Destiny made her shine in catering business

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

We all have the tendency to help out others whenever there is a need and never realize the outcome until it opened up new avenues for the betterment of life.

Udumbara Jayasiri who undertook the catering order for her uncle at his home-coming did not consider making a big name in the industry which was not so popular at that time. Her culinary skills were greatly admired by the attendees of the function and few orders at the beginning became a continued flow where she ventured in to the catering industry in an organized manner by setting up U.G. Caterers nearly 4 decades ago.

Hailing from a respectable family and living up to its reputation, her venture stood the test of time with the magic of her personal touch.

Udumbara is the main partner of the enterprise which is a family concern at present and has carved a name as a reputed catering service thus becoming a trend setter in her pioneering effort. Her success is the quality and timely delivery where multi tasking talents have been put in to good use.

She correctly identifies the needs of the customers and maintains consistency in standards exceeding customer expectation all the time. Catering to any occasion, the U.J. Caterers have created a hall mark in the country's catering industry where Udumbara takes painstaking measures to ensure excellent end results. She was interviewed by Daily News Business.

Excerpts of the interview.

Q: How do you describe your line of business?

A: I started the catering service nearly four decades ago. I never had the idea of starting a catering business at the time I helped out my uncle. However, things changed and my culinary skills and food quality played a key role in attracting more orders and this proved to be a rewarding venture. J.U. Caterers is a partnership with one of my sons.

The Head office is in Batagolla, Yakkala and the Colombo office is at Ward Place, Colombo 7.

I operate from Yakkala and also visit Colombo office regularly where I am personally involved in meeting customer orders. As a pioneer in the catering industry where delicious food for all functions and quick takeaways from the Kitchenette is provided, the venture has reached many mile stones in its long journey.

We ensure personalized service and many of the customers are with us for the past 20 to 30 years. This, itself is a testimony and our dedicated staff of nearly 200 work as a team to give the best to our loyal customers.

Q: How do you manage time to handle your personal life?

A: The catering service was started just after my marriage and my late husband H.A. Jayasiri supported the venture whole-heartedly.

We were blessed with two sons Ranjith and Gayan Hadinnapola where Gayan is a partner at present. Catering is a pleasurable task and the feedback and positive response always encouraging to walk that extra mile.

We value the confidence placed on us and strive to go beyond delighting customers.

As I maintain routine business schedule and organize the day in such a manner it is easy to fulfill family and business obligations without compromising on either to support the other.

Q: What motivated you to venture in to business?

A: Though I was not very keen in cookery I had the opportunity to follow classes to learn the skills of cookery, sewing and many others. As there were not many institutions to provide training on these delicate subjects unlike in current context, I joined Clare Monte which was one of the few reputed hotel schools.

My teacher Caspers was instrumental in moulding me and I mastered the skills with growing interest.

This led a strong foundation for a long standing venture which has become a part of my life today.

Q: What are your goals?

A: The success of the catering service was inevitable. However, I am not too ambitious and did not have targets as such.

We did the best for the customers and our goal is to achieve success through making customers happy.

We are concentrating on maintaining service excellence which powered our long journey for an upward movement.

Q: How do you face the challenges of competition?

A: Competition is not a challenge for us. We maintain high standards and have improved on it with the passing time. We are well established and this gives the edge over others where past experience has a great influence over the decision process. This worked well for us as the stream of orders had never dried.

Q: What is your specialty?

A: The strong foundation for the business was not heavy investment, but customized service. The corner stone of the business success is a combination of quality, quantity and reliability.

We use our own curry powder to bring out the best in the end product. We are conscious of our role as we cater to the most important aspect in a function. Our dependability is very high.

We are going smoothly and do not have undue desire to maximize returns as we are not financially burdened.

As I believe in giving back to society, I also play a key role in social work and this is a silent part in my life.

Q: What are your achievements in business?

A: Living up to the reputation over a long period of time is not an east task, a fact that we are proud of.

There were many VVIPs and VIPs who patronized our catering service and this trend will continue in the future too.

Among many accomplishments is the Bronze Award at the Entrepreneur of the Year competition, provincial merit certificate received in 2008 at the National Productivity Awards, recommendations from patronage including heads of state and loyal customer base.

The business could be considered at top among the similar ventures and when looking back it gives a pleasant surprise to note the stability and strength that underlying it. The continuity is ensured as it has a succession plan in place.

Q: What is your message to society?

A: One can achieve more by living a simple life, caring deeply, loving generously and speaking kindly. When you are successful in making another happy this automatically lead you to achieve your target easily.

Give out the best in you in what ever you do. Be honest and reliable while keeping customer centric approach in doing business. Try to broaden your outlook as the society you are living in will benefit immensely.

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