Sri Lanka’s 100% local dairy manufacturer, Pelwatte Dairy Industries Limited (PDIL) recently expanded its operations by commissioning a new milk powder plant within its factory complex in Buttala. Plant #03 commenced operations in May 2018 and has since increased PDIL’s daily raw milk inflow capacity to 300,000 litres.
Speaking at the opening of the new plant Managing Director of PDIL Akmal Wickramanayake said, “Pelwatte Dairy was built on a vision of making Sri Lanka self-sufficient in milk as it was in the days gone by. We have made some great strides in reaching this goal over the years and this new plant adds a further dimension to it. Our aim is to not only benefit the consumer but also uplift the lives of the dairy farming community in Sri Lanka.” PDIL is a 100 % local company and produces all its range of dairy products using only fresh milk collected from local farmers daily. With stringent quality control measures and no added preservatives, colours or flavouring in any of its range, PDIL has assured consumers of the goodness of its products for many years.
“Annually Sri Lanka imports over 90,000 tons of milk powder spending millions of rupees. We want to contribute to reducing numbers by at least 50% in the next few years and we strongly believe that we have the potential to do so”, Wickramanayake added.
The opening of the new plant also raises the number of farmer families benefited by PDIL’s attempts to 5,000. It has created other job openings within the plant itself. thereby uplifting the livelihoods of the Buttala area.
Further strengthening operations PDIL also made significant structural changes to its internal management at the beginning of this year. First quarter performances also reflected a sales increase of 20% in comparison to the previous year.