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by William de Alwis

Fifteen years ago Channa Gunasinghe, Lankem's current MD, gave his wife Rs. 5,000 to go ahead with her hobby - experimenting with ready to use curry mixes. She had just returned after a spell in the UK and sharp memories of India's world famous PATAK palate tingling curry mixes still lingered.

"Sri Lankan cooking is by no means the same as Indian, and I was deeply interested in seeking out the perfect formulas for our tastes. As far as I was concerned at that time, it was just a lark", Surangani Munasinghe who taught at Visakha at the time recalls. As always, she tested whatever she made on the palates of her friends, and soon they were asking for more.

Now, this was way back in the eighties when the climate for new industries was extremely favourable. The Gunasinghes gave this some thought and decided "Why Not?" No one in Sri Lanka had stepped into this field as yet and changing lifestyles with rapid urbanisation, market prospects were becoming more favourable and attracting by the year.

Our cuisine particularly curry, requires special skills and we decided there was a niche market for instant curry mixes. The population was turning towards a working population where married couples had to work mainly in the city and urban areas "Surangani said. And while fast food could be the obvious answer it would by no means be as nutritious and satisfying as home cooking. The old methods of the grinding stone and 'Vangediya' were out.

"Since my husband is hot on chemistry, and I am a keen Botanist ours was a workable partnership, and we worked towards a range of Sri Lankan instant curry mixes which would naturally be a boon to the tired housewife".

They named the company they formed Scan Products Exports Pvt. Ltd. because they had an eye on capturing a few highly profitable markets abroad for Sri Lankan expatriates as well.

"Exports to world markets call for quality certification and we decided we should have nothing but the most widely recognised approval of the US Food and Drugs Authority - FDA. Obtaining this approval proved a long and arduous process because some of the laboratory tests which had to be carried out were unheard of in Sri Lanka. Channa's background in chemistry helped us out."

Scan Products now has markets in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand, where the population of Sri Lankans abroad longing for a taste of cooking from the old country is an instant buyer. The approval of USA's FDA gives our importers no difficulty clearing our cargo.

At home in Sri Lanka the competition from other brands that have mushroomed in the course of the last decade, is strong, but Suranganis brand holds its own. "Brand loyalty is as strong as we could hope for she said, but she and her husband are not too complacent about this.

"We know our limitations. Marketing happens to be one of them, and because we intend a countrywide launch within the next few weeks, we are placing our product in the hands of professional marketing C and H Impex," Channa Munasinghe said.

Asked how many products Curry Mate had on retailer's shelves, Surangani rattles off around thirty names too fast to record. But it is true that although almost every need of the modern kitchen is available on the shelves in compact easy to use packaging, the company's R & D laboratories are busy researching even more products to make life easier for the housewife returning home after a hard day in the office or factory.

The latest are three varieties of instant string hoppers - red, white and kurakkan which need a simple re-hydration process to place on the table. "Anything else coming up?", he asked.

"Yes" - her answer is. "It's a hopper mix we will be putting out next year's - January. It's guaranteed and will take you only 30 minutes - as against the two hours you now have to wait - Just follow the instructions on the pack - you won't go wrong", she said.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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