CBL Munchee wins four Best Corporate Citizen awards

Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL) once again captured the spotlight at the 'Best Corporate Citizen of the year' awards held annually by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce which now is a must attend' among the Country's corporate glitterati.

The gala annual event which seeks to honour the contribution to public good, through commitment to critical social causes by Sri Lanka's distinguished and top-notch corporates, saw CBL clinching the second runner up position among the top ten corporates. The Company has been awarded as one of the best ten corporates continuously for five years.

CBL's Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana, the community development initiative won first place for best infrastructure development in the special projects category. Munchee samaga gamata sarana' programme empowers villagers island wide through identifying and fulfilling long-standing infrastructure development needs of relevant communities.

This is the second consecutive occasion that the contribution of this project towards the community enlistment was recognized at the Best Corporate Citizen Awards.

Munchee Samaga Gamta Sarana has reached thousands of people in all parts of the country by presenting them with 50 projects.

Nandana Wickramage, Group Director and Head of Marketing & Sales described CBL's recent winning streak as having positioned the company as a gold standard for Sri Lanka with the company standing out as a brand that delivers to all segments of the Sri Lankan population.

The 'Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana' or village re-awakening project which involves infrastructure development in the most rural areas facilitates the community to participate in the mainstream of activities which we take for granted.

"The villagers of Walagama in the Kegalle district were using a tree trunk across a river which tended to be slippery on rainy days and school children would often drop their books into the water while trying to maintain balance when crossing. The Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana project constructed a bridge for easy access. These are simple infrastructure needs that we identify and develop so that the community and the village as a whole benefits and develops by it", explained Nandana Wickramage.

The Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana has already completed most of its projects, some of which focused on building libraries, bridges, developing schools, provision of regular water supply systems, etc to several villages.

Thus, reaching all parts of Sri Lanka including the North and the East and becoming yet another long-standing social cause that the company is involved in. Other such projects include 'Munchee Tikiri Shishyadara' (grade 5 scholarship education program), the farmer backward integration programme and support to national athletes.

CBL's employee relations was also lauded and won them a first in the 'best employee relations' category. The award was in recognition of Munchee's excellence as a preferred employer and its continuous commitment towards producing future leaders through human resource development and innovation."

This is indeed a recognition for company's Great Place to Work concept. To achieve this concept, CBL has implemented many activities aiming at high employee satisfaction. Munchee has been twice awarded CMO Asia's Best Employee Brand,Ó said CBL's Group Managing Director Sheamalee Wickramasingha ."

Our corporate social responsibility vision is to make a qualitative difference that impacts, benefits and influences the lives of Sri Lankans who do not have access to basics that we often take for granted" Sheamalee Wickramasingha further emphasized .

Corporate Social Responsibility has become part and parcel of the business of CBL and being a responsible corporate citizen, the Company continues to integrate itself into the community it operates in. This involves intermingling with diverse stakeholders of the business.

The Company has made Corporate Social Responsibility ('CSR') an inherent and distinct accessory to its business model that combines business systems with the continued development of the less privileged communities.

CSR efforts of CBL aim at developing the community, the economy and eventually the nation. In order to achieve this, it is ensured that the Company's CSR operational mandate includes projects that provide unique and effective solutions to community needs. Fund allocation and utilization of resources on each project is structured to provide the most beneficial and effective solutions.