Nestle Sri Lanka is in the process of expanding its presence in the country and to this end will create awareness regarding our top brands to ensure the customers make an informed decision regarding their food intake, Managing Director Nestle Sri Lanka Fabrice Cavallin said at the launch of the transparency campaign by the company last week at its factory premises in Pannala, Kurunegala.
“We are a multi-national company and always look forward to connect customers with our products. Our aim is to raise the quality of life and we are working towards achieving this goal. We have a substantial number of employees as well as 250 brands and the company has been in operation for over 110 years,” he said.
The company is one of the largest private sector milk collectors in the country and they help the milk farmers to uplift their living standards by providing continuous support to maintain livelihood. The company is also the largest exporter of coconut milk powder. With the state-of-art factor at Pannala, the company was able to produce quality and high standard products to the local market, he said.
We conduct training and education programs to our farmer network to enable them to have sustainable income and better output. The coconut plan have enable hybrid and better resilient products to face climate change. The efficient systems have enable to save energy by 42 percent, water by 39 percent and reducing green house by 39 percent which help to preserve the environment.
The company products are better geared and inspired people to have healthier lives which also have food transparency, promoting healthy diet and lifestyles which are a big issue at present. Lack of physical activities and knowledge regarding healthy life styles is a drawback to maintain improved health status, he said.
Sri Lanka is an important market and we want to make strong presence in this country, he said.
“The multi product factory started from producing milk 35 years ago has gain the confidence of the milk farmers . Ninety percent of the Nestle products produced at the product lines are sold in Sri Lanka. The company has achieved zero waste for disposal. There are more than 220 ingredient quality checks carried out daily and more than 300 quality checks from ingredients and production to packaging are carried out,” Factor Manager Nestle Thomas Muller said.
There are three lines of defense to prevent foreign bodies entering the products. We have state-of-the art equipment to ensure quality and safety. The company is ISO certified ensuring compliance with international standards and also SLS certified to ensure compliance with local standards. The premier brand Maggi was introduced to the local market since 1993 and is fast gaining popularity. With this product, we also provide a market place for the local spice producers which have become a part in the supply chain, he said.