15. Cargills Ceylon

Despite the challenging landscape this past year, the Group remained resilient and continued with the planned investments across all 25 districts in expanding its footprint, securing the supply chain and increasing its manufacturing capacity.

Group Performance

The resilience of the Group was showcased when despite the economic downturn, it reported a 5.2% growth in Revenue, to close at Rs.112,607 million. The steady YoY growth was primarily driven by the commendable performance of the Group’s Food and Beverage Manufacturing & Distribution and Food Retailing sectors.

Operating profit recorded a moderate increase of 3.5% to Rs.7,308 million and Profit After Tax was recorded at Rs.3,484 million up 26.2%.

Furthermore, as the Group maintained its capital commitments, CAPEX was Rs.6,404 million over the corresponding period against Rs.5,519 million of the previous year.

Keeping the economy and the population healthy

The Group boldly continued with the planned investments across all districts of the country to expand its footprint, secure the supply chain and increase its manufacturing capacity, add value to customers, and create markets for grassroots partners and employment opportunities for rural youth.

As the country’s largest locally sourcing food manufacturing company, the Group maintained its capital commitments towards its production facilities to offer customers affordable and accessible nutrition more effectively. Further, by adopting a more export-oriented approach to developing innovative food products, the Group envisages new prospects of taking its brands to international markets.

With consistent investments towards introducing new products, the Group also plays its part in easing the pressures on the country’s foreign exchange reserves through import substitution.

Supporting livelihoods of Sri Lankan farmers and uplifting SMEs

Farmers had limited access to the market as a result of the disruptive impacts of the pandemic, leaving them to navigate through price uncertainties and supply chain disruptions. With their livelihoods heavily impacted, they urgently looked for solutions to overcome these challenges.

In response, the Group ramped up efforts to continue sourcing from farmers within its network and beyond while purchasing any excess produce to minimize post-harvest losses at the time. Securing the supply chains enabled the Group to provide relief to the farmers and suppliers while meeting customers’ needs in times of distress.

The Group also continued to uphold its responsibility towards the country’s farmers. Given the Group’s procurement operations, sourced over 39,000 metric tons of produce, 57,000 metric tons of fresh milk, and 6,500 metric tons of livestock and seafood.

By directly sourcing from the farmers, Cargills disbursed cash amounting to Rs.12.3 billion to the farming community, exceeding that of the preceding year. Moreover, in national contribution, the Group’s sourcing operations account for 12% of the domestic milk supply and 2% of the country’s vegetables and fruits production. The Group facilitated market exposure by engaging a wider audience through the Group’s “Village to Home” initiative, answering the need of the hour of Sri Lankan SMEs and small businesses. In this program, various SME suppliers are invited to leverage the extensive Food City network as a platform to showcase their vast array of products. Going the extra mile, the Group also supports the invited partners in all aspects of their supply chain by offering insights on the packaging, quality assurance, and marketing with the option of obtaining financial assistance channeled through Cargills Bank.

Board of Directors

Louis Page

Chairman, Non-Executive Director

Ranjit Page

Deputy Chairman/Managing
Director, Executive Director

Imtiaz Abdul Wahid

Managing Director/Deputy CEO,

Executive Director

Priya Edirisinghe