ADVERTORIAL

Kotmale, COOPFED launch ‘Kotmale Milk Bars’

Kotmale Holdings PLC, a subsidiary of Cargills (Ceylon) PLC launched its first ‘Kotmale Milk Bar’ a COOPFED located at Saunders Place, Colombo 11 in close proximity to the Gunasinghapura Central Bus Stand. This comes as a result of a partnership established between Cargills and the Sri Lanka Consumer Cooperative Societies Federation Ltd (COOPFED). The opening was closely followed by a second Kotmale Milk Bar being launched at Coop-City, Deans Road in Colombo 10. This is the first among a chain of Kotmale Milk Bars which are to be launched in association with COOPFED and Coop-City outlets islandwide.

The Kotmale Milk Bars would sell its entire range of pasteurized milk, UHT milk, cheese’ yoghurts and ice creams, and Magic Ice Creams, along with a selection of snacks filled with Cargills Finest and Cargills Supremo sausages, meat balls and processed meats. The Kist range of nectars and drinks as well as the newly launched Kist biscuits would also be available at the new store concept. The outlets would have COOPFED curd. Commenting on the new venture, Kotmale Chief Executive Officer Jude Fernando noted that this was another move in the right direction to take Kotmale and other Cargills brands closer to the consumer through COOPFED. “The Milk Bar was a store concept that was very popular in the past, especially in locations where there is heavy commuter traffic. It was considered a place where you could refresh yourself with an affordable packet of milk in a clean and hygienic environment. Kotmale is a brand that has mass appeal and we have been looking at various avenues of taking this brand closer to the consumer to offer nutritious products which are value for money. The partnership with COOPFED is a result of this. We find that Kotmale and COOPFED have many synergies which we can capitalize on to serve our consumers better and more effectively”. He added that COOPFED and Kotmale have a similar objective in bringing affordable and quality nutrition to the average Sri Lankan.

Hameedia strikes Silver:

‘Local Brand of the Year’ at SLIM Awards 2011

Hameedia, struck Silver for ‘Local Brand of the Year’ at the glittering SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2011 thus becoming the only clothing brand in Sri Lanka to win at this event.

This is the second consecutive Silver won by Hameedia at this event. Last year it won Silver for ‘Service Brand of the Year 2010’.

“This is parallely an endorsement of our constant commitment in delivering superior customer value through original, total men’s wear solutions to the Sri Lankan consumer. As a home grown 100% Sri Lanka brand, we’re delighted to be the only clothing retail brand to have won the prestigious SLIM Brand Excellence Awards two years in a row. We would have not achieved this milestone if not for our loyal customers, whose ever-changing needs have pushed us to strive for excellence”, Hameedia Managing Director Fouzul Hameed said.

Paying tribute to the company’s retail network, well experienced and motivated staff, who also contributed to this accolade, National Sales and Marketing Manager Samudu de Silva said, “This award also celebrates the excellence of the retail staff which is the human face of the brand. It is they who form the link between the brand and the public of Sri Lanka. I salute the superlative efforts taken by the retail manager and his team to ensure the service deliver is at its best at all times”.

HNB donates books and computers to 175 schools

Hatton National Bank, donated books and computers worth over Rs 4 million to 175 underprivileged schools in the country at a special ceremony organized at the Bank’s head office, on Friday.

The Bank has invested considerable sums to develop facilities in schools in every nook and corner of the country. Observing that most of the rural schools lacked even the basic facilities, HNB launched its ‘Nena Pubuduwa’ scheme in 2005 with the objective of setting up libraries in underprivileged schools by taking a long term view to aid high literacy.

The HNB Nena Pubuduwa programme has given the opportunity for children to be stimulated and to derive the simple pleasure of exploring the world through books, enhancing not only their knowledge but with a special emphasis on stimulating a love of reading and learning in children. It works to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, improve and expand knowledge of English and ICT thus creating opportunities for higher education and employment. The project has progressively enhanced the literacy skills of over 45,000 children across Sri Lanka.

HNB has expanded this programme to include the establishment of computer centres in schools.

HNB believes in the sustainability of its projects and thus continues to support and facilitate the teaching and learning activities of the school, by adding to the collection of books each year.

To date 175 libraries and 12 computer centres have been set up and maintained by the Bank with another 12 libraries and 5 computer centres to be completed by the end of the year.

Asia Leadership Awards for Suntel

Suntel emerged the winner of ‘Asia’s Dream Employer Award - Best Large Organisation to Work For’ at Asia Leadership Awards 2011 held in Dubai last week. Judged on quality of working relationships, trust and respect for staff, recognition of self-worth and career development, the award honoured Suntel’s corporate culture as the best in Asia. The extent to which employees see and understand the overall purpose of the organisation and individual behaviours expected in the workplace were focused on in evaluating entries.

Accepting the award at the Taj Palace Hotel Dubai, Suntel Limited Director of Human Resources Sanjiv Wijayasinghe said, “We are very pleased to be honoured and recognized for creating and maintaining a unique corporate culture that values people and their devotional contribution.

Keells Super CSR program

Keells Super is partnering the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind to help hearing and sight impaired children integrate into society as independent citizens capable of playing an active role in their communities.

The supermarket chain will act as the facilitator to enable shoppers to contribute towards costs that are placing a heavy burden on the School and threaten its existence.

Now shoppers at Keells Supers islandwide can contribute to the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind while doing their daily or weekly shopping.

The process is speedy and hassle-free and has no bothersome administrative work. All contributions to the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind are tax deductible.

The Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind is the umbrella organization comprising three residential schools. The two Schools - the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind are in Ratmalana, and the third, the Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind, is at Kaithady in Jaffna. The Blind School, houses 205 children, the School for the Deaf has 223, and Nuffield, 230.

The school provides the children in its care with food and lodging, healthcare and recreational facilities in addition to educating them, from nursery grades up to GCE O/Level, and also trains them in several vocations.

The school does receive a Government grant, but this money cannot meet the huge costs of upkeep of the buildings and infrastructure, staff and carers’ salaries, and the expenses of the special training needed for these differently abled children - it is essential that the School keeps abreast of the vast strides made in educating the hearing and sight impaired. “Providing the students with marketable skills that create employment opportunities once they leave the shelter of the school needs considerable investment in new technology,” Schools’ Executive Director Commodore Laki Mendis said.

Annual operational expenses for the three schools are at a staggering Rs 76 million, of which the State covers about Rs 27 million. State monies pay the salaries only of State approved- cadre teachers and give each child Rs 50 per hostel day - which is during school term only - in the Ratmalana schools, and Rs 20 per child per hostel day at the Nuffield School.

The entire balance monies amounting to about Rs 50 million must be met through private donations yearly.

Shoppers can donate Rs 5 or more or multiples of Rs 5 at the checkout counter each time you shop.

Contribution can be used in the meals Programme for the schools, for donations ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 7,000 per school, depending on the meal.

One can also ‘Sponsor a Child’ for Rs 2,000 per month or Rs 24,000 a year or help buy special equipment to educate a sight or hearing impaired child and maintain and upgrade the infrastructure and meet the administrative expenses of the day-to-day running of the schools. For more details, please contact the Executive Director on 2625204 / 0714 406779.