‘GoviSuwaya’ – ‘Samaposha’ extends Local Farmer CSR to Health Care
Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd., a fully own subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd., is the manufacturer of ‘Samaposha’ cereal brand for children & adults that is loved by millions of Sri Lankans. This highly nutritious product provide children with necessary nutrients to enhance their growth and health through the goodness of corn, rice, soya and green gram, and is 100% locally manufactured using natural ingredients. Plenty Foods (Pvt.) Ltd is integrated to 8,000 farmers who grow these crops to manufacture ‘Samaposha’
Since the inception the company has been extending its ‘long arm of charity’ to sustain the farmers who are connected to the company. Under the CBL GoviPawula (Farmer Club) concept, the company is constantly giving back to the farmers in the areas of GoviDanuma, GoviSarana, Govi Arana, and GoviSathuta unique four CSR sub-projects ranging from farmer education, sustenance in hardships, infrastructure development and the wellbeing of the farmer families.
The companyrecently launched its latest corporate social responsibility initiative ‘GoviSuwaya’ (Ensuring the health of farmer communities with the opening of a water purifying unit in Getalawa, GalenbindunuwewaThe water purification unit provided by ‘Samaposha’ is able to provide purified water for effected farmerfamilies.
The company has duly identified the critical need for a water purifying unit in the area as many farmers are increasingly being affected by kidney disease. The final outcome of this problem has ripple effects which are far more serious than even the affected farmers realise. When the farmers become affected by illness, production declines sharply and eventually sourcing quality raw materials becomes a challenge. As a result the prices of the end product inevitably go up.
The CEO of PFL, Mr. ShammiKarunaratneexplaining their focus on farmer development said, “We believe protecting our farmer community is as equally important as protecting our customers. We provide all these facilities and hygiene solutions to the farmers expecting no return. Our main objective is to treat them as part of the PFL family and to be there for then when they are in need. This is only the start of GoviSuwayaprogramme. We expect to conduct a series of medical camps, health screenings as well as medical consultation for our farmers in due course.”
Mr.Jayasundra a PFL farmer fromGalenbidunuweva said, “Many farmers in our community have been affected by kidney disease during the past months. Samaposha is the only company that provided us with what we needed the most, a water purifying unit.”
PFL is the only company that provides an above market rate, guaranteed price for the farmer’s crop. The company’s objective is to build a long term relationship with the farmers, thereby creating sustainable business practices.
‘GoviSuwaya’ is latest pillar of the holistic CSR programme of PFL, ‘GoviPawula’. ‘GoviPawula’ is a unique initiative to develop farmer communities which at presenthave over 8000 registered farmers. Under this programme, the company conducts a series of workshops for the farmer community to share knowledge relating to farming activities (GoviDanuma knowledge sharing sessions); constructs and repairs religious shrines (Govi Arana spiritual development projects), provides disaster response services (GoviSarana) and also conducts social entertainment events (GoviSathuta).
Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd has always taken stringent measures to maintain the quality of the ‘Samaposha’ product. With all these initiatives of protecting the farmer community and enhancing the lifestyles of the farmers, PFL believes that the consumer will reap the benefits of their efforts at the end of the day. As a company that is built on the pillars of human relationships, it manages every touch point of the total supply chain network with the ultimate objective of providing a high quality nutritional product to all Sri Lankans.
