First Wholesale Vegetable & Fruit Price Display at Cargills Fresh Produce Collection Centre in Thanamalwila Empowers Small Scale Farmers

31st March 2013, www.nation.lk

Cargills food Sri Lanka’s leading supermarket chain has launched its first vegetable and fruit wholesale price display terminal at its fresh produce collection centre in Thanamalwila. The terminal was ceremonially declared open by the minister of Coconut Development, Jagath Pushpakumara last week.

The launch of the wholesale price terminal further reiterates the commitment of Cargills towards the empowerment of small scale farmers. “Cargills continues to offer the prices above the wholesale market to farmers along with technical inputs training and marketing information while facilitating credit. Through our retail chain and our group’s manufacturing facilities we have created a revolutionary shift in taking the market to the farmers. Today with this launch of the price terminal we have taken a step further by providing market intelligence for the farmers” said the Chief operating officer-retail, Cargills (Ceylon) PLC, Sidath Kodikara. He added the price terminals would be launched at all collection centers under the group including Jaffna, Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela.

Cargills had during the year concluded collected over 3,800 metric tons of fruits and vegetables from the Gangeyaya community in Thanamalwila to the value of Rs 238m. The ceremonial launch of the Cargills wholesale price terminal was held alongside the distribution of Rs 1.9m worth of benefits to the farmer community as part of Cargills farmer community development fund established in Gangeyaya, Thanamalwila.

Over 40 scholarships were awarded to students who have passed Grade 5 scholarship exams and those pursuing Advanced Level and External Degrees, and five laptops were awarded to students from the area pursuing University education. 54 students who are from families facing economic challenges were also granted learning material while a further 15 farmers who have made the highest contribution towards fresh produce collection from area were given farming equipment. In addition a resting shelter and 100 chairs were donated to the farmer society while plastic crates for post-harvest transportation were distributed among 30 farmers along with the launch of the wholesale price display terminal.

Cargills Food City also provided HNB Assuarance farmer insurance schemes for 137 farmers free of charge. The scheme covers farmers’ death, disability and permanent disability as well as healthcare benefits. This disbursement of benefits comes as part of the annual community development initiative planned by Cargills together with the farmer community and World Vision Lanka.

Explaining the project, Deputy General Manager of Agri Business for Cargills, Haridas Fernando said, “Every time Cargills buy a kilogram of vegetables from the farming community in Gangeyaya, 50 cent goes back to the community development fund. Annually the funds are utilized for scholarships and projects that would develop the quality of life of the farmer community”.

General Manager, Retail operations of Cargills, Keerthi Gunasekara added “We have developed a similar fund at our collection centers in Jaffna and Moneragala with plans to expand the concept to all farmer communities we work with. The funds provide scholarships for needy children from the community, resources for learning and advancement and even meet basic community infrastructure needs such as utility connections, community centers and libraries etc. Our focus is to engage the communities that work with us to charter their own course of development”.

Speaking to The Nation a farmer from Gangeyaya, D.G. Nandasena stated, “We are gaining lot of advantages and it’s very convenient to sell vegetables to Cargills. Even today I brought 500kgs of vegetables to the center. The only problem we face is that the transportation as the bridge we use is n a dilapidated state. We have come through a different route after gaining permission from the Wild Life Department as the road passes through thick jungle and also dangerous. It will be a great help if the authorities take steps to reconstruct the bridge as early as possible which will also save lot of time in transporting our produce.

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Cargills to Launch 100 New Outlets in Sri Lanka

11th December 2009, www.dailymirror.lk, By Nizla Naizer

Sri Lanka's premier retail super market chain Cargills Food City announced the launch of 100 new outlets all over the country, with the opening up of its 140th outlet at Rajagiriya yesterday.

The new Cargills Foods City at Rajagiriya offers over 10,000 square feet of an ultra modern shopping experience for customers open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Shoppers can expect the superior customer care that has come to be the hallmark of Cargills. The new outlet features a range of 10,000 products, a bakery, fresh vegetables and fish as well as a wide variety of high quality processed meat and much more.

Cargills CEO Ranjit Page said: "The launch of our 140th outlet is all the more special because this outlet marks simultaneously the first of 100 more Cargills Food City outlets that will be set up in neighbourhoods across 25 districts in the coming years."

"This bold decision was taken as a result of our understanding of consumers and their need for greater convenience and affordability. Being the first retail network to initiate our own out-grower network, we are proud of our ability to give the highest possible price to farmers while providing nutritious high quality goods to the consumer at the most affordable prices," he said.

"I am confident that the 100 new Cargills Food City outlets will create an agricultural revolution that will be the engine of growth for the nation. I am deeply grateful to Cargills Food City customers for their loyalty and look forward to their unstinted support over the next few years as Cargills Food City drives the transformation of the retail landscape in the country," Page added.

He also said that the decision to add 100 more outlets had positive repercussions for the nation in its entirety, since 70% of the workforce employed in Cargills Food City outlets hails from rural Sri Lanka, receiving advanced professional training at the non-profit Albert A. Page Institute of Food Business.