21 January, 2018
Amagi Aria hotel in Negombo entered into a business partnership with Ceccato Colombo (Illy Coffee) and P. M. David Silva & Sons to introduce a range of value additions to their food and beverage sector.
Ceccato Colombo Pvt Ltd is a BOI company which was established in 2001 with a 100% Italian investment.
“The vision for Ceccato is to become a one-stop-shop creating an authentic Italian experience for our clients and to become a leading brand in Sri Lanka. We are happy that collaboration between Ceccato, the agent for Illy Coffee and Amagi Aria, a well known tourism brand could be made. Ceccato decided to collaborate with Amagi Aria because we recognise its key location, beautiful structure, professional management and we also believe that they are capable of mirroring our values and our image. We are pleased to commence what we hope will be a long and fruitful collaboration for both our companies,” Salvy de Bellis General Manager, Ceccato Colombo told the media representatives who visited the hotel last week.
P.M. David Silva & Sons is a well-known company that was established in 1945, during the Plantation Raj in Ceylon’s world famous Dimbula Valley. Today, the company is run by the third generation of Silvas, and remains a family company. “Our teas are found globally in the hotel sector, and also sold at up market malls - such as Harrods of London and The Queen of England’s Royal Farm Shop in Windsor,” Dananjaya Silva, Managing Director of P.M.David Silva & Sons said.
He added, “Sri Lanka has become a ‘must visit’ destination for the global traveller. Partnering with a brand like Amagi that is quality focused and always looking to enhance the customer experience, goes with our company values and vision. We are partnering with Amagi hotels because there is a shared synergy between our two brands. We aim to both provide quality products whilst promoting our island nation. Any traveller to Sri Lanka or a local, visiting Amagi Aria can now enjoy our teas with traditions attached to it, and relaise the difference by themselves.”
Amagi Aria is set to introduce an exquisite tea and coffee based cocktail menu as well as other promotional offers such as high tea on the lagoon deck and tea tasting sessions on a catamaran where guests will be able to sample and taste the different varieties of teas whilst a tea sommelier encapsulates on a tea education angle. Special tea and coffee induced drink and food items will be included in the hotel’s al a carte menu and wedding menus for a further emphasis on the values of these two commodities, specifically in the line of promoting tea as a prominent essence of Sri Lanka.
The F&B team at Amagi Aria will be taken through an extensive training program for both tea and coffee, which will include a hands-on approach to the process of tea and coffee preparation from its root stages. P.M. David Silva & Sons will involve the hotel’s F&B team in a separate program which will enhance the knowledge of the history and making of tea at a 10-day retreat in various estates, in order to further enhance the knowledge of the team so that they can be direct educators when serving guests – a symbolic approach to empower Sri Lanka as a tea tourism destination.
“Both tea and coffee complement each other in a very unique way,” said Renuke Coswatte, General Manager Marketing and Operations at Amagi Hotels. “Being a destination that enjoys both these products, our aim is to bring to the table a direct and diversified way for our foreign as well as local guests to savour and enjoy both tea and coffee here in Negombo. We are very pleased to be partnering with both Cecatto and P.M.David Silva & Sons for their quality products and dedication in taking these products to the furthest level in the tourism segment, especially here in Negombo, where as a destination itself, we have so much to offer all our visitors. We invite everyone to come and enjoy a great cup of tea or coffee made to perfection, here at Amagi Aria.”
The media representatives also got the opportunity to taste the six-course tea and coffee induced lunch at the Moya fine dining seafood restaurant of Amagi.
The menu was introduced by hotel’s new Executive Chef Brandi Kumara. The menu included some interesting dishes such as lobster cappuccino soup, Ceylonese Tea smoked scallops, king prawns served with shallot and coffee pomelo comfit and cold coffee soufflé.
Founded in 2012, Amagi Hotels has two distinctive properties in Sri Lanka; Amagi Aria is a four-star located along the serene locale of the Negombo Lagoon; and Amagi Beach is a three-star hotel set amidst the pristine western coast of Marawila.
Amagi Hotels debuted on a new venture with the rebranding of its Negombo property in 2018 with the ‘Aria’ brand that significantly caters along the positioning of a value based hotel in the four-star market in Negombo.
– Husna Inayathulla