy industry made by the private sector in the recent past.
The facility is connected to over 15,000 dairy farmers spread across the country generating sustainable livelihoods while conserving valuable foreign exchange through the utilization of 100 percent local fresh milk for all products.
“Over the years, Cargills has invested over Rs. 5 billion in developing a range of dairy production lines while enhancing infrastructure and logistics support to increase the sourcing of fresh milk from small dairy farmers,” Cargills Managing Director Imtiaz Wahid said.
“A Rs. 3 billion dairy expansion project rolled out by us in the past two years has resulted in the development of a full range of dairy products, including UHT milk, yoghurt, drinking and stirred yoghurt, curd, cheese and a substantial increase in ice cream production facilities with the latest technology,” he said.
“The investment also led to the establishment of processing and storage capabilities that would allow Cargills to overcome the seasonal fluctuations of milk production, and thereby source the full supply of milk from farmers during gluts and maintain prices during scarcity,” Wahid said.
Kotmale integrated dairy facility is a salute to Sri Lankan farmers, Cargills (Ceylon) PLC Deputy Chairman Ranjit Page said. “As company with a vision to be the most trusted Sri Lankan dairy brand, Cargills efforts are focused on being among the largest contributors to the national dairy industry. With the opening of this plant, Cargills salutes the efforts of Sri Lanka’s smallholder dairy farmers and in turn makes the commitment to help our country achieve self-sufficiency in meeting the nutritional requirements of all Sri Lankans,” he said.
“The development of the dairy industry has the potential to impact regional livelihoods, enhance the nutritional intake of our children while also saving valuable foreign exchange for Sri Lanka,” Page said.
“Sri Lanka continues to depend on imported milk powder to meet the dairy nutritional needs of our children. Steps taken by the government to encourage dairy farming must be complemented with processing and sourcing capacities and it is our role as the private sector to invest towards long term growth,” he said.
Over the past 12 months, Cargills has collected 42 million litres of fresh milk from small farmers, generating a direct income of Rs. 2.8 billion for rural Sri Lanka and saving USD 20 million in foreign exchange to the country in the last financial year.
Cargills entered the dairy industry in 2002 with the acquisition of an ice cream facility owned by a multi-national company. This plant that was shut-down at the time of acquisition was transformed to utilize fresh milk, a move that was in tandem with Cargills’ philosophy to create value for rural Sri Lanka through business. This facilitated the empowerment of thousands of dairy farmers through commercial scale farming.