As the world trends on urbanisation and nutrition, shifting gears with the new realities presented to us, Sri Lanka is demonstrating promising new energy in the agri-food innovation sectors. Highlighting the insights of agri-food companies who are threaded together by their interest to build their start-ups or redirect their SMEs in the direction of ethics, [...]

Business Times

Sri Lanka’s agri-food start-ups have what global markets need

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As the world trends on urbanisation and nutrition, shifting gears with the new realities presented to us, Sri Lanka is demonstrating promising new energy in the agri-food innovation sectors. Highlighting the insights of agri-food companies who are threaded together by their interest to build their start-ups or redirect their SMEs in the direction of ethics, sustainability, innovation and global trade and are united as members of the Good Life X accelerator and business development network.

According to a media release issued by Good Life X (which is funded by GIZ), Wawamu, Sheshan Gamage’s hydroponic tech start-up utilises IOT sensory devices and vertical farm structures to allow individuals and businesses to grow fresh and healthy pesticide free, plants/crops indoors, thereby simplifying the route for greener urban spaces and more local produce. Owita Organics, the brain child of Vihangun Ariyarathne encourages localised /decentralised organic farming on smaller farms in consumer’s home districts – disrupting the mindset and model that only a handful of large faraway organic farms can supply consumers. By building a viable neighbourhood farm model, investing in supporting farmer conversion to organic, and promising farmers a commitment to purchase if they deliver these products to neighborhood Owita outlets or straight to the consumer’s door, Owita cuts down the food footprint – reducing costs, increasing environmental efficiencies, promoting localised green development and bringing their consumers competitive yet fair prices.

Ceylon Exports and Trading is taking a labour equity and product quality centered approach to producing coconut and vegan products with the aim of establishing the next homegrown international brand via it’s CoCo House range. Led by young, sharp, driven and globally focused first generation coconut business entrepreneur Dulara de Alwis, Ceylon Exports and Trading wants to focus on both product quality and fairer work practices in dealing with one of Sri Lanka’s export of organic coconut and vegan products. Within three short years Mr. De Alwis has been able to become a provider of an extensive range of coconut products all over the world – from Australia, to Latin America, Europe, Asia and the US.

And Worga Naturals is centering itself as the specialist in jackfruit and banana blossom supply in alignment with the global growth of vegan and meat alternative products. Employing a 90% female workforce it wants to support a greener, healthier and gender equitable agriculture sourcing chain.

The release said the Good Life X or GLX, was supported by German development cooperation GIZ Sri Lanka in 2018, and began as an effort to absorb the risk of innovative Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in food, wellness, tourism and design, utilising the model of an accelerator to provide rapid immersive learning on business strategy, product design innovation, and access to markets.

In February 2020, just prior to the pandemic lockdown, the programme took a handful of its agri-food business participants, Good Market, Lanka Organics, Kimbula Kithul, and SOZO to attend BioFach Germany – the world’s largest organic food conference.

Amongst attendees that included some of the biggest international organic food buyers and sellers, emerging trend-setters, and also organic niche brands from some of Sri Lanka’s largest agri-conglomerates, these GLXers (as they are more casually called) found that their innovative, sustainability and equity consciousness thinking as fostered by the GLX programme was very much in the way food leaders of the world were thinking.

 

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