Nestle increases milk collection in Sri Lanka
Continues to uphold commitment to develop local dairy industry Nestle
Lanka, Sri Lanka's largest private sector collector of fresh milk,
announced that it has increased its local fresh milk collection by over
45% (YoY) during the period January to April 2012.
With the local dairy industry registering a big increase in milk
production across the country, Nestle has grown its fresh milk
collection accordingly during the first four months of 2012 to meet this
considerable increase in supply.
"Our milk processing facility in Kurunegala is now running at its
fullest capacity due to our increased intake of milk and we are
continuing to purchase as much milk as we can to support our local dairy
farmers. We will continue to operate at maximum capacity for fresh milk
processing? said Alois Hofbauer, Managing Director of Nestle Lanka PLC.
Nestle operates on the concept of 'Creating Shared Value' (CSV),
where it is strongly committed to mutually benefit the people of the
communities it operates in. Identifying rural development as one of the
core pillars of 'Creating Shared Value' for Nestle and society, the
company has played a leading role in the development of the dairy sector
in Sri Lanka.
The company has been engaged in supporting the Sri Lankan dairy
sector since the early 1980?s and has worked closely with the government
and farmers over the years to promote good dairy farming practices such
as cattle feeding and breeding, animal health and farm management.
Nestle further assists farmers by providing vital equipment, medicine
and subsidies.
The company has also established crucial infrastructures and networks
such as milk chilling centres and milk collection points across the
island to facilitate the procurement of local fresh milk.
In addition, Nestle Lanka has made intense and determined efforts to
procure as much fresh milk as possible from the North and the East to
help develop these areas in line with the Nagenahira Navodaya and the
Uthuru Wasanthaya programmes. Notable mentions are the chilling centres
opened by Nestle in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mallavi and Oddusudan, which
were the first ever to be established in those areas in 30 years.
Honoured for their immense contribution in developing the local dairy
industry, the company was awarded a Swarna Lanka Award by Chamal
Rajapaksa, Speaker of Parliament, on behalf of the Independent Mass
Communicators Organization in late 2010.
"The successful and sustainable development of the local dairy
industry remains a key focus for us. We contributed over Rs 2 billion to
the rural economy last year by way of milk purchases alone, and hope to
continue to give back to the rural economy in the same way in 2012 as
well." said Hofbauer. |